Until all Curses are Lifted by Tim Frankovich
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The first book in a fantasy series, Marshal has been cursed since he was born for a crime he didn’t commit. When he learns that he is actually the heir to magic he is swept on a quest to break his curse and take his rightful place.
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What I liked:
-This was a very interesting world started here. I was really captivated by Marhsal’s plight and wanted to see his curse broken.
-The school for mages was fun to read about. And then once all the Lords areived it was quite stressful. Lots of great suspense in the last quarter.
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3⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked this story but it felt not as lively as I wanted it to be. I would have liked to see the characters fleshed out a bit more.

I didnt know what to expect from this.
He's a newly published author but it was great. It was a slow start to introduce the world and it's mechanics, the book quickly picks up into one of the most intricate stories. Good read both young and older adults. Definitely need to pick up the next book.

DNF 18%
It seemed interesting at first, but meh - it fell flat and i didn`t feel like to continue the story further.

i enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and I really enjoyed the story itself. I look forward to more in the series.

It was really difficult to get into this book. The story is written in high fantasy style so if that is not your preferred style of writing I would not recommend it. That being said, I found the plot interesting and the characters well developed.

ARC from NetGalley

4.5 stars

Well. I've just finished the book, and I'm buzzing. I had to pee so bad, but I couldn't put it down. The beginning of this book was a bit slow, it took me at least 50% to get really into it. From probably about 70% to the finish it was absolutely excellent.

Marshal, man the crap you've gone through. I hope you get some joy in the next book. You deserve it.

Seri, seeing your powers grow gave me this strong female thrill like, yeah this chick kicks ass. Yes she will hand your ass to you.

I tend not to give a rundown of the book in my reviews because there are already enough of those. I don't read reviews to learn about the plot, I read reviews to learn whether or not the book was enjoyable and if so, why. There's just so much satisfying action in this book. So many things that were so wrong for so long become every so slightly right and it just moved through me like wave after wave of energy. Sorry, that's vague. I don't want to spoil anything. Just know that there is a bit of a slow start putting all the Jenga pieces in place so that Tim Frankovich could eventually punch the carefully constructed tower right in the face and send all those pieces flying, much to my delight. I'm really looking forward to the next book. This book doesn't end on a cliff hanger, but it does end on an "OMFG I MUST KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT" note. You should read it.

When I read the description I was excited to maybe find my next great epic fantasy read. This book did not disappoint! It took me a little longer than normal to get into it but once I was I couldn’t put it down!

This story grabbed me from the beginning with the plight of Marshall. The story has an intricate cast of characters that are well developed. The pacing is just right. It gives me a sense of the mystery and adventure while giving me little crumbs to figure it out.

Now that I have come to the conclusion, I know that I will be in mourning from the loss of my new friends and crave their return as many craved the Starshine.

If you’ve read Kristin Cashore’s Graceling series, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, or Lewis’ stories of Narnia, you would enjoy this magical coming of age adventure.

This is a clean, coming of age story filled with magic and adventure. A must read!

I have high expectations for this author, his writing will improve and I look forward to the next book in the series. This book would have been so much better with a little editing; the world, the characters and the horribly flawed magic system is great. However, the journey that was undertaken was so long even if it did allow some of the characters to grow tremendously.

Curses are put upon the innocent for crimes committed by their father; the High Lords of the lands did this so they wouldn’t have to face the consequences of their actions and then so they don’t curse their heir or legitimate children they have many illegitimate since it’s the first-born that is cursed. (It’s never explained that is the first-born dies if the next in birth order is then cursed, but I thought it was implied at one point). Marshall (Marsh) is the cursed first born of a powerful Lord, a man who not only raped his mother, he also killed her father who tried to protect her. He’s mute, cannot learn any signs except “nod is yes and shake is no.’ Every day of his life she tells him “you are loved, you are valuable and you have a purpose.” After each statement she asks, “Do you believe me?” He always nods, but he really doesn’t. They live a very simple life in a small village where his mother is a healer, with Victor, a young man that Marsh saved and is now bound to him until he saves Marsh’s life. To say that he’s resentful is an understatement.

When Marsh’s younger brother, Lord Volrag, the oldest legitimate heir comes looking for him his mother puts a plan in action that she always intended, she was just putting it off for as long as she could. There are many reasons for this, one is that Victor must come with them because of the binding, there’s also a binding that ties you to your area and there’s another reason that you must discover on your own.

His mother does not know and there is no way that Marsh can tell her that Volrag gave Marsh an expensive dagger and urged him to kill himself, otherwise he will send an assassin after him and have him kill his mother and Victor. Since he was a very young child his mother has been instructing him in the use a sword, and Victor has dreams of being a soldier and has been practicing with an old, rusted flail; this comes in handy when they are attacked by at the beginning of their journey. Marsh all has been contemplating killing himself and after the attack he thinks it’s the right thing to do and he’s waiting to find the right opportunity, but he wants to be with his mother as long as possible. They are soon joined by Talinir, an Eldanim warden who knew Marsh’s grandfather and mother for many years he begins instructing both young men. They will need all the skill they can gain because Volrag has sent Kishin, a leprous assassin to kill his brother.

Then there’s the secondary story, set on the island of Zes Sivas, the only place in the land of Antises where magic can be practiced freely, providing you don’t have a curse. Seri is a female acolyte; she is one a the very few females chosen to attend the Conclave on the island and she is determined to become a Mage and then the first female High Master. There are six Masters on the island, one for each land and one acolyte from each land (that’s not really spelled out but it’s the impression I got, although there are other older, more advanced students that the Maters of each land are also responsible for). Seri quickly becomes friends with Dravid from Kuktarma and Jamana from Mandiata and as they begin the studies Masters are being murdered and no one knows who’s behind it or why. Suri and her friends will be an important as the story progresses for different reasons.

This is where the book starts dragging, the journey seems so long and while there is action during this journey there are also long periods where nothing really moves except the weary travelers. The situation on the island seems a little slow also. Towards the end the pace picks, then goes somewhere I really wasn’t expecting, introducing a character that had me changing what I already believed (although I may be somewhat correct in my assumption). Editing would have helped this area greatly, but as I said earlier this is the author’s first full length novel and as he continues the story I believe each book will het better (I just wish that he wasn’t waiting a year to release the next one, fortunately the 2nd book will released in August. Since is probably a trilogy it’ll be 2021 before the 3rd book is out and by that time, I’ll have read between 250-350 other books making it hard to remember the storyline without a recap if available or having to do a reread).

2.75/5 STARS: I received a free digital ARC through Netgalley in exchange for a honest, unbiased review. I sincerely thank Netgalley, author and/or publisher for giving me this opportunity.**

A well written young adult fantasy novel that kept my interest thought the book. The world that the author created was very enjoyable and the two story lines kept me picking up the book every night. I am ready to read the next book in the series.

2.5/5 stars

This book is a glorious winged beast leaping from the nest before it is quite ready to fly.

In short ... underdeveloped.

This story was every bit of promising, every element that makes up an incredible story was present ... almost. Where this book fell short was in the writing. I honestly fell like this is a problem with not enough revisions, not enough editing, and not enough people being critical with their reviews. Which is actually quite tragic ... because this story, this world, these characters ... are all incredible. Not to mention a unique magic system which is hard to come by in this day and age.

You have Marshal and you have Seri. Basic chosen one scenario on both ends. Mashal is cursed through no fault of his own and has a back-story that I'm sure we can all pretty early on guesstimate. Seri wants to be a mage ... the first female mage ... the first female master mage ... but we don't every really get much about her as to why ... or as to why she was chosen as an acolyte. All of these things are just expecting the reader to accept and move on ... which I do not like. But we will begin with some positives.

What I liked

Unique, whimsical, intriguing.

I enjoyed reading this book, although I had to turn off the critical reader parts of myself in order to do so. Surface level, this is a wonderful story. Extremely enjoyable even with all of it's flaws. I cared about the characters ... even though I felt like their stories were underdeveloped. I enjoyed this world, even though it lacked spacial descriptions to set the atmosphere.

I will say that the one thing that was not lacking was the magic system. Extremely unique and very well explained. I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of the story.

What I did not like

As I mentioned, this book lacked something in almost every aspect of the writing. It was doomed to be always "almost". The dialog was not great, with much of it being unnecessary and even cringe-worth at times. The characters could have been pushed a little more, especially supporting characters, all of which fell extremely flat. Because the secondary and supporting characters were underdeveloped, the relationships between the characters felt flat as well.

I think Marshall's side of the story was a little more successful over-all. Seri's story had a lot of plot holes that, again, I feel could have benefited from letting this whimsical story marinate a while longer before publishing.

Over-all

I enjoyed the world and the story, but I am saddened by the potential this book had and did not achieve.

RATING - 4/5

Marshal is born cursed. He cannot speak, and can barely communicate. He manages to communicate by nodding/shaking his head, and sometimes has trouble remembering this as well. His mother is his world, because no one else has made the effort to understand or befriend him.

Seri is training to be a mage at Zes Sivas. Her goal is to become the first female mage ever. She quickly becomes friends with her fellow acolytes, and finds out something about herself that will change everything.

These two storylines are running parallel to each other. This is seen quite often in fantasies and epic fantasies (at least the ones I've read), and it does quite well under Frankovich's hand. At no point did I feel like I was losing touch with either of them, and I was able to immerse myself into what I was currently reading.

The characters are well-written, and quite likeable. There's no 'oh, I love them so much' but there also isn't a feeling of complete disconnect. Their reactions are very realistic to their circumstance, and I can't quite tell what age they are? Does anyone know?

The world-building is quite good as well. It's not extraordinary (looking at you, LotR, TSC, thanks for the high expectations), but it gets the job done and leaves a little to yearn for. It's a surprisingly cruel world for one that has magic: the law of Bindings and Curses that don't really allow anyone to live a full life, the unfair loophole that the Lords of the lands have made where their first-born children are cursed for their actions, the imbalance in the magic. But I could sense that all of this was very well thought out. Although very new and raw, nothing truly seemed out of place at the end.

Overall, a very good read for fans of epic fantasy and a long book to dive into. (I would say it's YA, but I can't quite tell?)