A curse of love

Book: A CURSE OF LOVE by Stoltz, Elizabeth

Reviewed by Your_bookish_fantasy

Rating: 3.5/5

𝓝𝓞 𝓢𝓟𝓞𝓘𝓛𝓔𝓡𝓢
⚜️𝔻𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 𝕠𝕗- A curse of love

𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰, 𝐢𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐢 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.

⚜️ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤-
(out of 5 stars, my rating scale is at the end)
📚 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 / 5

🌡️ 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 MF 🌶🌶🫑 / 5 -𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠

Which books have I also given this same rating? (𝑠𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛)

5⭐️ Fourth wing / Bound by inked flame / Anathama / The Lies of Lena / Of silver and Curses
4.5⭐️ Bitten / The Female / Quicksilver / Bride / Lights Out / A Bargain so Bloody
4⭐️ ACOTAR/ Spellcaster / One Dark Window / From Blood and Ash / Phantasma / Butcher & Blackbird
3⭐️We Who Will Die / The Wolf King / Daughter of No Worlds / The Ex Hex

⚜️𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕠:
Genre- Fantasy Romance

📖 414 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀

𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝗣𝗢𝗩

𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲- 4 August 2026

𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁 or 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 driven? 𝒜 ℳ𝒾𝓍

𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 & 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗻𝗼- The Shadowborne Trilogy Book 1

𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 on 𝗞𝗨? ✅𝒴ℯ𝓈.

𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗲- ℱ𝒶𝓈𝓉, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓊𝓃ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ𝓈

𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲? ✅ 𝒴ℯ𝓈, 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝒸𝓊𝓁𝒶𝓇𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒻ℯ𝓂𝒶𝓁ℯ 𝒻𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓃𝒹𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅𝓈, 𝓂𝒶𝑔𝒾𝒸 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝓉ℯ𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈

𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? (Disability, plus size, mental health etc...)✅ mental health

ℳℴℴ𝒹𝓈; 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒚, 𝑳𝑶𝑳 𝑯𝒖𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒓, 𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍, 𝑴𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝑻𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒚, 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒇𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌, 𝑬𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍

𝒟𝒾𝒹 𝒾 ℯ𝓃𝒿ℴ𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈?✅

𝒲𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒾 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓃ℯ𝓍𝓉 𝒷ℴℴ𝓀 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈ℯ𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈?✅

𝒲ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒾 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 ℯ𝓁𝓈ℯ 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓇?✅

𝖂𝖍𝖔 𝖜𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖎 𝖗𝖊𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖙𝖔? Those who love a great group of female besties who love to snark and tease each other while supporting and uplifting each other. This is also great for those who love great banter, swearing and sarcasm in their romantasy story!

⚜️𝕊ℙ𝔼ℂ𝕀𝔼𝕊 𝕀ℕ 𝕊𝕋𝕆ℝ𝕐:
💋𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑠
✨𝔇𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔬𝔫 shifters
✝️ Gods
🌕 Wolves
🪄 Magic wielders

⚜️𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕤 :
🔥𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧
🌡𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝔸𝕟𝕘𝕤𝕥, 𝕋𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟
💀𝔉𝔬𝔯𝔟𝔦𝔡𝔡𝔢𝔫 𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢
🔺 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 elements
🗡 𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙃𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 to 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨

⚜️𝕋ℝ𝕆ℙ𝔼𝕊
😈𝕊𝕖𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕤 & 𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕪𝕒𝕝𝕤
🔮𝔓𝔯𝔬𝔭𝔥𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔐𝔶𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰
☯️ℝ𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕚𝕠𝕟/𝔻𝕖𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕖𝕤
🧬 𝐔𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠
🧸𝐹𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦
🤩Epic Side Characters
💈 ᗷᗩᑎTᗴᖇ
🧨𝕊𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕪 𝔽𝕄ℂ
🪄 Unique magic system
🥀 Curse
🕯️ Lost memories / hidden history
🥀 Beauty and the Beast Retelling
👑 Gods & Royalty
💅 Found Family & Bitchy Besties
🩸Bloodmagic
🧩𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒙𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒚
🤫Memory Loss
⭐️ Mental Health
🐴One Horse
🏰Cursed Castle

✨ TᕼᗴᗰᗴՏ ✨
Female friendship, grief, love, sacrifice, identity, destiny versus choice, found family, power, mortality, loyalty and self-discovery.

📝Cliff Notes Review-
A Curse of Love gave me mysteries, cursed gods, blood magic, dragons, brilliant female friendships and enough sarcasm to keep me happily turning pages long after I should have been doing something productive. The friendship between the women was easily my favourite part, with completely different personalities, fierce loyalty and genuinely funny banter without needing petty drama to keep things interesting. I loved the premise and Augustine fascinated me whenever he actually stayed on the page, but the romance itself needed far more courting, emotional development and explanation for me to believe the stakes surrounding the gods finding love. Several mysteries were also obvious much earlier than the FMC realised, leaving me waiting for her to catch up rather than sharing her discovery. Very entertaining and packed with potential, but I wanted more depth behind some of its most important ideas.

😥 𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕟𝕠 𝕗𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤?
Because several of the ideas I found most fascinating were also the least developed.

The entire curse relies on these gods successfully finding humans who will fall in love with them within an incredibly short period of time or facing a horrific consequence, yet none of them seemed particularly concerned about actually achieving that goal. -This was probably my biggest problem with the story.

If the stakes are genuinely that high, why had they waited until there were mere days remaining before making any real effort? Why had none of them spent months or years searching for someone compatible? Why weren’t they courting these women once they’d chosen them?

I kept expecting romance. Flirting. Wooing. Dates. Thoughtful gestures. Some explanation of why each particular human had caught the god’s attention in the first place.
Instead, it sometimes felt like everyone had accepted that love simply needed to happen because the plot required it.

That made the central premise difficult for me to fully believe.

I also predicted several of the major revelations surprisingly early. Anyone familiar with my reviews knows that I rarely work out twists, so if I’m sitting there going, “Well obviously THAT’S what this means,” the breadcrumbs probably aren’t quite as subtle as intended.

The reveals themselves were still enjoyable and well executed, but the pacing suffered because the reader was often waiting for Shadow to realise something we’d already understood chapters earlier.

🌍 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘:
I really enjoyed the world and particularly the magic system.

Magic leaving identifying marks on its wielder was fascinating, and the use of blood magic as currency felt different enough to make the world stand out from other romantasy settings. The gods, dragon shifters, wolves, prophecies and wider mythology all suggest that there is a much larger story waiting beneath this first book.

The mysteries absolutely kept me reading.

There were plenty of chapters where I told myself, “One more and then I’ll do what I’m supposed to be doing,” only to immediately start another one. That’s always one of the biggest compliments I can give a book.

The pacing, however, was inconsistent.

Some scenes were packed with information or action and moved incredibly quickly, while others spent far longer than necessary circling the same idea. There were moments where descriptions and internal thoughts felt slightly overworked, followed by scenes I desperately wanted expanded that disappeared almost immediately.

The occasional abrupt transitions also made the story feel slightly chaotic. I would have happily spent longer exploring places like the market or learning more about the world’s history rather than racing towards the next plot development.

There were also moments where the language or dialogue felt slightly awkward or too modern for the setting, but overall the humour and sarcasm worked extremely well for me.

And then there were the wolves.

I became ridiculously invested in those wolves.

The story kept dropping little hints around them, and I was absolutely convinced they were being positioned as something enormously important for the finale. I expected them to become part of a major reveal, rescue, battle or twist.

So when that didn’t really happen, I was disappointed.

I’m hoping that’s simply groundwork for later books rather than a thread that’s been abandoned.

🧝‍♂️ ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤:
The female friendships were easily the strongest part of this book.

I loved these women.

Their personalities are completely different, yet somehow they fit together perfectly. They’re sarcastic, argumentative, affectionate and fiercely loyal without falling into the tired pattern of women constantly tearing each other down.

Normally I happily devour a little catty drama, but I didn’t miss it here at all because the banter gave the friendships so much life. They teased each other mercilessly, swore, argued and occasionally drove each other insane, but when something mattered, they stood together without hesitation.

That’s exactly the kind of found family I love.

Shadow was a more complicated character for me.
I loved her sarcasm and some of her impulsiveness genuinely made me laugh, but there were also moments where she felt inconsistent. She could make a reckless decision without thinking one minute and then spend pages overanalysing something fairly obvious the next.

Her emotional responses sometimes shifted very quickly too, and I occasionally wanted her to slow down enough for the emotional weight of what was happening to actually land.

The opening breakup is a perfect example.
I loved the idea of beginning the story with her long-term boyfriend suddenly abandoning her. It immediately disrupted her entire life and created an interesting starting point for everything that followed.

But emotionally?
I wanted that to HURT.
This was someone she’d built a life around, yet the loss sometimes felt more inconvenient than devastating. A little more grief, anger, humiliation or betrayal would have made that opening hit so much harder.

Augustine was probably the character I wanted significantly more from.
He was cheeky, intriguing, protective and entertaining whenever he appeared, but then he’d vanish again.
And again.
And again. -I repeatedly found myself wondering where the hell he was.

Considering how important the romantic element supposedly is, I wanted much more time with him. I wanted to understand why he chose Shadow, how he found her, whether he’d known about her for longer than she realised, what attracted him to her and why he kept disappearing whenever events became particularly chaotic.

There were so many opportunities to deepen him beyond “mysterious god who appears when needed,” and I’m hoping later books finally give us those answers.

The gods as a whole were also much more chaotic than regal.
At times they felt less like ancient immortal beings carrying enormous power and more like bickering siblings who happened to possess magic.

It was funny. But occasionally I wanted them to feel more dangerous. More ancient. More commanding.
Especially considering the scale of the curse hanging over them.

⏳ 𝕎𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕚 𝕣𝕖-𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕠𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕕?
I would recommend this to the right reader.
If you enjoy sarcastic heroines, strong female friendships, chaotic gods, curses, prophecy, unusual magic systems, dragons and mysteries that unfold across a series, there’s a lot here to enjoy.

I’d absolutely continue into book two because the world has too many unanswered questions for me to walk away now.

🪧𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤:
A Curse of Love is one of those books where I could see both the flaws and the enormous potential at the same time.

I genuinely enjoyed reading it. The mysteries kept pulling me forward, the magic fascinated me and the friendships completely stole my heart. There were plenty of moments where I abandoned whatever I was supposed to be doing because I needed just one more chapter.

But there were also several moments where I wanted to climb into the book, sit everyone down and demand an explanation.

The gods’ approach to their own curse made very little sense to me, the romantic development needed far more attention, some mysteries were stretched long after I’d already solved them and several intriguing elements, particularly the wolves and Augustine’s history, felt like they were introduced without receiving the payoff I expected.

Despite that, I’m invested.

There are enough mysteries still dangling, enough characters I care about and enough potential within this world that I’ll absolutely continue the series.

I just desperately need these gods to discover the ancient magical art of actually courting somebody.

𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠;

𝕋𝕚𝕜𝕋𝕠𝕜
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IᑎՏTᗩ
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𝕄𝕪 ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕤:
⭐️ DNF

⭐️⭐️
I managed to finish it but it was rubbish. I won't keep a physical copy and won't recommend it, but it's a shame as the plot could have made a good book in another author's hands

⭐️⭐️.5
It was OK. I wish I didn't start this one as it didn't do it for me as I struggled to read it. It had an interesting premise that fell flat but I had to see what happened in the end.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
I don't regret reading it, and I will read the next one, but this one did have a few flaws. [These could be repetitive writing, gaps or plot holes, better character growth or world building, areas needing more detail]
Generally, the book lacked depth and became confusing. The plot resonated with me even though it annoyed me on the whole.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
I'm glad I read it. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to the right people, but I wanted more! Sadly, it's easily forgettable with a few issues I just couldn't overlook/get past.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Good book! I loved it, but... I needed more! I really did enjoy it, but it had a few parts that needed more detail or added history/background or lore. But that's because the story or characters were memorable, and the plot was strong with brilliant twists. I would re-read if I needed to catch up for the next book and would recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Great book! I truly wish the story had been thought about more, or the author had been given more time as this book is so close to brilliance! I will likely read again and will definitely be recommending it to all!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
WOW! Absolutely amazing book! Well written with great characters and a plot so memorable that it will stay with me. I will definitely read this again, I will be recommending it and sharing it with the whole world! Also- I NEED A PHYSICAL COPY!

🔥⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🔥
This is my God level tier. The book must be perfectly memorable. Even after reading 50+ more books, I will remember character names and emotions along with the plot. If there is a special edition, then I need to own it! If there is a conversation on books- I'm talking about this!

SPICE SCALE:
🌶️– segsual language and a little on-page action

🌶️🌶️– a lot of segsual language and some on-page open door action, may be occurring a couple of times

🌶️🌶️🌶️– a lot of explicit action and dirty talk, occurring frequently with 2/3 lurvers

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ – super graphic and explicit, occurring 4 or more times, can be more grey and taboo themed.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ – Kinks and Fet!shism, explicit and super graphic. It is likely to be tushy play, toys, playrooms, and more

Read full review on ARC Library