Book: The Cure She Carries by Chrissy Liu
Reviewed by Anonymous
Rating: 5/5
This book had me hooked from the beginning, all the way to the end. I couldn't put this book down, so much that I stayed up till 6am reading it because it was that addicting!
The story does a dual POV, in Mara Thorne (mom) and her daughter Sera. This book is a dystopian fantasy, with different classes and everyone is treated differently based on where they fall, which constitutes their very identity and influences their whole future including what they study, where they study, and their standing or place in society. This book had so many different topics and elements, such as grief, family dynamics and relationships, romance, academics, betrayal and navigating moving forward in the wake of loss.
This book was beautiful in the way it navigated hard topics, and the way it went through the process of experiencing what was going on through Mara and Sera's eyes. You have a mother who has navigated the loss of her husband, and is now moving forward in her new job as a professor, navigating what that looks like as a 43 year-old widower, watching her kids also grow up and navigate the world on their own while also reconciling her complicated relationship with her daughter. You have her daughter Sera who is navigating going to the same school her mom teaches at, in the same discipline of alchemy, and navigating being mixed in a university where the difference creates impact, as well as navigating finding her own identity outside of her twin brother and the complicated relationship she has with her mom.
Reading this book was emotional but it was captivating from the start. The author does an amazing job of setting the scene, including being so descriptive that someone like myself (who has a hard time visualizing components without art) could see things clearly just by how they were described. All of the fantasy elements were explained thoroughly enough, that there was no moment of confusion or no moments needing more clarity, which made this book easy to follow.
I'd recommend this book 100%, it has so many different topics and elements that come up during the book that make it bingeable. I am so thankful I got to read the book early, and look forward to seeing what everyone else thinks about it! I look forward to reading a lot more from this Author.