Cursed Daughters

by Oyinkan Braithwaite

No man will call your house his home. And if they try, they will not have peace... So goes the family curse, handed down from generation to generation, ruining families and breaking hearts as it goes. And now it's calm, rational Eniiyi's turn - who, due to her uncanny resemblance to her dead aunt, Monife, and her family's insistence that she must be a reincarnation, has long been used to some strange familial beliefs.

Still, when she falls in love with the handsome boy she saves from drowning, she can no longer run from her family's history. Is she destined to live out the habitual story of love and heartbreak, or can she escape the family curse and the mysterious fate that befell her aunt?

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Africa, Magical Realism, Mystery

352 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 2025

About the author

OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE is a graduate of Creative Writing and Law from Kingston University. Following her degree, she worked as an assistant editor at Kachifo, a Nigerian publishing house, and has been freelancing as a writer and editor since. In 2014, she was shortlisted as a top-ten spoken-word artist in the Eko Poetry Slam, and in 2016 she was a finalist for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. She lives in Lagos, Nigeria.

Reviews

[Roxane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Cursed Daughters for the rich storytelling and the generational narrative and the unique structure. Such a satisfying read and smartly written.

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

i wish my family had a curse.

or i did before this book. now it doesn't seem so fun.

(thanks to the publisher for the arc)

[Laura Lovesreading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cursed or Fear?

Cursed Daughters is a darkly humoured novel about a young woman who must shake off the family curse that has been imposed on her blood line and deal with held belief that she is the reincarnation of her dead cousin.

Poor Eniiyi! Baby girl couldn’t catch a break from the day she was born. Having been born on the same say day as the funeral of her cousin, Monife, everybody from then always chirps up about the striking resemblance between her and the deceased woman. Which in turn has them believing that Eniiyi is going to end up as the same fate as Monife.

This was so wickedly good, and I enjoyed every single minute. I am so glad I was granted the audiobook because it really brought the story to life!

The family dynamics were entertaining and eye-rolling and I’m sure every African young woman can relate to the non-privacy of a big family household.

Told in 11 parts from the perspective of Eniiyi, Ebun and Monife who have been tainted with the ‘Falodun curse’ it was enjoyable reading their dilemmas and innermost thoughts. I particularly enjoyed Monife’s chapters more. Her quick wit and personality were intoxicating.

This author is a WRITER! She silkily weaves you through the story and you become lost in the fictional words. I am patiently waiting for what she has in store for us next!



Big thanks to WF Howes and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ALC





---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
pre read
I loved My Sister the Serial Killer!
Eeeek just got approved to listen to the ARC! 🎧
Lets Goooooooo!
🤍💛🤍

[Creya Casale | cc.shelflove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Doubleday for providing a physical copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Cursed Daughters is a very different book from Braithwaite's debut novel, but in a good way. I devoured My Sister, the Serial Killer, but her writing style and maturity have skyrocketed to new levels since. Told in multiple perspectives, we follow the Falodun women:

• Monife, who committed suicide after falling too hard for her Golden Boy;
• Ebun, Monife's cousin who has kept the secret of Monife's suicide safely under lock and key; and
• Eniiyi, Ebun's daughter who just might have found her own Golden Boy to love...

All three women are affected by the Falodun curse, where bad things happen if they become too close to handsome men. It has been a while since I've read literary fiction, and this novel was a great reintroduction to the importance of a novel's characters. I absolutely loved the structure of the book—while told in 11 parts, it was not difficult to follow. Hopefully we don't have to wait another seven years for Braithwaite's next creation.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gorgeously intense story about a complicated family of women cursed in the past in their relationships with men. Braithwaite has raised the level of sophistication since her already wonderful My Sister, the Serial Killer and manages to combine a kind of raucous humour around the grandmothers with a powerful love story featuring Monife, the standout character for me.

The background of Lagos is beautifully rendered from the tribal frictions through to the modern city with an undertow of superstition - and the use of an African local mythology in the epilogue was an unexpected delight that changes the story we thought we knew.

I listened to the audiobook which is wonderfully read by two different narrators to give us distinct voices, and the accents really help to embed this story in the culture it springs from.

Many thanks to WF Howe for an audiobook via NetGalley

[BookOfCinz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine being born the day your cousin is buried and being born with her exact face... Yes, this is just one of the curse happening in this book.

Braithwaite knows how to write an interesting book and I love how she always center female characters who are likeable and unlikeable. This is definitely an intreresting read that I absolutely enjoyed.

[Dutchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Braithwaite has once again successfully sucked me into a novel with a catchy title. As with her previous novel My Sister, The Serial Killer, I went in thinking I was going to get a certain type of story only to be spun a different tale than what I was expecting. Cursed Daughters does deal with a curse, but exactly how that curse is portrayed is much different.

The Falodun women have been cursed with heartbreak after one of their ancestor’s relationship with a married man was exposed. With each new generation, heartbreak ensues. Told mainly thru Monife’s and Eniiyi’s POV we see them navigate their relationships and the effect the curse has brought on them.

When I first started reading this, I didn’t think it was going to be for me. However, I stuck with it because I felt very similarly during the author’s previous novel that I read and ended up really liking it. Same was the case here. Braithwaite does such an excellent job of building characters that showcase both their flaws and strengths. There were definitely some heartbreaking moments, but there were also uplifting moments as well. You can’t help but root for these two women. I also enjoyed the inclusion of the Nigerian culture that both of her novels have included. I find myself googling some of the terms that I am not familiar with and learning new things.

If you enjoyed this authors debut novel, be sure to check out this one!

[mj]

YEARS!! I have been waiting for years for another book from this queen I'm shaking

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Cursed Daughters is the story of the Falodun family - or rather the women since it is they who carry a curse which condemns them to lives where their love lives will be a disaster.

We begin the story shortly after Monife, the daughter of Bunmi and an absent father, has taken her own life. We then go back in time to 1995 to follow Monife and her cousin, Ebun's lives then we jump forward to 2004 for the story of Ebun's daughter Eniyii, who the family believes is a reincarnation of Monife - as doomed as her aunt and the rest of the Falodun women to have a broken heart. But can Eniyii change her fate?

Cursed Daughters is an excellent story but after a while I found thd narrative quite repetitive - constantly reminding us of the curse and giving us the inevitable heartbreaking for each generation.

I also found it quite hard to like any of the characters except Eniyii.

Thd culture is also fascinating looking at tribal divisions, which seems to matter more than where someone lives or how much money they have.

Ostensibly this is a book of star crossed lovers and it is none the worse for that. Monife's distress and unwillingness to give in to the curse is quite moving. Along with the inability of her family to try to break it.

On the whole I enjoyed it and would recommend it. Thankyou to Netgalley and Atlantic Books for the advance review copy.

[Teju A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly highly recommend to anyone that wants to learn about family dynamics in the Yoruba culture in Nigeria!
This delves into the complicated relationships btw daughters and mothers and how that could tie into some mythology for the Yoruba's. This was so relatable!
It also sheds light into relationships with significant others!

I want readers to get a glimpse into my culture; the good and the bad and how this family manages to navigate through it all!

Solid 5 stars!!!!!

[Andre(Read-A-Lot) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It will not be well with you. No man will call your house, home. And if they try, they will not have peace. Your daughters are cursed— they will pursue men, but the men will be like water in their palms. Your granddaughters will love in vain. Your great granddaughters will labour for acknowledgement, but they will fall short of other women. Your daughters, your daughter’s daughters and all the women to come will suffer for man’s sake.”

And this curse was issued by A first wife to the pretty and confident second wife-Feranmi Falodun-and has affected the Falodun family for generations. No woman has been able to hold on to a man or husband. Eniiyi a five or six times great granddaughter doesn’t believe in this curse and when she falls in love with a great guy, it seems like the curse will finally be broken.

But…Ms. Oyinkan Braithwaite has crafted a wickedly humorous story filled with dramatic twists and unnerving turns that will totally captivate readers, leaving them constantly hoping, grasping and cheering for the curse to be broken. Could Eniiyi end up being brokenhearted?

Ms. Braithwaite’s prose is lyrical and beautifully engaging making this book unputdownable. She weaves indigenous beliefs with modern youthful skepticism, always bounded by familial love and wisdom. Eniiyi is a complicated protagonist, because her birth is believed to be a reincarnation of her Aunt who died the same day she was born, hmmm? Is that possible?

Ms. Brathwaite skillfully builds this novel in a non-linear manner jumping back and forth in time and shifting the perspective between generations all the while balancing tensions and imbuing the characters with real life emotions! This is very clearly a 5⭐️ effort.
I’m very grateful to Netgalley and Doubleday books for providing an advanced DRC. Book will drop November 4, 2025, buckle up for an emotional ride!

[Luna]

Oyinkan Braithwaite star que tu es LE livre dont j’avais besoin sans le savoir il a heal des parties de moi insoupçonnées bref lisez-le

[Adrian Dooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved My Sister The Serial Killer and so when I got the opportunity to read Cursed Daughters I jumped at it.

Yes they are by the same author but that’s where the similarities end. Where Serial Killer was bright and funny, Daughters is very melancholy, mystical but ultimately about hope.

Set in Lagos, it tells the story of a family of women that believe they have had a family curse handed down through generations - that they will never be able to hold on to a man and no matter how much they think they are in love, their relationships are destined to fail.

And now it’s the turn of Eniiyi, who due to her remarkable resemblance to her dead aunt Monife, has lived her whole life with her families strange and ancient beliefs as well as them believing she is the reincarnation of Monife.

When Eniiyi saves a man from drowning and finds herself falling in love with him, can she break the supposed family curse of is she pre destined to fail?

This one took a while to get going as I got to grips with what was going on but once I did I was totally sucked in to these women’s lives, their beliefs and eventually their secrets.
Told from multiple points of view in different time lines, it’s straight fiction really with a sprinkling of supernatural.

The further I got into the book, the more I enjoyed it. Just as you think you have a grip on the story something else is revealed that just keeps adding layers to the story.

It’s hard to pin point the overall tone of the book. Melancholy is my best effort at describing it but I’m not even sure that sums it up as it’s also about hope, secrets and the human condition.

A stunning read. Posssibly my book of the year so far.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.

[Morayo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Buckle up girlie pops, this is going to be a long one. I need to vent.

I wish I could give this 0 stars. I get why people finish books out of spite but how I wish I dnfed this.
I did not because I kept thinking it would go somewhere. Whenever I thought I couldn’t suffer from any more second hand embarrassment, I was taken to the depths of embarrassment hell.

Brief back story, long before I knew what dnfing meant, I had done that with my sister the serial killer. Like long long long long ago. I don’t even remember the year. I googled the ending a few months ago because a friend read it and I was so unimpressed.

Now like a fool, I decided to give this one ago because I am a firm believer in second chances.

Now to the actual story.
I cannot tell you what the plot of this book was because it made no sense. There was no substance. At all.

We get the back story of how the women in the Falodun line became cursed. The babe was having an affair with a married man. The wife did not curse the philanderer in question. It was only the babe.

Cool.

We are following the lives of Ebun, Monife(what a beautiful name) and Eyiiyi(another stunning name). This is done through time jumps and sprinkled in between is stories of maternal ancestors and how the curses affected them.

I did not like the time jumps. One minute we are in 2000, then we are in 1997 then it’s 2006 and oh look at that we are in 2024. Helloooo?!!

I hated all of the women in this book and that is something I have never said in my life. I hated the men too. Infact I wanted to deck everybody I’ve never read a book that cantered men so much so that it was to their detriment. It is shocking to me how not a single woman in this book had some sort of common sense or sense of self:
- all the maternal ancestors that were not main characters were all very unwise
- The grandmothers in the book, I would assume that when you’re past a certain age, so comes wisdom but it was seriously lacking.
- Ebun was no better. Initially a child she was growing on me and then it just fell to shits. When the end was revealed about how she convinced Monife to get an abortion with her and she didn’t follow through??! I hope the guilt eats her alive. What an awful human being. It’s good that she felt haunted by the fact that her daughter looked like her cousin
- Monife… girl??? I can’t claim to be in love so I don’t understand the choices she made but all of them made me wear shame like boubou. You can’t be doing all of this because of Kalu. Also I hated the name golden boy so much. RIP to her sha
- One would expect Eniiyi to have sense. Actually I should not have expected that because it’s not a family trait. She didn’t have a personality except she was presumed to be Monife returned. This babe had the opportunity to go to London for a job. An opportunity for her to leave her family and find her own. You know what this babe said??! She’s like her boyfriend is here, as per in Lagos so she can’t go. She eventually left when everything scattered
- Kalu’s mom was a tribalist and an all round awful person. A boy mom *derogatory*.
- Amara you witch! I don’t begrudge her marrying Kalu because it was inevitable. But for her to scratch Eniiyi because she looked like Monife and her son was in love?! A raggedy woman

Now to the men.
- Tolu was pretty useless in the whole book up until the end
- Kalu Kalu Kalu… it was unreal how oblivious her was to his mom and Amara. His reaction to the juju bit was valid. The fact that he married Amara after 8 months?? I know what you are. Then the whole cheating and abortion p and then bring remorseful 20+ years after? You can go straight to hell.

No character had personality. I also may have missed it because it was poorly developed.

What upset me most and why I’ve written such a lengthy review is the fact that I was hopeful and it had a good start. I am very soft on magical realism because I enjoy it so much but this was so underwhelming

I have come to the end of my review and my journey with the author.

[Ellery Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

I found this novel absolutely riveting. I loved the family drama, the curse haunting generations of women, and the resolution of that curse at the end. The women in this novel are flawed (there were times I wanted to yell at them to practice safe sex and use birth control) but they are also tender, ambitious, and devoted. The mother/daughter relationships were the most powerful and the most emotionally fraught. I was rooting for them to learn to love themselves and one another, and to stop basing their happiness on men. Ms. Brauthwaite created some unforgettable characters in Cursed Daughters. I never miss the chance to listen to Nigerian books on audio because the accents are so beautiful, and the audiobook version was excellent.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly hurts my soul to only give this a fairly low rating (it’s probably closer to a 2* even) - I love My Sister, the Serial Killer and I’ve been waiting for Braithwaite’s follow-up ever since, but this didn’t land for me. If I didn’t know the author and hadn’t been so excited for this, I wouldn’t have read past the kindle sample. In fairness, it might just be because I was expecting something different though and I can see it working better for a different type of reader. But I have thoughts.

As per the title, this is about a family where all the women believe themselves to be cursed to always chase but never find happiness with a man. We mainly follow two sisters born in the 70s/80s, Monife and Ebun, and then one of their daughters, Eniiyi, who everyone treats less as a real person and more as the reincarnation of her dead aunt. The “cursed” romances were the least interesting part of the story somehow. Both Monife and Eniiyi are supposed to be super tragically in love with two guys they fell in love with after just looking at them once; I suppose it’s part of the book’s message that these men were actually not worth the drama everyone put up over them, but it was still boring to read about. I was actually surprised by this because the unrequited love story in My Sister the Serial Killer had way more depth to it - you really understood how the main character had developed this crush but also how she had constructed this fantasy that didn’t match the reality of the actual man. This wasn’t the case here at all somehow, even though this is way more of a romance focused story than Braithwaite’s debut.

Only once, at the very end, does a side character call out his female relatives about their obsession with the curse - or rather, he points out how rather than being about keeping the family’s women from finding happiness with a man, the curse seems to be about them being doomed to obsess over men. I’ll take it one step further and say that I find it ridiculous that in the entire book no one ever a) turned out to be lesbian lol (regardless of the cultural context, you’re telling me not even the Gen Z daughter ever wondered about this?) and b) pointed out how the real curse is this family’s unreal toxicity and dysfunctionality. Or forget about dating a woman even, how about trying to find meaning in life outside of romantic relationships? As another reviewer put it, none of these women have friendships, interests or even familial love. All of these characters seemed so empty, completely dominated by some overblown obsession with random guys. Again, this is probably what the “curse” is all about, but to not even acknowledge this?
I think because of all this, I found the stakes of the story to be very low and didn’t really care about any of the characters at all.

I would’ve liked some more introspection into the toxic family dynamics and the blind adherence to this heteronormative romantic ideal they all seem to cling to to the detriment of having any other thoughts or feelings.
I’ll read whatever Braithwaite writes next, but it seems like the curse that follows me is the somewhat disappointing sophomore work of authors I’d had such high hopes for…

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

CURSED DAUGHTERS
by Oyinkan Braithwaite

A family tale retold again and again eventually becomes myth—unless it turns into a curse instead.

3.5 stars, rounded up

Throughout this story, which carries a touch of magical realism, we follow Monife, Ebun, and Eniiyi as they shoulder the Falodun curse—an inheritance that haunts their lives and shapes their choices as they navigate childhood, love, and the eerie pull of their family’s past. Across generations, this curse has sabotaged the romantic relationships of the women in the family.

When Eniiyi is born, many believe she is the reincarnation of her aunt Monife, who died under tragic circumstances. Eniiyi must contend with the legacy of a woman she never met, while the family’s silence about what truly happened to Monife hurts her far more than it protects her. Will the family curse continue to influence the women’s decisions? And by believing in the curse so deeply, are they actually creating the very misfortunes they fear?

This was my first read by this author, and I found it a solid, engaging novel. Braithwaite’s writing is smooth and approachable, though the plot becomes predictable at times. You can feel the weight each of the main characters carries, even as they cope with it in very different ways. Monife is the tragic heart of the story, and together, the three women give us a window into how love, loss, superstition, and hope shape their family across generations.

A compelling family drama with a touch of the supernatural. I look forward to reading more from this author

[Marialyce]

I am quitting at 35%. This was such a dull story where nothing seemed to move forward. I loved her My Sister, The Serial Killer but this one was a fail for me.

[Shadab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oyinkan Braithwaite returns with a wildly entertaining tale of a generational curse.

In Cursed Daughters, Oyinkan weaves a haunting and lyrical tale steeped in folklore, centering women who are fierce and achingly human. These are women navigating the murky terrain of longing, inheritance, loss, and agency—trying to make sense of days shaped by absence, where their hearts ache for men who seem predestined to leave.

[Sean Bookless · Rating 2 out of 5]

The dog was 30 years old and it wasn’t the central plot point.

[Rincey · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

This book is very different from her first book, My Sister the Serial Killer, but I think that if you are someone who enjoyed the complicated female family relationships aspect of that book, then this one might be for you.

Watch my full review here: https://youtu.be/ot9aEJKwo2Y

[Stacy (Gotham City Librarian) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this author’s other novel, “My Sister, the Serial Killer,” and was offered a copy of this one to review. The concept sounded interesting. I do think this story was an accomplishment of dramatic twists and turns, but the first book was more my thing.

It might be because the review copy that I received did not have chapter headings, but the constant switching between narrator POV’s was jarring and confusing. I wasn’t sure at first who had taken over the story each time. I also had trouble keeping some of the side characters straight throughout the book. (That may just be a “me” problem.)

Ebun sucks, flat out. And all of the women in her family were so cold to each other all the time that I just didn’t like anything about their dynamic. It really came across as toxic and miserable, with practically no redeeming qualities. I loved the dog consistently being there for all three storylines, though. And the question of Reincarnation was interesting.

I think anyone who likes a romantic drama with a lot of family conflict and a very slight hint of the supernatural will probably enjoy this. It’s also fun to read books by authors from all over the world. If you’re looking for something with a bit more bite, I recommend “My Sister, the Serial Killer.”

Thank you to NetGalley and to the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

Biggest TW: Suicide, Domestic abuse, Chronic Illness, Alcohol abuse, Misogyny, Abortion.

[Jo Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed My Sister, The Serial Killer. So when Oyinkan Braithwaite’s follow up novel became available to download on NetGalley I snapped it up, let me share my idiocy though, around chapter 4 it finally dawned on me that follow up was definitely not follow on, no wonder I’d forgotten all these characters I hadn’t met yet. I was so confused I had to take to Google then restart the book!

This time around Braithwaite brings us an entirely different type of experience and I actually preferred this title. It’s an inter generational female centric family tale rammed with secrets, delicate bonds and fierce love amongst a family living under a curse that plagues the woman and means that they cannot hold onto a man.

Great story telling that kept me hooked, excellent characters great writing lovely narration.

Huge thanks to WF Howes and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ALC 🎧

[Sanjana Idnani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has an interesting premise and a lot of potential. It was (and did to some extent) interested in exploring generational trauma particularly amongst women and how it can lead women to fulfil the prophecies laid out for them because they get boxed in by these expectations. But sadly, I think it got a bit lost in execution. The characters just didn’t feel fleshed out to me and while I can recognise blurring the lines particularly between Monife and Eniiye is part of the plot line, the writing style meant I just couldn’t connect with any of them. Particularly because a lot of major moments and confrontations were just summarised or paraphrased and I think the character POVs would have benefitted from way more dialogue sequences where you actually got a sense of the character’s voices rather than paragraph descriptions which say “so then I told him XXX” without any of the drama or chemistry we would want to see in a relationship that would help us buy in to the tragedy of this family and their love stories. Also a lot of the reveals were quite predictable which again just lost the jeopardy. It was fun and engaging at times and easy to read but ultimately fell flat where it could have had a lot more punch.

[Viola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vilšanās. Ļoti patika autores pirmā grāmata, kas bija vienkārši lieliska tieši ar savu melno humoru un sadzīviskumu. Cerēju, ka autore turpinās šajā stilā, bet nē. Šoreiz grāmatas centrā ir dažādu paaudžu sieviešu likteņi, kuras uzskata, ka viņām uzlikts lāsts, kas liedz viņām būt laimīgām attiecībās. Tomēr lasot to, kā autore apraksta šīs sievietes, kļūst skaidrs, ka viņas regulāri izdara nepārdomātas un impulsīvas izvēlēs, kas arī ir iemesls visām viņu problēmām. Visai garlaicīga lasāmviela, lai gan tēli autorei padevušies visai reāli.

[Damisola S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cursed Daughters was deeply compelling from the outset. The premise was deeply creative and initially very well executed. The weight of the curse was truly tangible, and the different ways it manifested were so fun to discover. The plot was the definition of a page turner, and I flew through the book in anticipation of what was to come.

Despite this, the characters felt quite shallow. There was nothing distinct about their personalities outside of the variation of ways the curse impacted them and their relationships with each other. I’m typically a fan of third person narration, but it felt so far removed from the characters. Even when their emotions were conveyed the language was so one dimensional that it was almost hard to believe. I read love but didn’t feel any and I saw depression laid out on the page but found myself unmoved.

Additionally, the third act felt incredibly rushed. Several of the major plot points I had anticipated were swiftly resolved and with very little emphasis on the effect they had on the characters. It played out like a series of unfortunate events, so it was almost easy to forget there were people we’d spent so many pages with at the heart of that misfortune.

It was like the author felt the need to cram everything they had set up as quickly as possible. I couldn’t help but wonder if the deadline had come quicker than she had expected.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I expected, particularly given how appropriately titled this was, but it still caught me a little off guard. OK, I could say the same thing about My Sister, the Serial Killer, which I also enjoyed, but for very different reasons.

There were so many things I liked about this book, even if, at times, I found it maddeningly frustrating (although that may have been the point all along), but it was all worth it ... or it was worth it for me ... for the excellently crafted conclusion (and epilogue). Who me, cry through the last few pages of a book? ... uh, yeah, ... exactly...

A minor nit: I realize that this is commonly being shelved as fantasy or magical realism, but ... I dunno, that doesn't sit quite right with me ... I get it, but it's not how I would have shelved it, left to my own devices.

It's highly unlikely that this will be the last Braithwaite book I buy/read. I look forward to seeing what she does next.

[Becky Spratford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starred review in the October 2025 issue of Library Journal

Three Words That Describe This Book: generational trauma, character driven, immersive unease

Other words: ghosts, family drama, thought provoking, multiple time lines, brief chapters that keep the story flowing, reincarnation, free will vs fate, the power of superstition, and love.

This is NOT My Sister the Serial Killer in anyway, but it is just as good, maybe even better.

Draft Review:
Braithwaite (My Sister, The Serial Killer) returns with a story drenched in supernatural unease and yet, bursting with love; a tale that embraces the power of superstition even as it fights to rid itself from it. The women of the Falodun Family live in Lagos, under one roof, united by a curse that has brought anxiety and sadness for generations. As the book opens, Monife drowns herself (in the year 2000) at age 25, while the same day, her younger cousin Edun, is giving birth to a daughter, Eniiyi, a baby that looks so much like Monife that all believe she is the dead girl’s reincarnation. Told in alternating pieces by the three women– Monife, Edun, and Eniiyi– in timelines spanning from 1994-2025, readers are immersed in a thought provoking story of a family, exploring the curse and the women from every possible angle. Can
Eniiyi break the curse? Maybe, but she definitely cannot do it alone. Character-centered, compelling, thought provoking, and at times, terrifying, Cursed Daughters will leave its mark, especially on those who think they don’t believe in curses.

Verdict: A stellar example of how an author can employ Horror elements to tell the story of a family, not only to invoke fear but also to unequivocally demand a break from the terrifying cycle of generational trauma. For fans of The Vanishing Half by Bennett, Little Eve by Ward, and The Silent Companion by Purcell.


Literary fiction with a strong Horror overlay. The specter of death and ghosts haunts the characters and drenches (word carefully chosen) the entire story is an unease that is impossible to shake.

3 main narrators told on 3 different timelines and broken up into pieces, but they cover:

Monife-- from 1994-2000 (commits suicide at age 25)

Edun-- from 2000-2006-- Monife's younger cousin Edun

Eniiyi-- from 2023-2025--Edun's daughter born the day Monife dies

This bits a pieces storytelling serves the story so well because we see the characters at different stages in their lives (even the ones without the POV) and through the eye of others. This makes the entire story stronger. Because it is character centered, the characters are developed organically while the story keeps moving, even as it overlaps with itself.

The Falodun Family Tree is included in the opening pages of the book. It is important because the daughters in this family have had a curse placed on them. Throughout the book, the history of the curse is shared. What is great about this book is that the fact that there is a curse is a given. Is it supernatural or just generational trauma-- both sometimes, one or the other other times.

As I said above, unease drenches this story. Monife walks into the water to die and then later that day-- Eniiyi is born and she looks EXACTLY like her dead cousin. Is she Monife reincarnated-- maybe. But does it matter if it is what everyone believes. There is evidence here that the supernatural has power in our world. But is it's power there to hold us back from escaping generational trauma.?

This is a great example of how Horror elements can permeate a story about a family and reveal the ghosts they are all hiding from in order to invoke fear but also demand putting an end to the generational trauma. For fans of The Vanishing Half by Bennett, Little Eve by Ward, and The Silent Companion by Purcell

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Het debuut van Oyinkan Braithwaite, Mijn zusje de seriemoordenaar, heb ik al drie keer herlezen. Dat bizar grappige moordverhaal over de onbreekbare band tussen twee zussen heeft een speciaal plekje in mijn hart 💕 Ik was dan ook heel gelukkig toen Vervloekte dochters plots in mijn brievenbus lag!

🇳🇬 Ook dit keer neemt Braithwaite ons mee naar Nigeria, maar in tegenstelling tot haar humoristische debuut is Vervloekte dochters donkerder van toon. In deze familiekroniek verweeft de auteur de verhalen van drie vrouwen: moeder, tante en dochter. Ze proberen te overleven in een wereld waarin de liefde levensgevaarlijk is. Op Eniiyi’s familie rust namelijk een vloek. Elke vrouw die liefheeft wordt gestraft. Wanneer Eniiyi verliefd wordt op een man die zij van de verdrinkingsdood redt, gaat ze de strijd aan met haar lot.

De twaalfjarige Ebun zei tegen de zestienjarige Monife dat ze niet in vloeken geloofde.
'Best,' zei Monife, tussen het langzaam kauwgom kauwen door, 'maar wat als de vloek in jou gelooft?'

Oyinkan Braithwaite neemt de lezer mee op sleeptouw in verschillende perspectieven doorheen tijd. Ze gebruikt korte en levendige zinnen, waardoor je door het verhaal vliegt. Onder de oppervlakte voel je voortdurende de dreiging van iets donkers. Het verhaal is niet écht eng, maar komen gaat is onafwendbaar.

✨ Met Vervloekte dochters levert Oyinkan Braithwaite een waardige opvolger van haar debuut. Misschien niet zo hilarisch (ik heb bij dit boek helaas niet luidop gelachen), maar minstens zo verslavend. Het onheilspellende verhaal heeft je vanaf de knappe proloog tot en met het ontroerende einde in haar greep.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

The woman of a Nigerian family are cursed. They are to be unlucky in love — able to find romance, but not to keep it. But is it the curse that ruins their relationships, or the fear of it? Are they truly under the power of some bad juju, or is it a self-fulfilling prophecy that drives their relationships to their ends? Is a curse made real by belief in it?

And is the youngest of the family, Eniiyi, the reincarnation of her aunt Monife, or is this another incarnation, that of one more superstition that poisons these women’s lives? And can she break free, or will she fall victim to the same fate that befell her aunt and the others in her lineage?

I enjoyed Oyinkan Braithwaite’s debut novel, My Sister The Serial Killer, but her second novel has really blown me away. On its surface this may sound like a story about these women’s romances, but it’s far more about the family dynamics between each other, and their connections and tensions — love, tradition, independence, hope, fear — are so rich and compelling.

Braithwaite’s voice is wonderful, weaving the characters’ stories across different timelines into a tapestry that spans generations. This novel is incredibly engaging, with a maturity in the writing that seamlessly blends dark humour and serious themes to create perfect balance. I’m going to be thinking about this novel for a while.