Truth Cursed by Angie Dickinson
YA Fantasy. 313 ages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
Cressida Hoth is alone in the world. Orphaned and unwanted, she is inflicted with a peculiar curse by her mischievous aunts and banished to a finishing school in the secluded kingdom of Dernmont. Students train in every accomplishment suitable for young ladies: music, dancing, etiquette…and strangely, poison-making, fencing, and lock-picking.
The school is a front for a rebel spy ring, and when her training is complete, Cressida is selected to join a mission to infiltrate the kingdom’s royal court. She has been thrown unceremoniously into a world of ball gowns and espionage, but she is still under a curse, and it threatens to expose them all.
Defending her teammates and her secret, Cressida discovers that the kingdom’s buried history and the truth behind her curse run far deeper than she imagined.
My Review:
Someone told me Ella Enchanted was a comp title for this book, so naturally that piqued my interest. Between the very Ella-ish title and the pretty green cover with weapons on it, I ended up buying it. I don’t remember if I ever even read the blurb – maybe? Either way, since I just finished rereading the ever-amazing Ella Enchanted, I figured it was a good time to actually read this one.
I definitely saw some Ella nods in that opening chapter. And there were some small moments where Cressida ended up in situations that were remnicent of Ella’s predicament. The curse had similarities with Cressida being compelled against her will and experiencing negative symptoms if she resisted. There were a few instances and “rules” I found a little suspect and that felt a little loosey goosey, but overall, it was a cool mechanic in the story.
There were a few similar settings and dynamics, too, between the finishing school, the not-so-great family, and the palace complete with prince, balls, and hiding of secrets. But these felt like light similarities that became their own thing entirely. While you could see the ways Ella inspired this, Truth Cursed was also wholly it’s own story. It’s not a retelling of any kind – of Ella, Cinderella, or any other fairy tale that I’m aware of. It’s an original fantasy story with adventure and court intrigue.
I mention these things as someone who was drawn to the book because of the comparisons drawn between it and Ella Enchanted.
As for the rest, I enjoyed the court intrigue the most I think. I spent a lot of the book trying to puzzle out what was really going on. I liked a lot of the pieces in play – the courtier girls as spies in the palace with a double-edged skillset, the lovely scenery, and the mysterious powders, poisons, and history. But there were some bits that felt off in the pacing. I felt like we kept being told “ooh, secrets, there are secrets” and at some point felt mildly frustrated that we hadn’t really learned anything useful.
Usually a story will make you curious and then give you an answer that leads to more questions, but this story kind of felt like it just gave me questions and saved all the answers until the last 6 or so chapters. So the ending felt a little rushed, but not in a bad way because by that time I was definitely read to actually see what all the pieces meant.
Other than that, it was a fun story. I liked how it all worked out and it all came together nicely in the end. The world seems to have some intriguing elements between the history and the secret substances the plot is centered on. I wish we’d had a little more time to sit with some of those elements, but that was part of what all seemed to come out more toward the end. While all the questions got answered, I do still sort of want to know more. More about the land and the people and the substances. Yet at the same time, the story is clearly finished (standalone) and doesn’t really need anymore.
Emric and Roland were fun and I loved the relationships Cressida formed with her classmates. The take on the finishing school was also pretty cool. I’ve said a lot about how the ending had a lot of answers, but that doesn’t mean the beginning of the book wasn’t also interesting. I enjoyed the preparation at the finishing school and how it set everything up for the mission at the palace. And the time at the palace moved us to applying what the girls had learned, which was cool, too. The monks and the abby were also neat. So, it’s not that I didn’t like the beginning and middle of the book. I just wished we’d had more progress along the core of what it was the mission was about sooner.
Content: no swearing, some fantasy and spy related violence (think daggers, swords, and poison, etc.), and a mild, clean romance. Suitable for preteens I’d say.
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If you enjoyed this, check out these other fantasy/adventure titles:
Ella Enchanted, Oathbound, Moss Forest Orchid, The Spy in the Silver Palace, Glass Across the Sea, Wishtress, The Eternity Gate, Mark of the Raven, and Calor