Book Review: A Curse of Gems

Fantasy. 482 Pages. 5 Stars

Synopsis:

Can she risk trusting a man if it means saving her sister? And what will she do when that reluctant trust begins changing into something more?

Jaelle knows better than to trust men. Every girl in Terrefantome knows that. But when her plan to escape her oppressive kingdom with her sister goes awry, she finds herself with an unwanted gift and her sister in peril. To make matters worse, she’s thrust into the company of a foreign prince on a strange mission. With no one else to turn to, Jaelle must choose between trusting and aiding him in his quest and receiving his help in return or saving her sister on her own.

Prince Lucas of Maricanta is on the most important mission of his life; if he fails, his kingdom will be overrun criminals of the most violent kind. When his meddling mother follows him into enemy territory, however, dragging along some poor girl that she insists is his future wife, he must alter plans to finish his mission and protect them all.

Jaelle and Lucas know his mother’s plan to betroth them is far-fetched. They also know, however, that in Terrefantome, it will be safer to play along with the sham engagement. But with enemies closing in on every side and their own affections getting muddled along the way, Lucas and Jaelle must choose between the futures they’ve sacrificed for and the love of which they’ve always dreamed.

A Curse of Gems is the seventh book in The Classical Kingdoms Collection, but it can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone. Read this fairy tale retelling now to experience danger, intrigue, and passionate, clean romance as only fairy tales can give.

My Review:

This is a unique and rich retelling of the not-so-common tale Toads and Diamonds. I’m personally rather fond of the quirky tale, but this…this is a whole new story. And as is Fichter’s trademark, she turned this tale inside out and upside down and made it her own.

Hold onto your hats, y’all, this one’s gonna be a lil long. (Isn’t that cover stunning?! Oh, and guys! You can get Jaelle’s necklace! How cool is that!)

I’m going to do my best to review this outstanding book, but truthfully, there are no words that can adequately convey the depth at which this book reached me. Fichter is good at what she does. She’s really good. She takes her readers on whirlwind rides, tugs on our emotions—hard—and weaves tales like none other I’ve ever read. But something in this particular story hit me like a ton of bricks. Fichter writes real. She exposes the dark—and she really dug into the darkness for this one, on more level than one—and shoots out a blinding light of hope, love, and peace in her works. It’s why I love her so much. But this time, this time she found my dark and she yanked it out. This book may be a lovely fairy tale retelling for you, but for me, there were bits inside of this that I truly, deeply needed to hear. I had a heart to heart in my own personal life because of one particular scene and I will never forget this book because of that. That was a God moment.

That aside, let me fangirl and gush like normal.

Dear Lord above. Lucas. I thought I fell hard for Ever and Michael. But Lucas. Guys. I can’t even. Lucas wormed his way into my heart and stole it completely. I connected with him, with his pain and his mask. He made me laugh and goofed off like he did in Silent Mermaid, sure, but this exposed a whole new side to him that enraptured me. I ate him up. And sometimes, I wanted to slap that boy silly! Lucas, come on! Get with the program here, dude! And then Jaelle. Confession time. I don’t know why (there really isn’t a reason), but I just didn’t think I’d like Jaelle nearly so much as I have Fichter’s previous heroines.*shrug* No clue where that preconceived notion came from. But it was false. Jaelle was a ray of sunshine. That girl had heart, and I liked her. I liked how she kept up from the moment she met Lucas and gave him a run for his money. I like how stubborn she was and how she took the lead and genuinely sought truth and justice. She wanted what was right, even at her own expense. But she also fought. She warred with herself and she had things to overcome that just made me cheer all the more for her. Jaelle was a treat for me. Drina…wow, Drina. Drina, I want to know more about you. I hope to see you cameo and see your heart. You added a whole new layer to this novel that never would have been if you’d been left out. This story happened because of you and, just wow. From your antics and your pout to your panic and your silent tears, you were the undiscovered gem to shine in this one.

And of course, I ate up every single minute of my cameos! Michael and Arianna, you will always have my heart! I love the relationships and dynamics Fichter portrays. That brotherly love between Michael and Lucas is precious and worth its weight in gold. I’d have read just for that. But watching the way Arianna and Lucas moved together touched my heart, too. To be so fully loved and accepted and assimilated into a family. Wow. Then our heroes, our staple, Ever and Isa. *Squee!* It’s always so much fun to see them again, especially together and in action! I enjoyed seeing how Lucas felt and saw them. Again, all the dynamics!! So much love! Even Elaina and the Admiral made an appearance. (Thank goodness, too!)

The setting for this story was vastly different from the previous ones! This was a straight up adventure land! I bet Fichter had fun playing with Terrefantome. I sure enjoyed being so fully immersed in this new culture, learning its history and tragedy, and hoping for its future. The political intrigue was well-suited and the villain was a total psychopath! It was awesome! XD I also really enjoyed the portrayal of the sisters. Again, Fichter kind of turned the traditional story on its head by writing two sisters who loved each other so much. It was different and clever, and it fit right into her world very well. Oh, also, I loved the mask idea! It took me a minute to separate the significance of the mask and the wrist mark, but I eventually got it and I really thought it was a super neat part of the land and culture!

The plot was engaging, clearly. I was hooked from the first three pages. I mean, I normally enjoy Fichter’s books, but right from the get go I was clutching my heart with wide eyes. She pulled them heart strings early this time! Furthermore, the deeper in I got, the harder I fell. This woman tore me up! There were several bits that I truly didn’t think I’d make it out of. My chest physically tightened. I struggled to breathe through much of this book! And at one point, I dropped the kindle like a hot rock and scrambled back. I hid. Yup, like a little girl. Pillow on top of my face, eyes squeezed shut. I thought my heart would never survive this book and I certainly panicked at that line. You know exactly what I’m talking about, Brittany! I almost had a mental breakdown! And the whole book just kept pummeling me and pummeling me over and over. With ever twist and turn I was desperately yearning to pick up all of the pieces and force them together. This was the wildest ride yet from Fichter and all I can say is that if this is what sleepless nights and nap time escapades leads to, I can’t imagine you in full force.

I found a more than a few errors and typos, but I was reading an advanced copy and expect those to be sorted out for publication. None were so bad I couldn’t race past them. Besides, I was far too invested in the story and the characters.

There were no swear words and no graphic violence. There was one particular scene I had to force myself through (By the way, there are only two things that gross me out, I mean legitimately gross me out, and of course Fichter finds them and merges them together. I thought I was gonna have nightmares after Drina’s experience. *shudder*). It was slightly disturbing, but not extremely graphic and perhaps just turned my stomach because of what it was. There is no explicit romance whatsoever, but the culture of the country does revolve heavily around men claiming women as their own with no hinderances. Again, there’s nothing graphic, and not even as much is hinted at as easily could have been. Fichter delves into the heart of her characters and challenges them, but even the themes she explores in this one were lighter than some of her previous ones I felt.

Fichter, you’ve turned my world upside down with your tales and I will follow them relentlessly all of our days. Thank you for inviting me into this amazing world of yours. I can’t wait to see where you take me next!

Note: I was given a free advanced reader copy of this book and am providing my very blunt, very opinionated review with gusto all of my own accord.

Book 0.5 (a novella) in the Classical Kingdoms series is The Green-Eyed Prince (4 Stars)

Book 1 is Before Beauty (5 Stars)

Book 2 is Blinding Beauty (5 Stars)

Book 3 is Beauty Beheld (5 Stars)

Book 4 is Girl in the Red Hood (4 Stars)

Book 5 is Silent Mermaid (5 Stars)

Book 6 is Cinders, Stars, and Glass Slippers (5 Stars)

Book 8 is Neverland Falling (5 Stars)

Book 9 is Breaking Neverland (5 Stars)

Book 10 is The Sentinel’s Song (4 Stars)

Book 11 is The Seven Years Princess (5 Stars)

I have read and rated the above on Goodreads. Check out the links for more info.

The Becoming Beauty trilogy should be read in order; however, the others are technically stand-alones. That said, I’d still read them in order since there is some crossover between characters.

Here is a picture of the reading order as posted by the author: