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The Glass Spare #2
The Cursed Sea
The second in an exciting fantasy duology about a princess cursed to turn any living thing she touches into gemstone from Lauren DeStefano, the bestselling author of the Chemical Garden series. Perfect for fans of Shannon Hale and Renée Ahdieh.
Wil, the exiled princess of northern Arrod, must do what she never thought return home to discover the origins of her own curse.
But home is very different from how she left it—Wil’s unpredictable elder brother Baren is now king, leading a war against the Southern Isles. And with time running out, Wil must navigate the dangerous secrets within her family to find the truth.
Nothing goes as planned, and suddenly Wil and her allies are fighting for their lives as the Southern king is out to ensure neither of his children will survive to take the throne. Traveling across cursed seas and treacherous kingdoms, Wil and Loom must make peace with their pasts if they hope to secure the future of their world.
But when their plans lead them right back to evil marveler Pahn, and to Baren—who is more dangerous than ever—can Wil and her friends outsmart their enemies, this time for good?
Wil, the exiled princess of northern Arrod, must do what she never thought return home to discover the origins of her own curse.
But home is very different from how she left it—Wil’s unpredictable elder brother Baren is now king, leading a war against the Southern Isles. And with time running out, Wil must navigate the dangerous secrets within her family to find the truth.
Nothing goes as planned, and suddenly Wil and her allies are fighting for their lives as the Southern king is out to ensure neither of his children will survive to take the throne. Traveling across cursed seas and treacherous kingdoms, Wil and Loom must make peace with their pasts if they hope to secure the future of their world.
But when their plans lead them right back to evil marveler Pahn, and to Baren—who is more dangerous than ever—can Wil and her friends outsmart their enemies, this time for good?
397 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 18, 2018
190 people are currently reading
8393 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 381 reviews
December 31, 2018
Fabulous!
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
December 27, 2018
Rating: 2.5
It felt like this book was completely detached from the first one and shouldn’t have existed in the first place.
It felt like this book was completely detached from the first one and shouldn’t have existed in the first place.
February 23, 2019
I am sad. I LOVED The Glass Spare but this book felt like a. the author didn't know what she wanted to happen OR b. she wanted lots of things to happen but the pacing was terrible.
*cries into forever*
*cries into forever*
December 31, 2020
It took a while, but I finally reached out and grabbed this book. It was long overdue; I dragged my feet for too long before finally deciding to read it, and get some closure on this story.
FULL SPOILERY REVIEW: http://abookandateacup.blogspot.com/2...
FULL SPOILERY REVIEW: http://abookandateacup.blogspot.com/2...
May 11, 2019
A satisfying end to an underrated duology.
March 30, 2019
Ever since I read The Glass Spare last year, I couldn’t quite get it out of my head for some reason. So I was really looking forward to its sequel. I gotta be real here, I wasn’t disappointed but I wasn’t surprised either. I had some high hopes, but this fell short for me. This is my dilemma with duologies, that the second book won’t live up to the first, and unfortunately that was the case here. But this really wasn’t so bad as you might think—I really liked some of the elements—but those didn’t add up overall.
What I liked:
- I adored all the relationships, especially the familial ones. Now that I think about it, this series quite abundant with (mostly) positive familial relationships. I love that. It’s quite different from the backstabbing-relatives portrayal in modern YA
- I enjoyed reading more about Wil’s power and its origin. I’ve always found her ability really interesting (which is kind of why I picked these books in the first place), so that was refreshing to learn about. There are still some blank spaces, but I’m otherwise satisfied
- Loom’s sister (oops I forgot her name and I’m too lazy to look it up tbh) and Masali! I really liked how we got to see a different side of her, and Masali was so surprisingly kind…aw I love her.
- The writing—I know these books have some weird info dumps and/or gaps, but there’s no doubt that DeStefano’s writing is utterly beautiful. I love her imagery, her characters, and her dialogue. I’ll certainly check out more books by her in the future
What I didn’t like:
- For a book that read like it was constantly being built up, the ending was very rushed. The fight scenes were also anticlimactic and felt like they were staged. Some characters were killed off too easily. This was a huge bummer for me
- Wil’s self-blame/self-pity got annoying sometimes, to the point where it wasn’t going anywhere. I like it when a character works through their inner conflict, but her cycle was basically “oh crap this is all my fault” then “Loom I’m such a wreck” and poor Loom trying to make her feel better. Ehhh, no
- The tension and angst don’t last very long? Or not as long as I’d like for it to, at least. Ok, here’s the thing with relationships: if it’s perfect, it’s not realistic. And if the conflicts within the relationship just dissipate without a legit explanation, it’s not realistic either. Pls don’t make me set up unrealistic expectations for my relationships; I already have enough for boyfriends as it is
- The pacing was difficult to catch up with, there’s so much info trying to get squeezed in
- We got like…2 scenes with Abe. I imagined him being quite noisy and extroverted in the previous book, so I don’t know what happened here. I’d have loved to see more of him
- I saw like 90% of the twists coming. Even when something got mildly interesting, it eventually falls back to that predictable stance again
I’d highly recommend this series if you love a light fantasy with light politics. If you like asking a lot of questions and are looking for political intrigue, this isn’t the book for you. I enjoyed this series, but I’m probably not gonna be thinking about it anytime soon. That being said, I’ll still check out the author’s other works in the future!
What I liked:
- I adored all the relationships, especially the familial ones. Now that I think about it, this series quite abundant with (mostly) positive familial relationships. I love that. It’s quite different from the backstabbing-relatives portrayal in modern YA
- I enjoyed reading more about Wil’s power and its origin. I’ve always found her ability really interesting (which is kind of why I picked these books in the first place), so that was refreshing to learn about. There are still some blank spaces, but I’m otherwise satisfied
- Loom’s sister (oops I forgot her name and I’m too lazy to look it up tbh) and Masali! I really liked how we got to see a different side of her, and Masali was so surprisingly kind…aw I love her.
- The writing—I know these books have some weird info dumps and/or gaps, but there’s no doubt that DeStefano’s writing is utterly beautiful. I love her imagery, her characters, and her dialogue. I’ll certainly check out more books by her in the future
What I didn’t like:
- For a book that read like it was constantly being built up, the ending was very rushed. The fight scenes were also anticlimactic and felt like they were staged. Some characters were killed off too easily. This was a huge bummer for me
- Wil’s self-blame/self-pity got annoying sometimes, to the point where it wasn’t going anywhere. I like it when a character works through their inner conflict, but her cycle was basically “oh crap this is all my fault” then “Loom I’m such a wreck” and poor Loom trying to make her feel better. Ehhh, no
- The tension and angst don’t last very long? Or not as long as I’d like for it to, at least. Ok, here’s the thing with relationships: if it’s perfect, it’s not realistic. And if the conflicts within the relationship just dissipate without a legit explanation, it’s not realistic either. Pls don’t make me set up unrealistic expectations for my relationships; I already have enough for boyfriends as it is
- The pacing was difficult to catch up with, there’s so much info trying to get squeezed in
- We got like…2 scenes with Abe. I imagined him being quite noisy and extroverted in the previous book, so I don’t know what happened here. I’d have loved to see more of him
- I saw like 90% of the twists coming. Even when something got mildly interesting, it eventually falls back to that predictable stance again
I’d highly recommend this series if you love a light fantasy with light politics. If you like asking a lot of questions and are looking for political intrigue, this isn’t the book for you. I enjoyed this series, but I’m probably not gonna be thinking about it anytime soon. That being said, I’ll still check out the author’s other works in the future!
no-thanks
June 17, 2018why so pretty
August 27, 2019
2 stars.
This was such a disappointment. I was expecting more especially since this is a duology but I might've put my expectations on a high pedestal. And now I'm beyond disappointed. Disappointed in myself for thinking this would be a good ending and disappointed in the book as a whole.
I'm giving it 2 stars because there was at least one thing that saved this book from being a 1 star. However, the flaws outweigh the positives by a lot.
The Cursed Sea takes place immediately after The Glass Spare. The kingdom has changed drastically and Wil has to not only try and stop her brother from starting a war with a rival country, but she also has to find the origin of her curse and stop an all-out war from happening.
The Cursed Sea should've been a good follow up to the Glass Spare but reading it, the story and characters were so disconnected from the first book that I find it hard to believe that it is a direct sequel considering how much I liked the first one.
Problems began to show when I started to notice the pacing of the story. It was fast and slow. How? Well, it was fast because there were lots of jumping from scene to scene. When that wasn't happening, the slow parts got in the way of any story progress in favor of the characters interacting with each other. Which isn't a bad thing if it means we get character development, but the pacing got in the way of that. I was wanting for chapters to end so I could get to the next.
What about the characters? That's kind of complicated for me to talk about. Not that it has anything to do with spoilers, but I can't wrap my head around them and their thoughts and actions. I liked Wil in the first book but here she was too impulsive. Loom didn't change all that much. I liked Zay but she didn't change as much from the first book. We also get Espel - Loom's sister - and her guardian Masalee as new additions but even they were too one-dimensional.
Finally, the plot. The plot is straightforward: Wil has to find the origin of her curse and prevent a war from happening. Simple, right? I wish it was, my friend. I wish it was. The pacing and the static characters somehow made the plot dull and not as engaging as it was before. The stakes were not as high and Wil's goals felt so bland.
As for the saving grace I mentioned earlier, DeStefano's writing is still top-notch. From her Chemical Garden trilogy to the Internment trilogy, each of her books has great writing. It was almost like flowery prose but not too much. But alas, great writing did not save this book.
Verdict
The Cursed Sea reminds me a lot of The Everlasting Rose. Both books are rushed products that had the potential but were nothing but disappointments. The Cursed Sea is a cursed book of itself.
Thanks for reading my review!
-Cesar
This was such a disappointment. I was expecting more especially since this is a duology but I might've put my expectations on a high pedestal. And now I'm beyond disappointed. Disappointed in myself for thinking this would be a good ending and disappointed in the book as a whole.
I'm giving it 2 stars because there was at least one thing that saved this book from being a 1 star. However, the flaws outweigh the positives by a lot.
The Cursed Sea takes place immediately after The Glass Spare. The kingdom has changed drastically and Wil has to not only try and stop her brother from starting a war with a rival country, but she also has to find the origin of her curse and stop an all-out war from happening.
The Cursed Sea should've been a good follow up to the Glass Spare but reading it, the story and characters were so disconnected from the first book that I find it hard to believe that it is a direct sequel considering how much I liked the first one.
Problems began to show when I started to notice the pacing of the story. It was fast and slow. How? Well, it was fast because there were lots of jumping from scene to scene. When that wasn't happening, the slow parts got in the way of any story progress in favor of the characters interacting with each other. Which isn't a bad thing if it means we get character development, but the pacing got in the way of that. I was wanting for chapters to end so I could get to the next.
What about the characters? That's kind of complicated for me to talk about. Not that it has anything to do with spoilers, but I can't wrap my head around them and their thoughts and actions. I liked Wil in the first book but here she was too impulsive. Loom didn't change all that much. I liked Zay but she didn't change as much from the first book. We also get Espel - Loom's sister - and her guardian Masalee as new additions but even they were too one-dimensional.
Finally, the plot. The plot is straightforward: Wil has to find the origin of her curse and prevent a war from happening. Simple, right? I wish it was, my friend. I wish it was. The pacing and the static characters somehow made the plot dull and not as engaging as it was before. The stakes were not as high and Wil's goals felt so bland.
As for the saving grace I mentioned earlier, DeStefano's writing is still top-notch. From her Chemical Garden trilogy to the Internment trilogy, each of her books has great writing. It was almost like flowery prose but not too much. But alas, great writing did not save this book.
Verdict
The Cursed Sea reminds me a lot of The Everlasting Rose. Both books are rushed products that had the potential but were nothing but disappointments. The Cursed Sea is a cursed book of itself.
Thanks for reading my review!
-Cesar
May 16, 2019
3.5 stars.
I was really looking forward to reading this sequel, since the Glass Spare was so much fun to read.
There were definitely some expectations present before starting this book. Some of them, were lived up too but some of them weren't either. I think this is partly because of the fact that it's a duology? IDK, but I'd preferred it, I think, if there'd be a third book so the author could've expanded things a bit more and so she could've focused on a more detailed ending.
What I thought could've been handled a bit better
The switching in POV was often a bit chaotic in my experience. I like it more if there are obvious points in a book there's being switched in POV, by using names on the top of the pages for example or the start of an entire new chapter. That way you're in the loop of knowing there's another POV you're reading, which now often wasn't the case. It was a bit chaotic for me to have to find out for myself while starting a new paragraph, that there was a switch in POV all of a sudden. That was the only thing about the set-up that bothered me a bit.
The build up towards the ending was quite huge and then the Ending itself felt quite rushed to me. Everything gets wrapped up, so that's not an issue, but I would've liked there to be so more expansion written into some scenes, you know? Some things were over so quickly and therefore it felt like one thing fell into the next. I think the author wanted to go this way so things would feel exciting and exhilarating for the reader and to make it fast-paced, but I think the elaboration of it all lacked a bit, which is a bit of a shame.
Even though, a lot of things get answered, there are still some questions I'm being left with or answers I would've liked to be more expanded. Like Wil's power for example. I loved this particular power she had right from the start. It was original and intriguing to read about. I would've liked to be able to read more about it. It felt like it was being put into the background a lot in this second book (which I can understand up to a point because story-line developing is important too), and this is yet another reason I feel that a trilogy would've been better here so the author could've used the second book to tell more about this particular power and elaborate some more on Wil's hunt for some answers about it. So yeah, there should've been more possible with this in my opinion.
What I absolutely loved
As in the first book, I love the characters present and their development in the story-line. Whether I'm talking about the main characters or the minor ones. I really love them all. There are some kickass female characters and some swoon worthy male characters and I think the author really did all of them justice. They complement one another perfectly. I love the fact that Loom's sister, Espel and her guard Masali, are more present in this one and that we get to see them in a whole other lighting. They were a beautiful addition to the story-line development in my opinion.
I am in so love with the authors writing. It's so beautiful! Even though, there are some 'gaps/underdevelopment' present in the story, the writing itself is utterly enthralling to me and I couldn't get enough of it. I finished the book within a day, so that says enough, right? I am really looking forward to read more books by this author. There's an open enough ending, that definitely gives the author the opportunity to continue writing in this world, so fingers crossed.
So, yeah... Overall, I really liked the book. Sure, as I've mentioned, it had some flaws in my opinion, but this duology in general was just really fun to read and is a nice addition to the YA genre. It has some really fun and interesting characters to read about, a good enough world building with some court politics, the author's writing is so beautiful and enchanting. There's action and adventure, a bit of magic, there's betrayal, there's laughter, love and sadness. It has all the ingredients to be a story I'd really recommend to get yourself aquatinted with < You have to be aware though that this is a book that is for readers that love a light fantasy with light politics from time to time and not expect a book that has you guessing throughout it the entire time seeing it's quite predictable. The predictability didn't ruin it for me though, but it is a reason why I gave the rating that I did. But it definitely was enjoyable nonetheless! I for one, am excited to see what more there's to come from this author in the future and be looking back with a smile to this reading experience.
I was really looking forward to reading this sequel, since the Glass Spare was so much fun to read.
There were definitely some expectations present before starting this book. Some of them, were lived up too but some of them weren't either. I think this is partly because of the fact that it's a duology? IDK, but I'd preferred it, I think, if there'd be a third book so the author could've expanded things a bit more and so she could've focused on a more detailed ending.
What I thought could've been handled a bit better
The switching in POV was often a bit chaotic in my experience. I like it more if there are obvious points in a book there's being switched in POV, by using names on the top of the pages for example or the start of an entire new chapter. That way you're in the loop of knowing there's another POV you're reading, which now often wasn't the case. It was a bit chaotic for me to have to find out for myself while starting a new paragraph, that there was a switch in POV all of a sudden. That was the only thing about the set-up that bothered me a bit.
The build up towards the ending was quite huge and then the Ending itself felt quite rushed to me. Everything gets wrapped up, so that's not an issue, but I would've liked there to be so more expansion written into some scenes, you know? Some things were over so quickly and therefore it felt like one thing fell into the next. I think the author wanted to go this way so things would feel exciting and exhilarating for the reader and to make it fast-paced, but I think the elaboration of it all lacked a bit, which is a bit of a shame.
Even though, a lot of things get answered, there are still some questions I'm being left with or answers I would've liked to be more expanded. Like Wil's power for example. I loved this particular power she had right from the start. It was original and intriguing to read about. I would've liked to be able to read more about it. It felt like it was being put into the background a lot in this second book (which I can understand up to a point because story-line developing is important too), and this is yet another reason I feel that a trilogy would've been better here so the author could've used the second book to tell more about this particular power and elaborate some more on Wil's hunt for some answers about it. So yeah, there should've been more possible with this in my opinion.
What I absolutely loved
As in the first book, I love the characters present and their development in the story-line. Whether I'm talking about the main characters or the minor ones. I really love them all. There are some kickass female characters and some swoon worthy male characters and I think the author really did all of them justice. They complement one another perfectly. I love the fact that Loom's sister, Espel and her guard Masali, are more present in this one and that we get to see them in a whole other lighting. They were a beautiful addition to the story-line development in my opinion.
I am in so love with the authors writing. It's so beautiful! Even though, there are some 'gaps/underdevelopment' present in the story, the writing itself is utterly enthralling to me and I couldn't get enough of it. I finished the book within a day, so that says enough, right? I am really looking forward to read more books by this author. There's an open enough ending, that definitely gives the author the opportunity to continue writing in this world, so fingers crossed.
So, yeah... Overall, I really liked the book. Sure, as I've mentioned, it had some flaws in my opinion, but this duology in general was just really fun to read and is a nice addition to the YA genre. It has some really fun and interesting characters to read about, a good enough world building with some court politics, the author's writing is so beautiful and enchanting. There's action and adventure, a bit of magic, there's betrayal, there's laughter, love and sadness. It has all the ingredients to be a story I'd really recommend to get yourself aquatinted with < You have to be aware though that this is a book that is for readers that love a light fantasy with light politics from time to time and not expect a book that has you guessing throughout it the entire time seeing it's quite predictable. The predictability didn't ruin it for me though, but it is a reason why I gave the rating that I did. But it definitely was enjoyable nonetheless! I for one, am excited to see what more there's to come from this author in the future and be looking back with a smile to this reading experience.
January 4, 2019
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[ ALERT: Can't remember what happened in The Glass Spare?
Visit my new blog Recap the Rapture for in-depth recaps of some of your favorite books!]
--3.45 stars--
I have so many questions...
That was SUCH a rushed ending. Like you don't know what happens to anyone! holy moly it is clear the author got lazy before Loom and Espel fight the final battle.
I kept waiting for the magic system to really develop and it just never did. Like so many of their problems are solved by magic marvelry. I still don't even know what it really is, how it got there, what populations has it, how do people feel about it, what does it allow yoy
To do.? Like, the answer to anything is generally "Oh, Masalee can just fix it with her Marvelry". Hello, I still don't understand what her limitations are, is there a down side? What can't you do??
Take heed! The next part is FULL of spoilers!
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Like I said, I have so many questions about the ending
I just finished Cursed Sea, and it was decent, but I have SO many questions
1. What happened to Baren in the end ?
2. What happened to Zay after?
3. What the hec are Loom and Wil doing with their lives
4. Does Addeny ever get to remarry?
5. Wil's curse made no sense. She says it changes. Then says it's temporarily gone, then in the epilogue she can still change stuff into stone?
6. Can Ada and Raya get married plz?
7. Why the hell don't Wil and Look right letters letting the other know they're alive and plan to meet up. Instead Wil goes into Random exile instead of rendezvousing with Loom, and Loom decides she's not returning and better off without him. WHAT? After all that nonsense!?!?
8. Did she just decide to make Espel and Masalee good half way through book 2, because I dunno,. They kinda just came out of no was heros
Overall, fairly dissapointing, compared to the first, but I still liked the story and writing a good bit. Still desperately hoping there is a continuation for everything left unanswered.
[ ALERT: Can't remember what happened in The Glass Spare?
Visit my new blog Recap the Rapture for in-depth recaps of some of your favorite books!]
--3.45 stars--
I have so many questions...
That was SUCH a rushed ending. Like you don't know what happens to anyone! holy moly it is clear the author got lazy before Loom and Espel fight the final battle.
I kept waiting for the magic system to really develop and it just never did. Like so many of their problems are solved by
To do.? Like, the answer to anything is generally "Oh, Masalee can just fix it with her Marvelry". Hello, I still don't understand what her limitations are, is there a down side? What can't you do??
Take heed! The next part is FULL of spoilers!
*
*
*
*
*
Like I said, I have so many questions about the ending
I just finished Cursed Sea, and it was decent, but I have SO many questions
1. What happened to Baren in the end ?
2. What happened to Zay after?
3. What the hec are Loom and Wil doing with their lives
4. Does Addeny ever get to remarry?
5. Wil's curse made no sense. She says it changes. Then says it's temporarily gone, then in the epilogue she can still change stuff into stone?
6. Can Ada and Raya get married plz?
7. Why the hell don't Wil and Look right letters letting the other know they're alive and plan to meet up. Instead Wil goes into Random exile instead of rendezvousing with Loom, and Loom decides she's not returning and better off without him. WHAT? After all that nonsense!?!?
8. Did she just decide to make Espel and Masalee good half way through book 2, because I dunno,. They kinda just came out of no was heros
Overall, fairly dissapointing, compared to the first, but I still liked the story and writing a good bit. Still desperately hoping there is a continuation for everything left unanswered.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2019
A good sequel but not as good as the first book. It got a tad silly and seemed off course for a bit. The ending was rushed and it felt like a few more chapters could have been written before it. Overall, I love the concept, world and characters BUT if this author used the word "betray" one more time I would have thrown the book across the room.
April 15, 2019
Good sequel
I was worried that this book might be as fun or interesting as the first, but it lived up to it. The pacing was really good, I wasn't bored and in fact I read this all at once. I liked that we not only saw what Wil was thinking, but sometimes we got Loom and Espel and Gerdie too. The story played out well and the ending did a great job wrapping up.
I was worried that this book might be as fun or interesting as the first, but it lived up to it. The pacing was really good, I wasn't bored and in fact I read this all at once. I liked that we not only saw what Wil was thinking, but sometimes we got Loom and Espel and Gerdie too. The story played out well and the ending did a great job wrapping up.
January 13, 2019
some things i liked:
💌 seeing relationships and friendships strengthen
💌 how the book jumps straight into the story without stalling
💌 espel and her ferocity when it comes to those she loves, and her unfaltering loyalty to her kingdom. i think she's my fave character
💌 how the characters are multifaceted
💌 the author's acknowledgement of thanks to her cats was hilarious
some things i didn't quite enjoy:
💌 i felt like the buildup to the final fight was anticlimactic, as the fight was like...what, 3 pages?
💌 this book felt a little unedited because there's plenty of typos floating around...but it didn't deter from the overall reading experience though
💌 the villains kind of died a little too quickly, and again the fight was anticlimactic
💌 why does everyone start off every sentence with "hey"?
💌 wil constantly blaming herself for something she had no control over, for the entirety of the book got annoying
💌 wil and loom have fights like any other couple, but their conflicts are resolved rather prematurely...? i felt like they didn't even talk about what was bothering them and they suddenly went from being mad at each other to not
💌 the plot twists didn't really blow my mind, i had pretty much guessed them beforehand
💌 seeing relationships and friendships strengthen
💌 how the book jumps straight into the story without stalling
💌 espel and her ferocity when it comes to those she loves, and her unfaltering loyalty to her kingdom. i think she's my fave character
💌 how the characters are multifaceted
💌 the author's acknowledgement of thanks to her cats was hilarious
some things i didn't quite enjoy:
💌 i felt like the buildup to the final fight was anticlimactic, as the fight was like...what, 3 pages?
💌 this book felt a little unedited because there's plenty of typos floating around...but it didn't deter from the overall reading experience though
💌 the villains kind of died a little too quickly, and again the fight was anticlimactic
💌 why does everyone start off every sentence with "hey"?
💌 wil constantly blaming herself for something she had no control over, for the entirety of the book got annoying
💌 wil and loom have fights like any other couple, but their conflicts are resolved rather prematurely...? i felt like they didn't even talk about what was bothering them and they suddenly went from being mad at each other to not
💌 the plot twists didn't really blow my mind, i had pretty much guessed them beforehand
January 4, 2019
This book was as magical and heartbreaking as the first one but I feel like the author got lazy in the end because it just feels very rushed and a lot of stuff stays unexplained. It's a shame.
February 25, 2019
I'm SO sad that this was only a duology and not a series. I was looking forward to the story continuing and learning more about the characters and their futures. The book overall was amazing and I was pleasantly surprised by how nicely the plot flowed and the characters were developed by the author. I couldn't stop reading this duology.
April 18, 2021
THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING!!!! I really want this author to write another book in this series!! I never got bored with this book. There was constant action going on and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!! I loved the description in this book; you could literally see everything that happened. The characters were very well developed and I loved how DeStefano did that! I started reading this late last night and finished it this afternoon. I had to stop reading last night because the characters were being stupid and needed to get over themselves!!! This book is filled with lots of action and a hint of romance. READ THIS SERIES!!! YOU WON'T REGRET IT!!!!!!!!!
January 22, 2022
I dont know why this one was hard to get through it wasn't bad judt dragged on and some minor plot holes I loved the first one though!
February 3, 2019
This was a slog. There was a good story hidden in there under a lot of other unnecessary or ill-explained plot. I didn’t connect with the characters, but the prose was really beautiful at times. I think maybe it just wasn’t for me, but it might be other people’s thing?
July 11, 2019
In the sequel to 2017’s The Glass Spare which I absolutely loved, the novel starts almost exactly where the first book ended. After time spent on the mighty seas falling in love with the handsome Loom and struggling to find a cure for her curse Wil Heidle returns to the kingdom of Arrod to find that everything is pretty much in ruin. Her brother, the ill-tempered Baren has taken control of the kingdom and their father, the King, is dead.
You will of course remember that Wil had discovered she held a potentially deadly curse within her that caused her to turn anything living that she touched into stone (and by stone I mean emeralds and rubies and diamonds). This curse meant instant death for anyone in direct contact with the princess, except for Loom, a prince from the neighboring kingdom who still has no idea who Wil really is. Loom was also cursed and banished from his kingdom which seemed to give him some sort of immunity to Wil’s touch.
When Wil arrives at her childhood home, the palace she grew up in, she is briefly reunited with her mother and brother, Gerdie who are desperately trying to live under the wrath and rule of Baren. They have been joined by Wil’s deceased brother Owen’s widow Addney who is has a secret of her own that may just be the key to unlocking the entire family’s problems and doing away with them for good. In the meantime however Addney must be kept safe, and Wil needs to stay out of the way. She is also still wracked with immense guilt over the accidental death of Owen.
She embarks on a journey aboard a ship with Loom, his wife of convenience Zay and her son Ada, as well as Espel, Loom’s estranged sister and Espel’s bodyguard Masalee. Tensions aboard the ship are high and everyone must learn to make some sort of peace exist if they are to stay alive and save their respective kingdoms that are still very much at war.
During her time on the ship, Wil not only becomes truly closer to Loom, she also begins to experience dreams in which the origin of her curse is revealed. In the dreams she is introduced to an aunt that she never knew existed, whose own curse indirectly brought about Wil’s.
Both Wil and Loom have an incredible amount of patriotism towards their kingdoms and even though they are loathe to it they have to set aside their love for one another to prevent these kingdoms from falling into complete ruin. As the battle between the Northern and Southern Isles continues it seems those on the ship sailing the Ancient Sea are struggling with these loyalties. At one point Loom even attempts to make a deal with the infamous marveler Pahn who is anything but trustworthy. His supposed deal with Pahn will not end well, however it will once again call into question the nature of Wil’s curse.
This novel is filled with constant tension, star-crossed love, guilt and an overwhelming sense of what it means to be a member of a monarchy. The characters are torn between their lovers, their siblings and their past and all in all this makes for a potentially riveting story-line. However I do feel as though despite the author’s stunning prose and delightful characters she slightly fell short during the chapters spent on the open sea. Often times the love between Loom and Wil, and Espel and Masalee were unnecessary delays and distractions from the overarching and very important plot of uniting the two kingdoms.
In my opinion there were perhaps a little too many pages spent absorbed in the anxiety of forbidden love, whilst in the foreground the reality was that members of their respective kingdoms and families were dying and their cities were literally burning to the ground. That being said though the ending was fairly satisfactory and as I have mentioned before I am a huge fan of DeStefano’s writing style and the sense of magic she brings to all her novels.
You will of course remember that Wil had discovered she held a potentially deadly curse within her that caused her to turn anything living that she touched into stone (and by stone I mean emeralds and rubies and diamonds). This curse meant instant death for anyone in direct contact with the princess, except for Loom, a prince from the neighboring kingdom who still has no idea who Wil really is. Loom was also cursed and banished from his kingdom which seemed to give him some sort of immunity to Wil’s touch.
When Wil arrives at her childhood home, the palace she grew up in, she is briefly reunited with her mother and brother, Gerdie who are desperately trying to live under the wrath and rule of Baren. They have been joined by Wil’s deceased brother Owen’s widow Addney who is has a secret of her own that may just be the key to unlocking the entire family’s problems and doing away with them for good. In the meantime however Addney must be kept safe, and Wil needs to stay out of the way. She is also still wracked with immense guilt over the accidental death of Owen.
She embarks on a journey aboard a ship with Loom, his wife of convenience Zay and her son Ada, as well as Espel, Loom’s estranged sister and Espel’s bodyguard Masalee. Tensions aboard the ship are high and everyone must learn to make some sort of peace exist if they are to stay alive and save their respective kingdoms that are still very much at war.
During her time on the ship, Wil not only becomes truly closer to Loom, she also begins to experience dreams in which the origin of her curse is revealed. In the dreams she is introduced to an aunt that she never knew existed, whose own curse indirectly brought about Wil’s.
Both Wil and Loom have an incredible amount of patriotism towards their kingdoms and even though they are loathe to it they have to set aside their love for one another to prevent these kingdoms from falling into complete ruin. As the battle between the Northern and Southern Isles continues it seems those on the ship sailing the Ancient Sea are struggling with these loyalties. At one point Loom even attempts to make a deal with the infamous marveler Pahn who is anything but trustworthy. His supposed deal with Pahn will not end well, however it will once again call into question the nature of Wil’s curse.
This novel is filled with constant tension, star-crossed love, guilt and an overwhelming sense of what it means to be a member of a monarchy. The characters are torn between their lovers, their siblings and their past and all in all this makes for a potentially riveting story-line. However I do feel as though despite the author’s stunning prose and delightful characters she slightly fell short during the chapters spent on the open sea. Often times the love between Loom and Wil, and Espel and Masalee were unnecessary delays and distractions from the overarching and very important plot of uniting the two kingdoms.
In my opinion there were perhaps a little too many pages spent absorbed in the anxiety of forbidden love, whilst in the foreground the reality was that members of their respective kingdoms and families were dying and their cities were literally burning to the ground. That being said though the ending was fairly satisfactory and as I have mentioned before I am a huge fan of DeStefano’s writing style and the sense of magic she brings to all her novels.
April 16, 2020
Overall, I thought this wrapped up really well but I feel like some things could have been better explained. Overall, learning what happened with Baren, I wish that we had gotten to see more of what that was like instead of just a mention or two. I loved seeing how all of the relationships changed, but I also feel like some of the relationships were extremely cliche and I didn't care as much as I might've if the romance came about in a different way.
If you're looking for a fantasy with a cool concept, or a fantasy that starts off slower, I feel like this duopoly would be worth a shot. However, if you are looking for something totally out of the box, you may want to go into this knowing that some things are very trope-y.
If you're looking for a fantasy with a cool concept, or a fantasy that starts off slower, I feel like this duopoly would be worth a shot. However, if you are looking for something totally out of the box, you may want to go into this knowing that some things are very trope-y.
January 24, 2019
*Source* Library
*Genre* Young Adult, Fantasy
*Rating* 3.5
*Thoughts*
The Cursed Sea is the second installment in author Lauren DeStefano's Glass Spare duology. The Glass Spare ended on a surprising cliffhanger, leaving many characters in danger. Now Wilhemina (Wil) Heidle, the exiled princess of Northern Arrod, must return to her homeland—and to the family that thinks she’s dead—and uncover the origins of her curse. But, with her unstable brother Baren, now the King, Wil's attempts at uncovering deep dark family secrets might be even more precarious than previously thought.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
*Genre* Young Adult, Fantasy
*Rating* 3.5
*Thoughts*
The Cursed Sea is the second installment in author Lauren DeStefano's Glass Spare duology. The Glass Spare ended on a surprising cliffhanger, leaving many characters in danger. Now Wilhemina (Wil) Heidle, the exiled princess of Northern Arrod, must return to her homeland—and to the family that thinks she’s dead—and uncover the origins of her curse. But, with her unstable brother Baren, now the King, Wil's attempts at uncovering deep dark family secrets might be even more precarious than previously thought.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
October 20, 2020
The Cursed Sea was a great finale. I loved that she was reunited with her family, and I liked how Gerdie didn't just forgive her straight away. This book was like none stop danger; just when they got away, they are back in the thralls of another dangerous bad guy. You found yourself constantly uncertain about the survival of characters.
I enjoyed the sibling bonds in this book between Wil and Gerdie and surprisingly Loom and Espel as well. Gerdie helps Wil come to terms with everything that happened in book one, and I love that. Of course, I also loved the romances in this book as well.
I enjoyed the sibling bonds in this book between Wil and Gerdie and surprisingly Loom and Espel as well. Gerdie helps Wil come to terms with everything that happened in book one, and I love that. Of course, I also loved the romances in this book as well.
April 3, 2019
One of my biggest issues was that I just didn't really care about many of the main characters. I barely remembered the first book (also didn't help). And the pace was a bit weird. I did like the family dynamics and the relationship between Espel and her girlfriend. I didn't hate the book. I just also didn't really love it.
May 20, 2020
I really don't know why I felt the need to finish this book after one year. The concept for the story was interesting but the execution could have been done better. The concept of curses in the story was confusing at times. I didn't really care for any of the characters or their relationships.
January 2, 2019
Wow this was so good!!! It was so much better than the first and I loved the first book.
April 29, 2024
thank goodness that's over 😮💨
July 21, 2021
Recap + thoughts... i'm too tired to give more separate review about this. if you read the recap, you might realize how bad and messy and very not worth it this book was. my advice if you want to read it: don't. save your time.
what a nice reunion that Wil received. her country seemed 'dead', the guards didn't recognize her, and she was almost killed by her Baren (who was now king) until her mother stepped in. she told her everything and had a mother-daughter moment (but with no solution and no idea who was behind Wil's curse).
that night, Wil tried to find Gerdie but Baren attacked her again and almost killed her if Gerdie didn't intervene and their mom came rushing in to lead Baren away so Wil and Gerdie could catch up. it was as if the whole kingdom was cursed, because it put a strain to Wil's curse and her touch didn't turn Baren or Gerdie to stone. Gerdie said that Baren might be the one who killed their father. Wil tried to find answer by going to the wanderer's camp.
but on the way, they saw Baren heading to the forest too. they followed him until he got inside a cave and talk with someone but the rain prevented them from hearing anything so Wil had to come closer. turned out, Baren had turned into a marveler and he cursed his kingdom and Wil had to warn Loom fast because his kingdom would be in danger.
while Wil was sleeping and Gerdie tried to find potion to ease Wil's pain. when gerdie slept, she left to find answer from the wanderer or the women that Baren talked to. then she stumbled upon Addney (owen's wife) who turned out to be pregnant and carried the rightful heir, which put her life in danger.
when she escaped, the guard shot her under Baren's command but she left unscathed and went to the cave, meeting with the old woman. she warned Wil that if she didn't leave, she would die but Wil couldn't leave until she find answer. she showed the old women the picture that Gerdie found in the wall, a girl so similar to her, apparently, the old woman recognized her and when will said she intended to burn it, the old woman attacked her and Wil sliced her throat. but she didn't die yay.
She ran back to the castle but Baren found her, muttering like a mad man why she didn't stay dead, and that she was the one who told him to go to the old woman who knew everything about them, until their mom intervened (again) and calmed him down. Baren only said to the guards to put the 'monster' under surveillance.
she told Gerdie what happened, that the old woman used Baren to kill all of them, starting from their father. so Gerdie try to stage a murder to Addney by alchemizing a fake body so he was permitted to Baren's council while the real addney would be carted away to safety with Wil in tow so she could leave to the western isles and try to find answer there and she would only return when the heir born (seriously, this story gave me headache, it was like unraveling a very tangled jungle of strings, SHE HADN'T EVEN TRIED TO FIND ANY ANSWERS IN THE CASTLE! SHE WAS ONLY TRAIPSING AROUND, BEING ATTACKED BY HER BROTHER-.-). the next morning, Gerdie woke up with grief, convinced that Wil was dead (the fck?)
so Wil and Addney left in a cart, in the middle of the wood, Addney left with Wil's old nanny while Wil and her mother said goodbye. in the middle of her way to the Port, the old women from the cave attacked her by throwing her a facefull of blood and screamed murder at her until her mom intervened (again) and snapped the old woman's neck and told her to leave (badass ma).
however, instead of going to the wanderer's country, she went to the east because she missed Loom-.- when she slept, she dream of Aleen, her father's sister who he loved dearly but mysteriously being wiped out from history. when she arrived in Grief, she was ambushed by Espel. She already held Zay and Loom hostages too, maybe because Pahn sold them out, and they found out that Wil was actually the princess, which surprise Loom (this couldn't get any more cliché). she tried to escape, but Espel's guard, Masalee, who was a marveler that could manipulate human's body overpowered her and out of nowhere! they threw Ada overboard (where did they got him anyway-_-) and Zay was forced to rescue him (why suddenly she was there?). then, crazy Espel visited foolish Wil to persuade her to be her ally. she wanted to give Wil to her father as a hostage so the Northern kingdom would comply to a truce and they were talking about how Loom actually love Espel but she didn't believe it and got mad.
Wil kept on dreaming about Aleen, who was murdered by her own father (who decided to be a dark marveler) because turned out, she was not his child but came from the queen's affair with a guard so he killed her in revenge and cursed his own family (totally rubbish) so whenever a queen love someone more than she love the king, whoever the queen love most will be her destroyer.
then, they arrived in Cannolay and the southern king, Espel and Loom's father came abroad they ship (because Loom couldn't step his foot in the palace). Wil was forced to crystalized the hand of a conning merchant and was about to be taken to a dungeon when she and Loom attacked the guard but Espel overpowered Loom and the fighting stopped. the king ordered Espel to kill Loom but she broke his chain instead and was about to kill the king but she hesitated a moment so the king threw his dagger to Masalee and surprisingly told them to go away before he sunk the ship. Loom immediately got into action to save Masalee, he stitched her wound and gave her medicine while Espel tried to control herself because apparently, they were in love and if Masalee died, Espel would lose the only person who saw her as a girl instead of a monster.
this book seriously very inconsistent, what the hell happened to pahn?! why was he not mentioned anymore? i thought he was on board with them then just disappeared? after pahn appeared, the author only scrambled on and on about how betrayed Loom looked and how sad Wil was -.- and how the hell did they got captured anyway?!
anyway, they were escaping and Loom and Wil had another weepy useless talk again. he said he couldn't trust her because they were enemies and she was a liar (i mean c'mon dude, u can't be that stupid. you told her you would kill all her family, how could she trust you?!) and Wil had this oh so brilliant idea to go back to the Northern Isles because she said she could regain Loom's throne by offering the king herself (there should've been a reason he let her go) but in a comatose state so they need Gerdie's help to make the body.
before they did they want to proceed with Wil's plan, they decided to visit Western Isles first to buy fuel. after the most cliche scene of Wil having a nightmare and Loom came barging in, they made up, and made out. but of course wil had to stop it because her idiot mind was convinced it was not real. and they argued and fought again -.- i'm so fucking fed up with this story, cursed my life decision to never DNF
when they arrived to the western isles and when Wil and Loom were having lovey dovey moment on the beach, they were attacked by someone who was shooting her arrows. turned out the assailants were Baren's men but Loom swiftly disposed them. then Wil tried to trade the ship but the trader said that they won't be able to dock when they arrived in Port Capital because the Southern Isles had attacked. however, Zay managed to trade the ship and they bounded for northern isles
after they arrived in the Northern Isles, they found that the city was already gray and dead, Wil immediately ran to the castle only to found Gerdie and Baren's dead body. some heart-wreaking moment later, they went to the wood, where Wil found Gerdie's monocle. She thought it was a clue from Gerdie and she went to the place where the wanderers usually camped out but they were ambushed by Pahn. Espel saved Wil but Pahn held Loom back, offered him a deal, Wil's heart in exchange to be pardoned by his father.
so they returned to the castle to make a false corpse, Wil had another breakdown when she saw Gerdie's body and Loom moved it to the Oval Garden, and she tried managed to recreate her own body in a faster time than when Gerdie made it (another glitch in the details, ugh). the body was done, Masalee created an illusion to perfected them, and Loom and Wil said goodbye to each other.
Loom and Espel set course to meet Pahn by the waterfall while Wil and Masalee followed from afar. when Loom and Espel found Pahn, he told them that in exchange of Pahn's service he would get Wil's kingdom, then he told Loom to kill 'Wil' and took her heart in front of Pahn. they thought it worked. while Loom and Espel was about to return to Cannolay, Wil decided she needed to take care of her kingdom. however, Loom 'sensed' Wil went to the castle instead of the boat so he chased after her. when Wil saw Loom, she 'sensed' that his energy was Pahn's and when they collide, Loom stabbed her in the heart.
then Loom woke up from his trance and felt horrified. Masalee tried to save Wil but then came Pahn. he attacked Espel and tried to persuade Loom to take Wil's heart. of course he resisted and Masalee attacked him to protect Espel, so Pahn tried to take Wil's heart himself when he was stabbed in the heart by Baren.... okay. they brought Wil inside the castle and Masalee tried to revive all night long but she failed. i genuinely thought she was dead too until Loom said he didn't want to get his kingdom back if the price is Wil and then, the whole kingdom was alive again and she woke up. but then they felt someone coming (who might be Baren) and Zay went to the ship to be their getaway car while Loom stayed with Wil because she was 'too weak'. but it was Gerdie who came. another secret disclosed that Baren was actually a marveler and he saved himself and Gerdie by creating an illusion for Pahn to kill.
the next day, they saw the King's old soldier came back. they said Baren sent them to the outskirt of the kingdom to protect it but now (for some reason, no order, no certainty that the south won't attack) they came back. then, they visited the cave where Baren ran too. Gerdie and Wil faced him alone but he was so driven to kill Wil that he let himself being controlled by the marveler (which turned out to be the last Queen, Wil's grandmother, who was mad with grief and revenge, so when she sensed Baren's weakness, she controlled him since Wil was born).
Barem/grandma tried to kill her but somehow, she got this drop of magic inside her (of course she did, the author won't let her die), and managed to banish the crazy grandma fully and Baren fainted. so they brought him back to the castle and Wil had a heart-to-heart talk with him. she found out that after banishing her, her father wanted her back and told his soldier to find her but Baren found out so he poisoned the king. Baren was supposed to kill her too but he just didn't have the heart for it. then he told her to get out of his sight. (this story was so ridiculous)
Then Loom and Espel returned to the Southern Isles in order to kill their father, the loco king. Meanwhile, Wil was exiled (again) from her kingdom by Baren and she stupidly agreed because she was afraid that her curse will return (this girl have zero common sense and zero IQ). she told Gerdie to make sure Owen's child last name is not their surname, but Addney's because the curse will live as long as their line rule (silly -_-) and then left (hopefully to hell).
another thing that simply didn't add up: while the northern kingdom's curse was lifted when the cuckoo grandma died, but when Pahn died, Loom's curse happily stayed. so for this inconvenience, Masalee had to make an illusion like the palace was on fire, in order to lure the southern king out to the mountain so Loom/Espel could meet and commit patricide.
eventually, they saw the king escaping the fire alone (this universe is crazy, the soldiers never protected the people they swore to protect. the king escaped from the fire all by himself, the heck?). they fought him until Espel got the chance to slice his throat and so the throne of the Southern Isle was hers. unsurprisingly, she offered Loom to take the final blow so it was his. of course Loom refused (clicheeeeeeee) because she deserved it, and she was never shown love, and he loved her, and blablabla, so Espel was queen and no one mentioned about Loom's curse except that it was gone (they mentioned that 'oh, Loom's curse will go bye bye along with the king' but that was stupid reasoning and i don't take it).
Instead, the author talked about how Wil's curse returned a short while later but this time, she could control it. she went to Cannolay in the summer and met Loom. she told him that now, Addney was the queen (they knew nothing about her but they just confidently hand over their kingdom, saying she would be an excellent queen. nice!). no mention about how Baren felt about it. it would make the story uselessly long (and i agree, i already fed up with this book) and the end yay.
what a nice reunion that Wil received. her country seemed 'dead', the guards didn't recognize her, and she was almost killed by her Baren (who was now king) until her mother stepped in. she told her everything and had a mother-daughter moment (but with no solution and no idea who was behind Wil's curse).
that night, Wil tried to find Gerdie but Baren attacked her again and almost killed her if Gerdie didn't intervene and their mom came rushing in to lead Baren away so Wil and Gerdie could catch up. it was as if the whole kingdom was cursed, because it put a strain to Wil's curse and her touch didn't turn Baren or Gerdie to stone. Gerdie said that Baren might be the one who killed their father. Wil tried to find answer by going to the wanderer's camp.
but on the way, they saw Baren heading to the forest too. they followed him until he got inside a cave and talk with someone but the rain prevented them from hearing anything so Wil had to come closer. turned out, Baren had turned into a marveler and he cursed his kingdom and Wil had to warn Loom fast because his kingdom would be in danger.
while Wil was sleeping and Gerdie tried to find potion to ease Wil's pain. when gerdie slept, she left to find answer from the wanderer or the women that Baren talked to. then she stumbled upon Addney (owen's wife) who turned out to be pregnant and carried the rightful heir, which put her life in danger.
when she escaped, the guard shot her under Baren's command but she left unscathed and went to the cave, meeting with the old woman. she warned Wil that if she didn't leave, she would die but Wil couldn't leave until she find answer. she showed the old women the picture that Gerdie found in the wall, a girl so similar to her, apparently, the old woman recognized her and when will said she intended to burn it, the old woman attacked her and Wil sliced her throat. but she didn't die yay.
She ran back to the castle but Baren found her, muttering like a mad man why she didn't stay dead, and that she was the one who told him to go to the old woman who knew everything about them, until their mom intervened (again) and calmed him down. Baren only said to the guards to put the 'monster' under surveillance.
she told Gerdie what happened, that the old woman used Baren to kill all of them, starting from their father. so Gerdie try to stage a murder to Addney by alchemizing a fake body so he was permitted to Baren's council while the real addney would be carted away to safety with Wil in tow so she could leave to the western isles and try to find answer there and she would only return when the heir born (seriously, this story gave me headache, it was like unraveling a very tangled jungle of strings, SHE HADN'T EVEN TRIED TO FIND ANY ANSWERS IN THE CASTLE! SHE WAS ONLY TRAIPSING AROUND, BEING ATTACKED BY HER BROTHER-.-). the next morning, Gerdie woke up with grief, convinced that Wil was dead (the fck?)
so Wil and Addney left in a cart, in the middle of the wood, Addney left with Wil's old nanny while Wil and her mother said goodbye. in the middle of her way to the Port, the old women from the cave attacked her by throwing her a facefull of blood and screamed murder at her until her mom intervened (again) and snapped the old woman's neck and told her to leave (badass ma).
however, instead of going to the wanderer's country, she went to the east because she missed Loom-.- when she slept, she dream of Aleen, her father's sister who he loved dearly but mysteriously being wiped out from history. when she arrived in Grief, she was ambushed by Espel. She already held Zay and Loom hostages too, maybe because Pahn sold them out, and they found out that Wil was actually the princess, which surprise Loom (this couldn't get any more cliché). she tried to escape, but Espel's guard, Masalee, who was a marveler that could manipulate human's body overpowered her and out of nowhere! they threw Ada overboard (where did they got him anyway-_-) and Zay was forced to rescue him (why suddenly she was there?). then, crazy Espel visited foolish Wil to persuade her to be her ally. she wanted to give Wil to her father as a hostage so the Northern kingdom would comply to a truce and they were talking about how Loom actually love Espel but she didn't believe it and got mad.
Wil kept on dreaming about Aleen, who was murdered by her own father (who decided to be a dark marveler) because turned out, she was not his child but came from the queen's affair with a guard so he killed her in revenge and cursed his own family (totally rubbish) so whenever a queen love someone more than she love the king, whoever the queen love most will be her destroyer.
then, they arrived in Cannolay and the southern king, Espel and Loom's father came abroad they ship (because Loom couldn't step his foot in the palace). Wil was forced to crystalized the hand of a conning merchant and was about to be taken to a dungeon when she and Loom attacked the guard but Espel overpowered Loom and the fighting stopped. the king ordered Espel to kill Loom but she broke his chain instead and was about to kill the king but she hesitated a moment so the king threw his dagger to Masalee and surprisingly told them to go away before he sunk the ship. Loom immediately got into action to save Masalee, he stitched her wound and gave her medicine while Espel tried to control herself because apparently, they were in love and if Masalee died, Espel would lose the only person who saw her as a girl instead of a monster.
this book seriously very inconsistent, what the hell happened to pahn?! why was he not mentioned anymore? i thought he was on board with them then just disappeared? after pahn appeared, the author only scrambled on and on about how betrayed Loom looked and how sad Wil was -.- and how the hell did they got captured anyway?!
anyway, they were escaping and Loom and Wil had another weepy useless talk again. he said he couldn't trust her because they were enemies and she was a liar (i mean c'mon dude, u can't be that stupid. you told her you would kill all her family, how could she trust you?!) and Wil had this oh so brilliant idea to go back to the Northern Isles because she said she could regain Loom's throne by offering the king herself (there should've been a reason he let her go) but in a comatose state so they need Gerdie's help to make the body.
before they did they want to proceed with Wil's plan, they decided to visit Western Isles first to buy fuel. after the most cliche scene of Wil having a nightmare and Loom came barging in, they made up, and made out. but of course wil had to stop it because her idiot mind was convinced it was not real. and they argued and fought again -.- i'm so fucking fed up with this story, cursed my life decision to never DNF
when they arrived to the western isles and when Wil and Loom were having lovey dovey moment on the beach, they were attacked by someone who was shooting her arrows. turned out the assailants were Baren's men but Loom swiftly disposed them. then Wil tried to trade the ship but the trader said that they won't be able to dock when they arrived in Port Capital because the Southern Isles had attacked. however, Zay managed to trade the ship and they bounded for northern isles
after they arrived in the Northern Isles, they found that the city was already gray and dead, Wil immediately ran to the castle only to found Gerdie and Baren's dead body. some heart-wreaking moment later, they went to the wood, where Wil found Gerdie's monocle. She thought it was a clue from Gerdie and she went to the place where the wanderers usually camped out but they were ambushed by Pahn. Espel saved Wil but Pahn held Loom back, offered him a deal, Wil's heart in exchange to be pardoned by his father.
so they returned to the castle to make a false corpse, Wil had another breakdown when she saw Gerdie's body and Loom moved it to the Oval Garden, and she tried managed to recreate her own body in a faster time than when Gerdie made it (another glitch in the details, ugh). the body was done, Masalee created an illusion to perfected them, and Loom and Wil said goodbye to each other.
Loom and Espel set course to meet Pahn by the waterfall while Wil and Masalee followed from afar. when Loom and Espel found Pahn, he told them that in exchange of Pahn's service he would get Wil's kingdom, then he told Loom to kill 'Wil' and took her heart in front of Pahn. they thought it worked. while Loom and Espel was about to return to Cannolay, Wil decided she needed to take care of her kingdom. however, Loom 'sensed' Wil went to the castle instead of the boat so he chased after her. when Wil saw Loom, she 'sensed' that his energy was Pahn's and when they collide, Loom stabbed her in the heart.
then Loom woke up from his trance and felt horrified. Masalee tried to save Wil but then came Pahn. he attacked Espel and tried to persuade Loom to take Wil's heart. of course he resisted and Masalee attacked him to protect Espel, so Pahn tried to take Wil's heart himself when he was stabbed in the heart by Baren.... okay. they brought Wil inside the castle and Masalee tried to revive all night long but she failed. i genuinely thought she was dead too until Loom said he didn't want to get his kingdom back if the price is Wil and then, the whole kingdom was alive again and she woke up. but then they felt someone coming (who might be Baren) and Zay went to the ship to be their getaway car while Loom stayed with Wil because she was 'too weak'. but it was Gerdie who came. another secret disclosed that Baren was actually a marveler and he saved himself and Gerdie by creating an illusion for Pahn to kill.
the next day, they saw the King's old soldier came back. they said Baren sent them to the outskirt of the kingdom to protect it but now (for some reason, no order, no certainty that the south won't attack) they came back. then, they visited the cave where Baren ran too. Gerdie and Wil faced him alone but he was so driven to kill Wil that he let himself being controlled by the marveler (which turned out to be the last Queen, Wil's grandmother, who was mad with grief and revenge, so when she sensed Baren's weakness, she controlled him since Wil was born).
Barem/grandma tried to kill her but somehow, she got this drop of magic inside her (of course she did, the author won't let her die), and managed to banish the crazy grandma fully and Baren fainted. so they brought him back to the castle and Wil had a heart-to-heart talk with him. she found out that after banishing her, her father wanted her back and told his soldier to find her but Baren found out so he poisoned the king. Baren was supposed to kill her too but he just didn't have the heart for it. then he told her to get out of his sight. (this story was so ridiculous)
Then Loom and Espel returned to the Southern Isles in order to kill their father, the loco king. Meanwhile, Wil was exiled (again) from her kingdom by Baren and she stupidly agreed because she was afraid that her curse will return (this girl have zero common sense and zero IQ). she told Gerdie to make sure Owen's child last name is not their surname, but Addney's because the curse will live as long as their line rule (silly -_-) and then left (hopefully to hell).
another thing that simply didn't add up: while the northern kingdom's curse was lifted when the cuckoo grandma died, but when Pahn died, Loom's curse happily stayed. so for this inconvenience, Masalee had to make an illusion like the palace was on fire, in order to lure the southern king out to the mountain so Loom/Espel could meet and commit patricide.
eventually, they saw the king escaping the fire alone (this universe is crazy, the soldiers never protected the people they swore to protect. the king escaped from the fire all by himself, the heck?). they fought him until Espel got the chance to slice his throat and so the throne of the Southern Isle was hers. unsurprisingly, she offered Loom to take the final blow so it was his. of course Loom refused (clicheeeeeeee) because she deserved it, and she was never shown love, and he loved her, and blablabla, so Espel was queen and no one mentioned about Loom's curse except that it was gone (they mentioned that 'oh, Loom's curse will go bye bye along with the king' but that was stupid reasoning and i don't take it).
Instead, the author talked about how Wil's curse returned a short while later but this time, she could control it. she went to Cannolay in the summer and met Loom. she told him that now, Addney was the queen (they knew nothing about her but they just confidently hand over their kingdom, saying she would be an excellent queen. nice!). no mention about how Baren felt about it. it would make the story uselessly long (and i agree, i already fed up with this book) and the end yay.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 3, 2020
SOLID 3 stars. No more. I suffered trying to sit down and read this book.
March 30, 2021
2 stars. Liked this one just barely more than the first for the development of the characters, their relationships with one another, and the familial aspects that were weaved into the story, but still not really impressed by this duology. The series was just okay, the duology overall would be 2 stars for me.
FULL REVIEW: https://dorothyrequina.wixsite.com/bo...
FULL REVIEW: https://dorothyrequina.wixsite.com/bo...
January 11, 2019
This is the first time I have ever consciously chosen to put a book down and walk away. DNF at 76%. It's really a shame because I absolutely loved the first book in this duology, but this book loses the majority of what made that book so great.
To begin with, the complex romance dynamic between the two characters devolved into a typical mushy romance. I understand that they're teenagers but their relationship became so ripe with cliché in this sequel that it lost everything that made it unique and interesting.
Additionally, every turn of the plot felt rushed and crammed together, making it feel somewhat incoherent. The problem wasn't that the plot was inconsistent. It just seemed like the author tried so hard to shock the reader with the turn that instead of evoking that "of course, why didn't I think of that!" reaction that makes this technique enjoyable to read, it came across as clumsy and forced, and again, fell into the trap of clichés. The final straw for me was when the main character was brought back from the dead by the prince's love. While this is clearly supposed to be a fairy tale, it just felt a little too traditional and contrived, making it bland instead of spectacular. I might have been able to forgive that and rate this book three stars if The Glass Spare hadn't been so stunning. I feel cheated, because I know this author and this story are both capable of better.
You might be wondering why I didn't rate this one star, and I have to say, Espel and Massalee really saved the day here. While technically only supporting characters, their motivations were so interesting that they helped me limp through to the point that I stopped reading. It doesn't hurt that we are given a realistic, touching portrayal of a WLW relationship where nobody has to die for us to feel emotionally invested (up to the point I read anyway).
Ultimately, I won't be giving up on Lauren DeStefano's writing altogether after this book, but I found myself extremely disappointed and underwhelmed.
To begin with, the complex romance dynamic between the two characters devolved into a typical mushy romance. I understand that they're teenagers but their relationship became so ripe with cliché in this sequel that it lost everything that made it unique and interesting.
Additionally, every turn of the plot felt rushed and crammed together, making it feel somewhat incoherent. The problem wasn't that the plot was inconsistent. It just seemed like the author tried so hard to shock the reader with the turn that instead of evoking that "of course, why didn't I think of that!" reaction that makes this technique enjoyable to read, it came across as clumsy and forced, and again, fell into the trap of clichés. The final straw for me was when the main character was brought back from the dead by the prince's love. While this is clearly supposed to be a fairy tale, it just felt a little too traditional and contrived, making it bland instead of spectacular. I might have been able to forgive that and rate this book three stars if The Glass Spare hadn't been so stunning. I feel cheated, because I know this author and this story are both capable of better.
You might be wondering why I didn't rate this one star, and I have to say, Espel and Massalee really saved the day here. While technically only supporting characters, their motivations were so interesting that they helped me limp through to the point that I stopped reading. It doesn't hurt that we are given a realistic, touching portrayal of a WLW relationship where nobody has to die for us to feel emotionally invested (up to the point I read anyway).
Ultimately, I won't be giving up on Lauren DeStefano's writing altogether after this book, but I found myself extremely disappointed and underwhelmed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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