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Curse of Death
Vengeance is her prey.
Death is his destiny.Long ago, in a time of war and union, Reghen Nehtvallan faced the greatest betrayal when the then young faerie Princess discovered the lifeless body of her young sister—her throat had been slit, and her clothes smelled of the Prince Reghen had been betrothed to.
Four hundred years have passed, and Reghen is on the cusp of vengeance when she finds herself embroiled in a in a scheme the Gris are carrying out in hopes of releasing a powerful god from his prison of darkness—allowing her mortal enemies to conquer the Eleven Courts.
To avenge her sister, the daughter of death must first avoid the destruction of the world as she knows it.
Death is his destiny.Long ago, in a time of war and union, Reghen Nehtvallan faced the greatest betrayal when the then young faerie Princess discovered the lifeless body of her young sister—her throat had been slit, and her clothes smelled of the Prince Reghen had been betrothed to.
Four hundred years have passed, and Reghen is on the cusp of vengeance when she finds herself embroiled in a in a scheme the Gris are carrying out in hopes of releasing a powerful god from his prison of darkness—allowing her mortal enemies to conquer the Eleven Courts.
To avenge her sister, the daughter of death must first avoid the destruction of the world as she knows it.
595 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 8, 2025
34 people are currently reading
1233 people want to read
About the author
Ellie Owen
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About Me:
Being more grumpy than sunshine, Ellie Owen believes fiction is a safe place to explore reality. Her stories find the balance between a swoon-worthy love story, a dry sense of humor, and a cautionary tale.
When not being hyper-critical of the world around her, Ellie Owen can be found playing Genshin Impact, searching for recipes she may or may not get around to cooking, curating playlists she often doesn’t share with anyone, sleeping in, or merely complaining about achy wrists.
Follow me on Instagram and on Tiktok
About Me:
Being more grumpy than sunshine, Ellie Owen believes fiction is a safe place to explore reality. Her stories find the balance between a swoon-worthy love story, a dry sense of humor, and a cautionary tale.
When not being hyper-critical of the world around her, Ellie Owen can be found playing Genshin Impact, searching for recipes she may or may not get around to cooking, curating playlists she often doesn’t share with anyone, sleeping in, or merely complaining about achy wrists.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
not-celibate-manwhore
December 2, 2025edit : a massive pass for me, the mmc has slept with alot of women during the 500 years he was supposedly " in love " with the fmc and having kissed 500 years ago when they were young.
at the start of the book the fmc has a threesome with a side character, the mmc also has sex with someone else IN THE SAME place. so yeah there's too much fucking around with other people for me to be able to stomech this.
safety anyone? i heard that he's been " in love" with her for 500 years but i need safety
at the start of the book the fmc has a threesome with a side character, the mmc also has sex with someone else IN THE SAME place. so yeah there's too much fucking around with other people for me to be able to stomech this.
safety anyone? i heard that he's been " in love" with her for 500 years but i need safety
April 12, 2025
THE PINING. THE YEARNING. THE SLOW BURN. THE WRITING. AND SHADOW DADDY TOO?? Bro. Yall ain’t ready for this.
Want to read
August 12, 2025ohohoho hello
*ARC sent by the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*
*ARC sent by the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*
March 22, 2025
thank to the author for letting me read this book before it comes out!
i was not disappointed when i read this book, having read this author before i can tell they never disappoint. it's banger after banger 😩 absolutely fell in love with all the characters, and their history and their personality. this book was everything i didn't know i needed.
i look forward to read it again when it comes out in May.
i was not disappointed when i read this book, having read this author before i can tell they never disappoint. it's banger after banger 😩 absolutely fell in love with all the characters, and their history and their personality. this book was everything i didn't know i needed.
i look forward to read it again when it comes out in May.
May 6, 2025
“𝙈𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩?”
“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨.” 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚. “𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙖𝙯𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩. 𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙛𝙚𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨, 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚.”
✧˖°.⚔️🗡️
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Curse of Death is an adult high fantasy that chronicles the journey of Skotian princess, Reghen Nethvallen, as she seeks vengeance against her former lover and fiance for the death of her younger and only sister. Born from Death, Reghen is well acquainted with death throughout her long life as she struggles living without her sister by her side and her heart shattered by her lover, while also yearning for another.
It explores the themes of grief and vengeance and revenge, and how someone with a long lifespan will meticulously plan it. If you have hundreds of years ahead of you, you might as well be thorough. Through the eyes of Reghen, we are able to explore the lands of Yorok and see the differences in what makes each court beautiful and unique. The world building is lush and beautiful, and with such a vast land, I can see multiple books written to explore each land more intimately.
While I enjoyed reading about the main-ish cast (Reghen, Azrael, Tyreal and Lucille) aside from these four, the side characters feel flat to me at times, 2-dimensional in their characterisation, and it made me lack interest in reading about them. The romance, while enjoyable in certain moments, largely left me frustrated with their back and forth of not willing to communicate. When it seems like they might talk to each other and come to an understanding, one of them just has to run away, be it for pride or ego, or someone interrupts the scene, and we continue with the “will they won’t they” and it gets quite tiring. I understand their apprehensions, but after 500 years I figured they would be better at communication. They are not.
The writing is lovely, but the prose does get long-winded at times and repetitive that it feels unnecessary in certain scenes. It gets winding at times and I sometimes would try to find the point of it, forgetting the plot. The dialogue also felt more on the modern side at times, which felt like it clashed with the poetic prose in a way that wasn't really my style, and it broke me out of my immersion a few times. This wasn't a deal breaker for me, but not something I particular liked. With that being said, I really enjoyed where the story took me in the final 15%, which had me on the edge of my seat. But the epilogue? I will be forwarding the author my therapy bills. 💖 Overall, this had been a very interesting read <3
My favourite moments are anything between Reghen and Lucille hehe. (thats a lie, as a hopeless romantic, even one as cynical as me, any time between Reghen and Azrael is my undoing)
Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of the e-ARC 😙💖
“𝙄𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚; 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙟𝙤𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”
“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨.” 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚. “𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙖𝙯𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩. 𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙛𝙚𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨, 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚.”
✧˖°.⚔️🗡️
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Curse of Death is an adult high fantasy that chronicles the journey of Skotian princess, Reghen Nethvallen, as she seeks vengeance against her former lover and fiance for the death of her younger and only sister. Born from Death, Reghen is well acquainted with death throughout her long life as she struggles living without her sister by her side and her heart shattered by her lover, while also yearning for another.
It explores the themes of grief and vengeance and revenge, and how someone with a long lifespan will meticulously plan it. If you have hundreds of years ahead of you, you might as well be thorough. Through the eyes of Reghen, we are able to explore the lands of Yorok and see the differences in what makes each court beautiful and unique. The world building is lush and beautiful, and with such a vast land, I can see multiple books written to explore each land more intimately.
While I enjoyed reading about the main-ish cast (Reghen, Azrael, Tyreal and Lucille) aside from these four, the side characters feel flat to me at times, 2-dimensional in their characterisation, and it made me lack interest in reading about them. The romance, while enjoyable in certain moments, largely left me frustrated with their back and forth of not willing to communicate. When it seems like they might talk to each other and come to an understanding, one of them just has to run away, be it for pride or ego, or someone interrupts the scene, and we continue with the “will they won’t they” and it gets quite tiring. I understand their apprehensions, but after 500 years I figured they would be better at communication. They are not.
The writing is lovely, but the prose does get long-winded at times and repetitive that it feels unnecessary in certain scenes. It gets winding at times and I sometimes would try to find the point of it, forgetting the plot. The dialogue also felt more on the modern side at times, which felt like it clashed with the poetic prose in a way that wasn't really my style, and it broke me out of my immersion a few times. This wasn't a deal breaker for me, but not something I particular liked. With that being said, I really enjoyed where the story took me in the final 15%, which had me on the edge of my seat. But the epilogue? I will be forwarding the author my therapy bills. 💖 Overall, this had been a very interesting read <3
My favourite moments are anything between Reghen and Lucille hehe. (thats a lie, as a hopeless romantic, even one as cynical as me, any time between Reghen and Azrael is my undoing)
Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of the e-ARC 😙💖
“𝙄𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚; 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙟𝙤𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”
October 24, 2025
Curse of Death by Ellie Owen is easily one of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read. I’m not saying that lightly y'all this book OWNS my soul. It made me scream and gasp so many times I lost count. It’s emotional, powerful, and beautifully written. I honestly can’t believe it’s not more popular, because it deserves every award, every edit, every fan scream possible. I don’t even know if I can properly describe how much I love it, but I’ll try.
The true highlight of this book for me was Reghen Nehtvallan, the daughter of death, the woman of vengeance. She’s easily one of my favorite female characters ever written. Reghen is strong, clever, deadly, but also deeply emotional. She never loses her femininity, she’s literally beauty and terror in perfect balance. She can command a room, break a man’s ego with one sentence, and still have moments of softness. And dare I say, she’s what female rage should look like: controlled, purposeful, and righteous. She knows her worth, and she doesn’t bow for anyone.
And Azrael (another highlight for me), her SPYBREAKER. I love that he stands beside her and adores it. He’s loyal and deeply respectful. His love for Reghen is PURE devotion y'all (I need me a man like Azrael). He loves her strength, her pain, her fire. He wants her happiness more than his own. He’s the kind of male character who doesn’t need to prove his masculinity by overpowering her (love that about him) And together, they’re just… ELECTRIC. Every scene between them is filled with tension AND emotion, AND love. Also, the romance in this book is the SLOWEST slow burn I’ve ever read, and it’s perfection. THE YEARNING!!! THE PINING!!! it’s all so intense!! The tension actually hurts, but in the best way possible.
The world building, in this book, was PHENOMENAL. Everything is so well-written, detailed, and layered. You can picture everything: the magic, the politics, the tension between power and survival. Every scene feels cinematic. Also, the stakes in this story are HIGH high!! (I WAS SEATED)
Now, about the writing, Ellie Owen’s prose is, simply put, stunning. It’s emotional, layered and poetic. Every line has weight. The way she writes emotions, rage, love, and grief is AMAZING. There’s a rhythm to her writing that makes it addictive. You can tell she cares about every word, every moment, every heartbeat.
Wrapping up my yap by saying, Ellie Owen, thank you SM for this masterpiece. This is PEAK fantasy!! And also, book 2 when?! Because I need more Reghen, more Azrael, more vengeance, more love, more everything.
The true highlight of this book for me was Reghen Nehtvallan, the daughter of death, the woman of vengeance. She’s easily one of my favorite female characters ever written. Reghen is strong, clever, deadly, but also deeply emotional. She never loses her femininity, she’s literally beauty and terror in perfect balance. She can command a room, break a man’s ego with one sentence, and still have moments of softness. And dare I say, she’s what female rage should look like: controlled, purposeful, and righteous. She knows her worth, and she doesn’t bow for anyone.
And Azrael (another highlight for me), her SPYBREAKER. I love that he stands beside her and adores it. He’s loyal and deeply respectful. His love for Reghen is PURE devotion y'all (I need me a man like Azrael). He loves her strength, her pain, her fire. He wants her happiness more than his own. He’s the kind of male character who doesn’t need to prove his masculinity by overpowering her (love that about him) And together, they’re just… ELECTRIC. Every scene between them is filled with tension AND emotion, AND love. Also, the romance in this book is the SLOWEST slow burn I’ve ever read, and it’s perfection. THE YEARNING!!! THE PINING!!! it’s all so intense!! The tension actually hurts, but in the best way possible.
The world building, in this book, was PHENOMENAL. Everything is so well-written, detailed, and layered. You can picture everything: the magic, the politics, the tension between power and survival. Every scene feels cinematic. Also, the stakes in this story are HIGH high!! (I WAS SEATED)
Now, about the writing, Ellie Owen’s prose is, simply put, stunning. It’s emotional, layered and poetic. Every line has weight. The way she writes emotions, rage, love, and grief is AMAZING. There’s a rhythm to her writing that makes it addictive. You can tell she cares about every word, every moment, every heartbeat.
Wrapping up my yap by saying, Ellie Owen, thank you SM for this masterpiece. This is PEAK fantasy!! And also, book 2 when?! Because I need more Reghen, more Azrael, more vengeance, more love, more everything.
May 8, 2025
Thank you Ellie Owen for the ARC of this book! This book was a journey. This had a level of yearning and pinning that had my heart just huuuurting. However, the romance left me frustrated at times because of their lack of communication. There was a lot of unnecessary back and forth and pride/ego protection. I loved the writing but some chapters felt repetitive and included a lot of the same unnecessary scenes. It took me a bit to get through but the last 20% had me on the edge of my seat. Overall, I liked this a lot and it wasn’t the usual fantasy romance that is out right now.
What do you get from this??
- lovers to enemies
- a revenge plot
- touch her and die 🤝🏼 touch him and die
- sentient magic
- shadow MOMMMMY
- gods & prophecies
- feminine rage
- pinning & yearning
- found family & animal companion
Thank you for this ARC!!! Get your hands on it ASAP!!
What do you get from this??
- lovers to enemies
- a revenge plot
- touch her and die 🤝🏼 touch him and die
- sentient magic
- shadow MOMMMMY
- gods & prophecies
- feminine rage
- pinning & yearning
- found family & animal companion
Thank you for this ARC!!! Get your hands on it ASAP!!
April 11, 2025
- i finished a few days ago but I keep forgetting to update goodreads
rating - 4.5 stars
First and foremost, thank you Ellie for gracing me with the presence of an arc of now one of the most intruiging and gravitating fantasies I have ever read! I may be biased because I am ever so grateful to call Ellie one of my friends and favourite person to rant with, but her work always amazes me and leaves me as impressed and proud as I was before.
As I mentioned to her once I read it, fantasy has always been my favourite genre, though recently I’ve found it hard to find fantasies that make me feel gripped from the start. Curse of Death, however, did just that. I cannot wait to find out more about each character and also the world created because honestly, each place sounds so beautiful that I wanna move to whatever alterante universe this book is a reality.
One thing Ellie never fails to write, is the most empowering and influential fmc. Reghen Nehtvallen is such a perfect character, her strength and resilience is breathtaking. Honestly, I could talk for hours about how well each character is written, but I’m saving that for another time!
The plot-
This plot has me on edge. There were so many moments where I couldn’t predict what would happen, that left me either giggling or shook - that’s all I’m going to say.
The way Ellie also writes her romances is one of my favourite things ever. Curse of Death has honestly become one of my newfound favourite recommendations for anyone looking for a romance subplot in a fantasy!
Once again, thank you so so much Ellie for allowing me to read this! Guys, go preorder, it’s an amazing book and I cannot wait to reread it when it is released!
rating - 4.5 stars
First and foremost, thank you Ellie for gracing me with the presence of an arc of now one of the most intruiging and gravitating fantasies I have ever read! I may be biased because I am ever so grateful to call Ellie one of my friends and favourite person to rant with, but her work always amazes me and leaves me as impressed and proud as I was before.
As I mentioned to her once I read it, fantasy has always been my favourite genre, though recently I’ve found it hard to find fantasies that make me feel gripped from the start. Curse of Death, however, did just that. I cannot wait to find out more about each character and also the world created because honestly, each place sounds so beautiful that I wanna move to whatever alterante universe this book is a reality.
One thing Ellie never fails to write, is the most empowering and influential fmc. Reghen Nehtvallen is such a perfect character, her strength and resilience is breathtaking. Honestly, I could talk for hours about how well each character is written, but I’m saving that for another time!
The plot-
This plot has me on edge. There were so many moments where I couldn’t predict what would happen, that left me either giggling or shook - that’s all I’m going to say.
The way Ellie also writes her romances is one of my favourite things ever. Curse of Death has honestly become one of my newfound favourite recommendations for anyone looking for a romance subplot in a fantasy!
Once again, thank you so so much Ellie for allowing me to read this! Guys, go preorder, it’s an amazing book and I cannot wait to reread it when it is released!
March 31, 2025
I don’t have the words to adequately describe my love for this book so please bear with me.
Curse of Death is single-handedly responsible for my reentrance into the fantasy genre. The only issue is that I have yet to find another book that makes me feel all the things I feel reading COD. I’ve reread this book a million times in a variety of drafts, and I still gasp and giggle and scream.
Reghen Nehtvallen is an absolute icon and she deserves the world. She’s a strong character in every sense of the word, even ignoring her powers. She’s hilarious and caring and brave and resilient and loving and a million other things.
The other characters are given just as much development as the main character. I truly feel like they exist outside of these pages. They have phenomenal relationships and dynamics, their own hopes and dreams, and their own challenges and development.
The plot is easily one of my favorites ever. We follow Reghen as she seeks revenge against her ex-fiance, but as the story progresses more details emerge regarding his secret plot. The mystery and suspense had me on the edge of my seat the entire time! One of the subplots is about Reghen’s romantic life, and I seriously cannot get over it. All of my favorite tropes combined with a down-bad love interest. Give Ellie Owen all the awards! I could talk for DAYS about how much I love the main couple.
The world building is indescribable. I am convinced I could book a flight to Yorok. It's so refreshing to see an author dedicate time and energy to describing their world, and this world is the most beautiful of all.
As I write this review I am on my fifth read, and I still get all of the emotions from the very first time I met Reghen and her band of idiots (affectionate). Curse of Death is Hozier-level yearning in novel form with all the prose of Taylor Swift's Folklore album. I truly believe this is the next great fantasy, and I’m so excited for Curse of Death to receive all the love it deserves. In a few years, people will market their books as "the next Ellie Owen."
Thank you so so much to the author for my copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Curse of Death is single-handedly responsible for my reentrance into the fantasy genre. The only issue is that I have yet to find another book that makes me feel all the things I feel reading COD. I’ve reread this book a million times in a variety of drafts, and I still gasp and giggle and scream.
Reghen Nehtvallen is an absolute icon and she deserves the world. She’s a strong character in every sense of the word, even ignoring her powers. She’s hilarious and caring and brave and resilient and loving and a million other things.
The other characters are given just as much development as the main character. I truly feel like they exist outside of these pages. They have phenomenal relationships and dynamics, their own hopes and dreams, and their own challenges and development.
The plot is easily one of my favorites ever. We follow Reghen as she seeks revenge against her ex-fiance, but as the story progresses more details emerge regarding his secret plot. The mystery and suspense had me on the edge of my seat the entire time! One of the subplots is about Reghen’s romantic life, and I seriously cannot get over it. All of my favorite tropes combined with a down-bad love interest. Give Ellie Owen all the awards! I could talk for DAYS about how much I love the main couple.
The world building is indescribable. I am convinced I could book a flight to Yorok. It's so refreshing to see an author dedicate time and energy to describing their world, and this world is the most beautiful of all.
As I write this review I am on my fifth read, and I still get all of the emotions from the very first time I met Reghen and her band of idiots (affectionate). Curse of Death is Hozier-level yearning in novel form with all the prose of Taylor Swift's Folklore album. I truly believe this is the next great fantasy, and I’m so excited for Curse of Death to receive all the love it deserves. In a few years, people will market their books as "the next Ellie Owen."
Thank you so so much to the author for my copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
May 5, 2025
Ellie Owen's writing is something that cannot even be compared to anything other than herself. The stylistic and emotional tone of her writing is one that is simply unmatched and Curse of Death showcases this in the form of a masterpiece.
What I expect from a fantasy book is immersion. I want a story that pulls me in unlike anything reality could give me. Curse of Death is its own world that consumed me in the best possible way.
Did I cry 85% of this book? Most definitely. How I love an emotionally charged and emotionally damaging book. I know round two is going to be 100% more traumatizing but I am in DESPERATE need of it.
Curse of Death isn't just a fantasy book. It's the epitome of fantasy itself.
I highly recommend :)
What I expect from a fantasy book is immersion. I want a story that pulls me in unlike anything reality could give me. Curse of Death is its own world that consumed me in the best possible way.
Did I cry 85% of this book? Most definitely. How I love an emotionally charged and emotionally damaging book. I know round two is going to be 100% more traumatizing but I am in DESPERATE need of it.
Curse of Death isn't just a fantasy book. It's the epitome of fantasy itself.
I highly recommend :)
March 24, 2025
I had the privilege of reading this book when it was a draft, and even back then, I was fully taken by how lush the writing and world building is. Curse of Death features such a strong cast of characters with a plot that will have readers on the edge of their seats. I highly recommend this book for all lovers of fantasy!
May 9, 2025
Ellie Owen you’ve done it again. The yearning… THE YEARNING…
Such an underrated author
Such an underrated author
November 29, 2025
safety anyone? heard he's been " in love with her for 500years", but i need to know safety
December 22, 2025
I really tried to love this. The prose is beautiful. Unfortunately, the story just did not click with me :(
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