Two kingdoms on the brink of war, two couples on opposite sides — and the curse that started it all closing in.
- Score
- 76.4
- Spice
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Sweet
- POV
- multi
- Ending
- HEA / HFN
Tropes
Content warnings
Curated signals, not an exhaustive guarantee.
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What readers think
Readers who loved Lia Mara and Grey tend to consider this the strongest instalment — Grey's integrity and Lia Mara's compassionate leadership are widely praised as the emotional spine of the book. The action-heavy second half and the dual-POV structure across four perspectives are frequently highlighted as strengths. The most consistent criticism targets Rhen and Harper: many readers found Rhen's choices indefensible and Harper's continued loyalty to him frustrating or even harmful as a message. The blurred morality — the book deliberately makes both heirs look flawed — divides readers sharply; some find it sophisticated, others find it incoherent. The ending is seen as emotionally satisfying for some pairings but rushed for others.
Read it if
- · Readers already invested in Grey and Lia Mara who want their story paid off
- · YA fantasy fans who enjoy political war narratives with morally complicated rulers and no clean heroes
- · Readers who can tolerate an unsatisfying lead romance if secondary characters and world stakes deliver
Skip it if
- · You need to like both central romance leads — Rhen is widely found unlikeable here and Harper's loyalty reads as enabling
- · You haven't read books 1–2; this is a direct continuation with no standalone entry point
- · You want high spice or a clear happily-ever-after — heat stays closed-door and the ending is bittersweet for some
If you liked this
- · For fans of A Curse So Dark and Lonely — same world, darker politics, with Grey and Lia Mara finally centre-stage
- · Like An Ember in the Ashes but YA and more fairytale-coded, with succession war replacing the empire
- · For fans of Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows — morally grey characters in a war where no side is fully right
In this series
Part of Cursebreakers — read in order:
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