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The Cure #3
Limerence
No injection can cure love. Only life can do that.
Deep in the darkest tunnels hide the last of the resistance fighters. Hunted by the savage Furies and the ruthless Bloods, they live in constant peril. The only means of survival is to seek strength in family and find courage in love. So what happens when love is cured, scoured away, leaving death in its place?
In the final battle for freedom, there are no lines that won't be crossed. And for Josi this means becoming the creature she fears most of all: the girl with a blood moon heart.
The gripping conclusion to the dystopian trilogy The Cure, Limerence is a love story for the monsters within.
Perfect for fans of Pierce Brown, Laini Taylor and Maggie Stiefvater.
392 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2016
25 people are currently reading
306 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte McConaghy
22 books9,193 followersCharlotte McConaghy is the author of the New York Times, USA Today, and Indie Bestseller WILD DARK SHORE, named Amazon’s Best Book of the Year So Far for 2025; as well as the New York Times Bestseller ONCE THERE WERE WOLVES, winner of the Indie Book Award for Fiction 2022; and the international bestseller MIGRATIONS, a TIME Magazine Best Book of the Year and the Amazon Best Fiction Book of the Year for 2020.
She started her writing career with a number of SF/F titles for YA readers; MIGRATIONS was her first foray into adult literature.
Her books have been translated into more than 25 languages, and are being adapted for film and television. She lives in Sydney with her partner and two children.
She started her writing career with a number of SF/F titles for YA readers; MIGRATIONS was her first foray into adult literature.
Her books have been translated into more than 25 languages, and are being adapted for film and television. She lives in Sydney with her partner and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 22, 2016
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
There are so many YA dystopian clones out there that it really is hard to find a decently told story. With The Cure, I was fascinated by book one, disappointed with book 2, and back in love with book 3. By this volume, the author clearly hit her stride with the characters, each of which is nuanced and often very antihero. The story has a natural arc that finishes neatly but not sweetly. It's a fitting end to a really enjoyable tale.Story: As Josephine grows apart from Luke, things begin to unravel at the camp. When Jo refuses to kill the furies a division begins that could mean the end of the small group of rebels and lead to the entire City being 'cured'.
With the first book, we were introduced to an intriguing set of characters - Josephine who becomes a monster with a blood moon, the doctor trying to understand/help her, and the Blood warrior sent to watch her and remove her. It made for a great story since so much was unexpected. With book 2, all of the tension and originality flew out the window for a story of cat fights and moodiness. With book 3, all the original thinking and action is back to conclude the story in a really satisfying manner. Honestly, I would have just excised all of book 2 since it didn't further the story.
Writing an entire series in a non-linear fashion can be either intriguing or disastrous. Fortunately, the conceit not only works here but it makes the story even better. Hints, traps, unexpected changes in personalities all work to pull the reader in to find out what happened or what will happen. It makes for short chapters of several view points and small or large jumps in chronology. I should have hated it (and have hated that style in nearly every other book that I've read) but it is just so effective here.
Author McConaghy really hit her stride with this book 3, with each of the characters fully realized and heavily nuanced. This isn't a sappy YA dystopian romance. And there are plenty of twists and turns along the way. If I had a nitpick, it's that this is very Australian in places. I kind of wish it had been identified as taking place in Oz beforehand rather than made to seem like a random US city.
In all, I greatly enjoyed books one and two for presenting a vicious anti-hero as the heroine of a YA dystopian. And for giving us a strong character who doesn't fall apart whenever the 'hunky' guy comes along. Yes, I'd prefer to forget book 2 completely but that doesn't detract at all from book 3. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
March 25, 2016
A view weeks ago I began reading this amazing series by starting in the first book ‘Fury’. Shortly after I began reading the second book ‘Melancholy’. And soon it was time to read the last book in the series called ‘Limerence’. I was really looking forward to reading this last book, but I was also dreading it. I loved this series from the very first page in ‘Fury’, and although I really wanted to know how this story would end, I really wasn’t ready to let this series and the characters go.
“Limerence is romantic love. Desperate, aching, shivering, can’t think, can’t eat, can’t sleep love. It’s the obsessive demanding part of love that turns us into slaves.”
In ‘Limerence’ we re-enter the world of Josephine and Luke. A lot has happened since the ending of ‘Melancholy’ and the beginning of ‘Limerence’. And it definitely was a little shocking to find out how Josephine and Luke were now, months later. But thankfully, this book, just like the other two books, is written from the past and the future. During the story we switch from the past to the future and back again. This is such an interesting way of writing, and it made this story even more intense than it already was.
Throughout this book a lot of questions I had since the beginning of this series were answered. And a lot of these answers were definitely not what I expected. Just as with the first two book I devoured the pages of ‘Limerence’. I just loved it so much. Charlotte McConaghy definitely has a way of making you feel all kinds of emotions while reading this series. At the end of ‘Limerence’ I honestly felt like I had been riding a roller-coaster. I was sad, devastated, confused, happy and above all I was touched. This series was so intense and I really came to love those two main characters Josephine and Luke.
A lot is happening in ‘Limerence’ and there were definitely some shocking developments. This book definitely made me ‘oehh’ and ‘aww’ out loud at times. Other moments I just didn’t know how I would be able to keep sitting because it just became so intense.
The world were Josephine and Luke life in, is definitely terrible but also has it’s beautiful parts. I find it really impressive that a person can come up with a world like this. And also being able to make the readers still fall in love with this this world and all the creatures that lived inside it. I just loved getting to know this world and the characters. Josephine and Luke definitely are characters I will remember for a long time.
And now, although I am sad that it ended.. I couldn’t have wished for a better ending to this series. This series definitely is one of my favorites and I’m getting those paperbacks, because this series just needs to be on my bookshelf.
“Limerence is romantic love. Desperate, aching, shivering, can’t think, can’t eat, can’t sleep love. It’s the obsessive demanding part of love that turns us into slaves.”
In ‘Limerence’ we re-enter the world of Josephine and Luke. A lot has happened since the ending of ‘Melancholy’ and the beginning of ‘Limerence’. And it definitely was a little shocking to find out how Josephine and Luke were now, months later. But thankfully, this book, just like the other two books, is written from the past and the future. During the story we switch from the past to the future and back again. This is such an interesting way of writing, and it made this story even more intense than it already was.
Throughout this book a lot of questions I had since the beginning of this series were answered. And a lot of these answers were definitely not what I expected. Just as with the first two book I devoured the pages of ‘Limerence’. I just loved it so much. Charlotte McConaghy definitely has a way of making you feel all kinds of emotions while reading this series. At the end of ‘Limerence’ I honestly felt like I had been riding a roller-coaster. I was sad, devastated, confused, happy and above all I was touched. This series was so intense and I really came to love those two main characters Josephine and Luke.
A lot is happening in ‘Limerence’ and there were definitely some shocking developments. This book definitely made me ‘oehh’ and ‘aww’ out loud at times. Other moments I just didn’t know how I would be able to keep sitting because it just became so intense.
The world were Josephine and Luke life in, is definitely terrible but also has it’s beautiful parts. I find it really impressive that a person can come up with a world like this. And also being able to make the readers still fall in love with this this world and all the creatures that lived inside it. I just loved getting to know this world and the characters. Josephine and Luke definitely are characters I will remember for a long time.
And now, although I am sad that it ended.. I couldn’t have wished for a better ending to this series. This series definitely is one of my favorites and I’m getting those paperbacks, because this series just needs to be on my bookshelf.
March 24, 2016
I couldn't be happier with the fact that this novel picked up with just as much speed as the second ended. Pieces of the puzzle began pulling together almost immediately, and this was a very different puzzle from what readers saw in the other two books. The very opening contained another surprising plot twist, which seems to be a continuous thing with McConaghy's work. I cannot even count the number of times in this novel that I was blindsided by something I never expected, and that made things all the more compelling for me. Like with the first one, I was so drawn in by the events, by the characters, and by the author's writing style that I forgot to do anything but read.
The action itself might have been enough, but McConaghy went so much deeper with this novel. Emotions are such a complex concept, and by creating a society that strove to eliminate them, she dropped us hard right in the middle of something many of us struggle to fully understand. It probably would have been easier for her to leave loose ends and gloss over humanity as if things were not truly as difficult as they are. But McConaghy certainly did not cut corners or take the easy way out. Every dirty detail of what these characters we've grown to love are going through is dealt with. There is not a single thing that is overlooked, and readers are dragged right into the heart of the complexity of love, which truly is a much larger concept than most of us will ever understand.
As if that feat alone wasn't enough to prove that McConaghy is brave enough to tackle difficult concepts and brilliant enough to fill in all the gaps, she walked us through unthinkable changes in characters and worked to give us ways to understand monsters as something more, to see the humanity even in things we wouldn't think to look for it in. I can easily say that she is one of my favorite modern writers. I don't think I've ever connected so firmly with a set of characters as I have with these. Not only am I invested in the outcome of the events in the book, I am invested in their growth, development, and progress as individuals. This has been my favorite installment in the series by far, if only because it raises huge and very important questions, the most notable being not what you would die for, but what you would live for.
The author's very Australian slang does pull through a bit in this one, as well, and I did find myself googling things again. Honestly, though, I didn't mind at all. I rather liked having the opportunity to educate myself in that manner and many of the meanings are simple enough to decipher through context clues. Again, though, I was unable to give this novel 5 stars just because I can't recommend it to everyone. Each of these three novels contained suicide triggers, and the ones in this book were by far the most intense if only because readers are seeing the suicidal urges through the eyes of the person experiencing them. Readers should definitely be cautious about that because it is a particularly jarring thing to read about if you are not prepared for it.
The only legitimate complaint I have is that I want more! This is the last book in the series, and the plot ties up nicely. But I'm hopelessly addicted to these characters and I want so much more. I want to know their future. I want to see if the changes they started actually last. I want to see them continue to grow. Everything has to end, though, and this is a particularly fitting ending for this series.
The action itself might have been enough, but McConaghy went so much deeper with this novel. Emotions are such a complex concept, and by creating a society that strove to eliminate them, she dropped us hard right in the middle of something many of us struggle to fully understand. It probably would have been easier for her to leave loose ends and gloss over humanity as if things were not truly as difficult as they are. But McConaghy certainly did not cut corners or take the easy way out. Every dirty detail of what these characters we've grown to love are going through is dealt with. There is not a single thing that is overlooked, and readers are dragged right into the heart of the complexity of love, which truly is a much larger concept than most of us will ever understand.
As if that feat alone wasn't enough to prove that McConaghy is brave enough to tackle difficult concepts and brilliant enough to fill in all the gaps, she walked us through unthinkable changes in characters and worked to give us ways to understand monsters as something more, to see the humanity even in things we wouldn't think to look for it in. I can easily say that she is one of my favorite modern writers. I don't think I've ever connected so firmly with a set of characters as I have with these. Not only am I invested in the outcome of the events in the book, I am invested in their growth, development, and progress as individuals. This has been my favorite installment in the series by far, if only because it raises huge and very important questions, the most notable being not what you would die for, but what you would live for.
The author's very Australian slang does pull through a bit in this one, as well, and I did find myself googling things again. Honestly, though, I didn't mind at all. I rather liked having the opportunity to educate myself in that manner and many of the meanings are simple enough to decipher through context clues. Again, though, I was unable to give this novel 5 stars just because I can't recommend it to everyone. Each of these three novels contained suicide triggers, and the ones in this book were by far the most intense if only because readers are seeing the suicidal urges through the eyes of the person experiencing them. Readers should definitely be cautious about that because it is a particularly jarring thing to read about if you are not prepared for it.
The only legitimate complaint I have is that I want more! This is the last book in the series, and the plot ties up nicely. But I'm hopelessly addicted to these characters and I want so much more. I want to know their future. I want to see if the changes they started actually last. I want to see them continue to grow. Everything has to end, though, and this is a particularly fitting ending for this series.
June 28, 2016
THOUGHTS WHEN I FINISHED:
This was the perfect ending in my opinion. It was a little sad but then also a little happy. It gave me so many feelings but in the end I decided that they were good feelings because it was a different kind of ending.
WHAT I LOVED:
So in the first book, I said I didn’t like how the author was switching back and forth between the past and present. After finishing this book I changed my mind. I think I actually really like that style. It made the book feel a little mysterious because we don’t know what happened leading up to the present time. Even our other characters don’t know what was happening.
I was really glad to see that we got to meet even more characters this time. Zach was a surprisingly interesting character and I wished we could have seen more of him. It’s understandable why we didn’t though because he’s meant to be mysterious. Same with another special character who I won’t name because it’s a spoiler. It was interesting that the author brought him into play. Even our regular characters were all great. Josephine went through the most changes in this book and it was a little strange at first. I would have liked to see her end up a little different but her ending was still nice.
My favourite part of this book was easily the ending. I obviously knew some things were going to happen like a fight for control over the city but it was the very end that surprised me. I was suspicious of a spy the whole book, because they keep mentioning it so your guard is up. I didn’t guess the spy until the very, very end which was great because it was pretty obvious. I especially liked the epilogue sort of part. We see a little glimpse of how the city turns out after the big fight but then everyone chooses happiness over duty. I just found it very satisfying to see that even though these characters are fighting for their freedom, they just want change instead of wanting to be the people in charge. I don’t know if any of that made any sense because I’m trying not to spoil anything. Just know it was a different but satisfying ending for a dystopia series.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
The parts where we were reading about the past were a little strange this time. In the first book, the past sections were a story leading up to what was happening in the present. This was the case here as well except I found it wasn’t really a story. It was just some events that happened, and they were really strange events. I didn’t really see the purpose of those parts or how they fit into the story. It was just strange that’s all.
I was a little disappointed with the romance in this story. Josephine ended up being very distant from Luke so we didn’t get to see as much of them together as we did in book two. The ending did make up for a lot of my disappointment revolving around this though. Props to the author for distracting me.
WHO I’D RECOMMEND TO:
I’d recommend this to people who are tired of dystopia books all being the same. This was a nice pick me up for that genre. I was seriously considering dropping it for good. I found that while this story still had all the same qualities as a dystopia book (the world, the rebellion, the final fight), the author still presented them in a unique and refreshing way. I have also never read a new adult dystopia book before so it was really nice having all these characters be the same age as me.
This was the perfect ending in my opinion. It was a little sad but then also a little happy. It gave me so many feelings but in the end I decided that they were good feelings because it was a different kind of ending.
WHAT I LOVED:
So in the first book, I said I didn’t like how the author was switching back and forth between the past and present. After finishing this book I changed my mind. I think I actually really like that style. It made the book feel a little mysterious because we don’t know what happened leading up to the present time. Even our other characters don’t know what was happening.
I was really glad to see that we got to meet even more characters this time. Zach was a surprisingly interesting character and I wished we could have seen more of him. It’s understandable why we didn’t though because he’s meant to be mysterious. Same with another special character who I won’t name because it’s a spoiler. It was interesting that the author brought him into play. Even our regular characters were all great. Josephine went through the most changes in this book and it was a little strange at first. I would have liked to see her end up a little different but her ending was still nice.
My favourite part of this book was easily the ending. I obviously knew some things were going to happen like a fight for control over the city but it was the very end that surprised me. I was suspicious of a spy the whole book, because they keep mentioning it so your guard is up. I didn’t guess the spy until the very, very end which was great because it was pretty obvious. I especially liked the epilogue sort of part. We see a little glimpse of how the city turns out after the big fight but then everyone chooses happiness over duty. I just found it very satisfying to see that even though these characters are fighting for their freedom, they just want change instead of wanting to be the people in charge. I don’t know if any of that made any sense because I’m trying not to spoil anything. Just know it was a different but satisfying ending for a dystopia series.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
The parts where we were reading about the past were a little strange this time. In the first book, the past sections were a story leading up to what was happening in the present. This was the case here as well except I found it wasn’t really a story. It was just some events that happened, and they were really strange events. I didn’t really see the purpose of those parts or how they fit into the story. It was just strange that’s all.
I was a little disappointed with the romance in this story. Josephine ended up being very distant from Luke so we didn’t get to see as much of them together as we did in book two. The ending did make up for a lot of my disappointment revolving around this though. Props to the author for distracting me.
WHO I’D RECOMMEND TO:
I’d recommend this to people who are tired of dystopia books all being the same. This was a nice pick me up for that genre. I was seriously considering dropping it for good. I found that while this story still had all the same qualities as a dystopia book (the world, the rebellion, the final fight), the author still presented them in a unique and refreshing way. I have also never read a new adult dystopia book before so it was really nice having all these characters be the same age as me.
December 31, 2018
This is the best book in the series and a great way to wrap up the story. There are some amazing twists in the plot as we go places the series has never been. It did take me a bit to get the characters timeline straight in my head but that was minor. An excellent read that I couldn't put down.
5 stars!
Finally YAY I finished a series!!!!!!
5 stars!
Finally YAY I finished a series!!!!!!
May 18, 2019
Bravo, bravo, bravo! Standing ovación for Limerence by Charlotte McConaghy. It has been several years since I have blogged...Life and such/ BUT I am back! Man oh man so happy to make my return to reviews using this wonderful work of art. McConaghy does an excellent job of making you feel through these broken characters. This is the third installment of a dystopian tale that is set after a major plague has wiped out most of humanity. This book is not only clever, but it is also cleverly written. We jump from present to past, to very past, and the beginning of each chapter has the date of where that character is at that moment. In this installment we get 3 points of view and they are smashingly good!
Full Review @: http://www.abookishescape.com/2019/05...
Full Review @: http://www.abookishescape.com/2019/05...
July 24, 2025
This book is such an emotion it breaks and makes your heart soo many times and at the end it binds all things together soo beautifully with perfect balance of not too many characters and a story line that continuously indulges you it's a marvelously written classic work of literature..It’s about the aftermath — of violence, love, loss, mistrust and how people live with their broken pieces yet perfect..Must Read
April 25, 2016
Can you imagine a world where emotions are stripped from you? They call it a cure to make a better humanity. After the world is racked by plagues, which manages to kill hundreds of thousands, we live in a world just like that. Emotions such anger, sadness and now love are stripped from us to make us basically lifeless drones. The country lives behind walls and are policed by the bloods super human soldiers incapable of feelings. The government is overseen by one sick and twisted man, who has everyone scared to even act out against him as he bends the world to his will and follow his dream. Not all hope is lost because deep in the sewers, past all the furies the creatures that have been created from the failures of the first attempts to cure the human race. The furies are a blood thirsty creature whom are misunderstood, but live by a thirst for human flesh that make them mindless all in their own. Past these creatures is a group called the resistance, they are a group of about 100 or more, they are lead by Luke, a former blood who has fallen madly in love with the second leader of the resistance Josie, also known as Dual for her dual colored eyes. Follow this power couple as they deal with the loss of each other as Luke is captured by bloods for 3 months plus and Josie is swept away by the furies after she saves a family of seven from the clutches of the furies after they attempt to escape the wall. Josie makes a bond with the furies and comes to realize that they aren't truly mindless creatures but intelligent and caring. She eventually makes her way back to the resistance only to find out Luke has gone missing. She sets out to save Luke but is in for more than she is ready to bite off after finding out that his long lost brother is not dead but actually alive. He’s being held captive. This will lead to more drama and a thorn than any of them are aware blinded by love. They are all mostly unaware of the mole in the group. But all still stands, they need to save the world and over throw the current government all while battling to fight for a love that seems impossible to hold onto. Will they be able win and make the world truly a better place? Does true love conquer all even when it seems worlds away? Give this book a chance and find out. It is amazingly written making it a must read. I hope you enjoy and be sure to show the author some love afterwards.
March 26, 2016
This is a beautiful book and a fitting conclusion to a wonderful series. As soon as I finished reading Limerence I wanted to pick up Fury and start the first book in the series again! Charlotte McConaghy demonstrates once more, masterful story-telling and acute insights into the mysteries of the human condition. This series deserves re-reading, again and again.
September 29, 2016
Great read
I loved this series. Once started I could not put it down. ..... ..... ...... ..... ..... .... .... ..
I loved this series. Once started I could not put it down. ..... ..... ...... ..... ..... .... .... ..
December 20, 2016
I loved the book. But the ending was a bit... anticlimactic.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews