Secrets Can't Protect Me. Only The Truth Can.

I recently finished reading Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool. This is book #1 in the Garden of the Cursed duology. This is Owlcrate's YA July 2023 book.

*POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT* Rating: 4/5 stars

"Since fleeing the gilded halls of Evergarden for the muck-filled canals of the Marshes, Marlow Briggs has made a name for herself as the best godsdamn cursebreaker in Caraza City. But no matter how many cases she solves, she is still haunted by the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.

When Adrius Falcrest, Marlow's old friend and scion of one of Caraza's most affluent spell-making families, asks her to help break a life-threatening curse, Marlow wants nothing to do with the boy who spurned her a year ago. But a new lead in her mother’s case makes Marlow realize that the only way to get the answers she desperately seeks is to help Adrius and return to Evergarden society—even if it means suffering through a fake love affair with him to avoid drawing suspicion from the conniving Five Families.

As the investigation draws Marlow into a web of deadly secrets and powerful enemies, a shocking truth emerges: Adrius’s curse and her mother’s disappearance may just be clues to an even larger mystery, one that could unravel the very foundations of Caraza and magic itself."

In Garden of the Cursed, a curse breaker reluctantly agrees to help break the curse of the old friend who snubbed her a year ago, which turns into a fake relationship so she can investigate a lead on her mother’s disappearance.

A year ago, Marlow Briggs left high society in Evergarden for the Marshes after her mother mysteriously disappeared. Now, she’s made herself into a popular cursebreaker, hunting down bad people and undoing hexes for a living, with the help of her best friend Swift. One day, she finally identifies a lead on her mother’s disappearance, which unfortunately involves going back to Evergarden. Luckily, her old friend and heir to one of the richest families in the city, Adrius Falcrest, turns up at her door, asking her to break the curse laid upon him. They agree to fake a relationship so that Marlow can investigate both her own mystery as well as Adrius’s, uncovering secrets and corruption throughout the city.

The world building was very interesting! Magic exists as spells that require a hex card and the corresponding incantation. Marlow is a cursebreaker, a bit similar to a bounty hunter since she has to hunt down the people who cursed the person who’s paying her, in order to find and burn the card. Magic and the resources needed to create spells are also gatekept by the Five Families, who essentially run the city.

Adrius is a scion and heir to one of these families, while Marlow was allowed to be educated alongside him and the other noblesse nouveau since her mother worked as a chevalier to one of the Five Families. She was ostracized by everyone there aside from Adrius; however, their friendship existed in private, when he would appear at her apartment to bother her. A year ago, even that was ruined when he publicly wanted nothing to do with her. A few days later, Marlow’s mother disappeared and she flees to the Marshes, not seeing Adrius until a chance encounter that later leads to him asking her to break his curse.

Thus, the fake relationship has a certain degree of tension underlying it, not just because of the unresolved feelings between the two of them but also because with it, Marlow has to return to a world that reminds her of her mother. She can’t help but feel even more out of place now. Everyone also seems suspicious, possibly having a hand either in Adrius’s curse or in her mother’s disappearance.

I was invested in both the major mysteries, and while I could see one of the twists coming, it was still exciting to see how we would get to the reveal. The book ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, and I can’t wait to read the sequel! Thankfully, this is a duology, so we only have to wait for one more book to uncover all the answers.

Aside from all this, I really liked the characters! Marlow has had to be independent for the past year; even though she has outside support, she doesn’t want anyone else to get hurt, so she’ll stubbornly take everything on herself. I liked seeing her friendship with Swift, who persistently has to remind her that she’s not alone. Meanwhile, Adrius gets under Marlow’s skin, but it’s clear (at least, to the reader) that he’s always liked her. Their banter was a lot of fun to read.

Full of mystery and intrigue, Garden of the Cursed was a fun fantasy with great characters and intriguing world-building. I sped through this book so quickly because I was having the time of my life, and I can’t wait for the sequel. If you’re in the market for a fantasy mystery, you should definitely pick up Garden of the Cursed!

Check out Garden of the Cursed, and take on the adventure of either being cursed or a curse breaker.

Happy Reading :)