I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Cursed Luck by Kelley Armstrong Narrator: Carly Robins
Series: Cursed Luck #1
Published by Tantor Audio on May 4, 2021
Genres: Cozy Mystery, Urban Fantasy
Length: 12 hours 20 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Kennedy Bennett comes from a long line of curse weavers. For centuries, her family has plied their trade in Unstable, Massachusetts, a quirky small town that’s welcomed paranormal practitioners since the dawn of spiritualism. Kennedy has recently struck out on her own, opening an antiques shop in Boston, where her speciality is uncursing and reselling hexed objects.
Then Aiden Connolly walks into her life with an offer she really should refuse. The scion of a wealthy family of luck workers, Aiden has a scheme to get his hands on the most famous cursed object of all: the mythical Necklace of Harmonia. He’s not the only one after the necklace, though. And he’s not the only one looking for a curse weaver to fix it. Kennedy’s sisters are kidnapped, she finds herself plunged into the underbelly of the magical world where even Aidan soon finds himself in over his head.
My top thoughts:
I enjoyed this even more than I had anticipated. I love the magical world and the characters. I’m excited to keep reading the series.
What I liked/didn’t like:
I think the world is probably what made this a bit better than I had anticipated. I love the curse weaving/curse breaking element, but even more I like that all the magical abilities come with a set of rules and consequences. I always prefer worlds where magic isn’t just this instant solution. There’s also a lot of puzzling involved in curse breaking, which was neat. And there’s some fun Ancient Greece/Roman Gods — as the ancestors to modern magical abilities — weaved in, which added some fun twists.
Then there’s the characters. I loved that both Kennedy and Aiden grow a lot over the course of the book. I wasn’t huge fans of either of them at the start. Kennedy had a chip on her shoulder – mostly about Aiden and his silver spoon; Aiden was a bit presumptuous seeming, though that may have just been his awkwardness that we get to see as we get to know him better. I enjoyed seeing both of them grow into better (but believable) versions of themselves.
The tone of the book changed as the characters grew too – what started off as a paranormal cozy mystery (in my head) developed into a grittier, action-packed urban fantasy feel. I’m classifying this as a Cozy Urban Fantasy — and I’m super excited to see where it leads.
Narrator thoughts:
I listened to this book, narrated by Carly Robins and enjoyed her performance as much as the book. She voiced the characters really well and I felt the variety of personalities shine through. Looking forward to listening to her narrate more of the series (I hope)
I enjoyed this one too. It’s got a bit of the quirky which is more common in cozy paranormal but I how it moves into more UF territory. Wonderful review!
I agree, I was surprised by the UF move, but pleasantly so!
I read a review of this earlier today and now you have me even more eager for this series! The curse weaving/breaking sounds so interesting and you mention the character growth, which you know I’m a fan of, so there’s that draw as well. I’ll put this on my tbr because I *will* force myself to finish KArmstrong’s Otherworld series so I can move onto this series. (force is a strong word – it’s not a burden to read her. It’s just daunting because I’m so far behind LOL)
LOL I know the feeling of being so far behind! I haven’t even started Otherworld yet so yeah, you’re not alone there!
I’m intrigued since you mentioned ancieny Greece/Roman gods. That always catches my eye!
Me too – I really enjoy books that play with the ancient gods. The blurb doesn’t give any hint of it either so that was a nice surprise.