An atmospheric performance

With demons, witches, familiars, werewolf-like creatures who lurk in a forbidden forest and now angels in the mix, The Cursed was another darkly atmospheric read from Harper L. Woods. Hollows Grove university for witches is now under new rule after Willow unwittingly opened the seal that contained Lucifer the Morningstar and allowing him to rise from the bowels of hell claiming his witchling as his consort as he did so. Full of twist and turns, secrets and revelations, their forbidden romance sizzles as Willow realises the full extent of her magical abilities in strength going from the easily manipulated young girl to the powerful witch, she was always meant to be and taking her place as the Covenant, but nothing is as it seems, and Willow might have yet another destiny to fulfil. If I’m being honest this book wasn’t what I expected especially with Lucifer and his merry band of archdemons now walking the earth. I was expecting Viking like pillaging or open warfare at the least between the demons and witches, but this story was more about Willow’s relationship with Lucifer who came across as being a bit of a teddy bear when it came to her albeit one that gave off distinct touch her and die vibes and who wasn’t averse to inflicting pain on his witchling if it meant getting his point across. On Willow’s part it she swung between loathing and loving him in equal measure leading to some wickedly flirty banter and sizzling, steamy encounters between them. After being such a snarky bada$$ in the first book she was a more emotional character in the Cursed and faced a few angsty moments as she was torn between her feelings for Lucifer and her perceived duty to the witches as she felt she had to put right the damage she had caused. She loved Gray the man but hated Lucifer for the power he had over her. There was fantastic character growth as well as Willow realised how everyone around her had manipulated her for their own ends but not before yet another shocking cliff hanger that leaves me hopeful of more from this series.

I loved the book, but the narration provided by Ellis Evans and Emilia Bauer brought The Cursed to life. To begin with I did think that Ellis’ characterisation of Gray was done in a bit of a monotone but the more I listened, I began to realise that his performance had a sinister edge to it making him sound all the more ominous and giving me chills while Emilia’s portrayal of the teenage Willow, torn between her love for Gray and her duty to the witches as Covenant was spot on. Together these narrators did justice to one of my favourite releases this year.

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