Cursed: Briar Rose’s Story by Kaylin Lee
Fairytale Retelling. 233 Pages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
“Just think,” the curse whispered as I drifted off to sleep. “Three years from today, you’ll fall asleep like this and never wake up.”
I was almost too tired to care.
Almost.
When she was thirteen years old, Briar Rose made a terrible mistake.
She’s spent the last five years waiting for the day she’ll finally pay for it, the day she’ll be cursed to eternal sleep by cruel mages who plan to use her against her mother.
Five years of anticipation. Five years of torture.
The curse controls her every moment, waking or sleeping. Her movements and words. Her choices. Her destiny.
When her final attempt to fight the curse fails, her only consolation is that she’ll be alone in her miserable end.
She didn’t count on a twin sister who refuses to give up on her.
Or a best friend who will do anything to save her.
Or enemies who have been planning an act of unthinkable evil for centuries, forcing her to find the will to fight back when she has nothing left to give and everything to lose.
Truths are revealed and steep prices are paid in this Sleeping Beauty retelling, the thrilling conclusion to the Destined series.
My Review:
It’s been a few years since I read the previous books, so there were definitely a few things I had to strain to recall. But I’m glad I finally got around to completing the series, and I do love a good Sleeping Beauty story, so I’ve been curious about Bri’s story since it came out.
The story very loosely touched on the classic Sleeping Beauty elements, but it fit perfectly into the Destined world that Lee has created. And it wrapped up all the previous thread really well. Personally, I struggled with the pacing. The first half of the story showed flashes over a number of years and the second half still felt a little rocky in some places. It was hard to know what time when what was happening and it just made it difficult to follow. Furthermore, we spent most of the book building to two moments, and both were over pretty quickly. So, the climax felt a little out of balance with the super long wrap up. But otherwise, I was engaged in the story itself and enjoyed watching the plot develop.
I’m still not quite sure how I feel about Bri. There were parts of her I liked. She was clever and had determination and grit. I liked that. I also sympathized with her situation and understood the effects it had on her after a certain event which shall remain unnamed XD But I did waver a little after the event because she seemed to doubt herself and push people away when I expected her to do the opposite. I guess I just didn’t quite see where she was coming from or understand her motivation entirely. I did really like Tav, though. I wish we could have seen more of the Sentinel team stuff, but I could see why Lee would choose not to show us that. It would have been fun to dig a little more into some of the side characters, though. Tav’s demeanor, ancestry, loyalty, and competence really drew me to him. And just the way he carried himself in the face of his peers and conflicts impressed me. And, of course, we had a few recurring characters that were fun to see again!
Lee’s world is comprised of a few different cultures, lands, and creatures. She carried them all through the series well, I think. And the same is true in the conclusion here. Like I said, there were some plot threads and a few characters I should have brushed up on before reading, but her world didn’t take very long to come back. I remembered that pretty distinctly and it was fun to get to see more of it once again.
Thematically, the story lightly touched on the trauma of abandonment, torture, and self-depreciation, but really it didn’t go into a lot of depth. There’s no foul language, some mild fantasy violence (but nothing very graphic), and a clean romance that’s pretty mild too. I’d say maybe 13/14+
MORE:
Prequel Novelette: Torn (4 Stars)
Book 1 in the Destined series is Fated: Cinderella’s Story (5 Stars)
Book 2 is Hidden: Rapunzel’s Story (4 Stars)
Book 3 is Twisted: Belle’s Story (4 Stars)
Book 4 is Betrayed: Ruby’s Story (5 Stars)
Book 5 is Hunted: Alba’s Story (5 Stars)
I have rated and reviewed each of the above on Goodreads. Follow the links to find more info on the books and then scroll down to see the reviews. Mine is among them.
This series should be read in order.
ON GRACEBOUGHT
If you missed it, check out my review of the previous books here!
Fated: Cinderella’s Story, Hidden: Rapunzel’s Story, Twisted: Belle’s Story, Betrayed: Ruby’s Story, and Hunted: Alba’s Story