HAPPY RELEASE DAY!

"Maybe your highness is afraid of getting your high ass kicked".

"That's the problem with people, they won't jump into danger to defend what's right"

Perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince, ToG and Grishaverse. Since it has some vibes and similarities to these, which made me like it instantly.

I'm SO EXCITED and CAN'T WAIT for the sequel coming on January 2021.

I knew I was going to like this book since I saw the gorgeous cover and read the synopsis, a plus is that the author is Brazilian (yay!), so I had that feeling that I had to read it, it caught my attention immediately. Turns out that i was right! because i did enjoy and like it, i think the author and this book series Kingdom of Curses and Shadows have potential. This is the first book i read from Day Leitao and it sure won't be the last! I'm actually glad i found this book since i have been in a reading slump and since i started reading it i couldn't stop, i binge read it!! it had me completely hooked. It's an easy and entertaining read.

I totally reccomend reading first The Shadows and the Children (you can get it for free at Day's website), which is a short story and the prequel to The Cup and The Prince. It's a nice introduction into the serie and the world it's set in, i wish it hadn't been separated from the book, i think it should have been added to it before the first chapter began, because i feel it adds more to the book and readers will get a better and complete idea of Zora's background and the world, so they won't be kinda lost as i was during the first chapter.

Aspects i DID LIKE:
-The world building and plot, i'm excited to know more about the Dark Valley and the other regions of the kingdom, such as Linaria.
-FIERCE PROTAGONIST with a sword named Butterfly that has pink glow bc why not?!
-Prince Griffin, the dark and cursed prince! Also competing for the Blood Cup. He has some Cardan and Nikolai vibes!
-Princess Alegra, what a plot twist! I'm excited to know more about her!
-The magic in it, and the potion making stuff.
-The fact that the author was inspired by Minecraft, there's these dark creatures in the Dark Valley that spawn from dark spaces and attack people.
-It talks about about being a woman in male-dominated spaces, so feminist in a way. Zora is the only woman in the Royal Games, so she fights against these issues and stands up for herself and her beliefs.

Aspects i DIDN'T LIKE:
-Short and felt like some parts were kinda rushed.
-Felt lost at the beggining with the worldbuilding.
-In my opinion, Prince Kiran and Larzen's behavior and comments towards Zora sometimes felt odd. I understand if the author may had wanted to make a point, argument or are part of the plot or characters personality, which i get, but personally i didn't like it.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!! In exchange of an honest and voluntary review.

This was so much fun, I really enjoyed it!

I read it in a day! It’s fast-paced with an interesting plot and characters. I absolutely loved all the trials and the mystery element.

Not five stars as I would have liked more descriptions and world-building.

I liked the start of the romance and THE ENDING of the book so I will definitely be picking up book 2!

(actual rating: 3.5/5)

This book is pitched as "Throne of Glass meets Minecraft", and it did not disappoint.

The only reason Zora cheated to get into the Royal Games is that her boyfriend cheated on her, thought that she could never win because she was a girl, and planned on leaving the Dark Valley on their own. But things start heating up and her life becomes more and more in danger, while she gets increasingly involved with the drama surrounding the princes.

One of the biggest things I liked about this book was the main character. Sure, she makes some bad decisions, but who doesn't? Especially when you've been cut off from the rest of society for your entire life. She refuses to back down and holds her own in tough situations. Other than that, the Minecraft references in this book seemed really obvious, even if they weren't very important to the plot (yet. I suspect the next book will rectify that). The pacing was good - pretty fast and action-filled, but not overly so. There's even some political intrigue and some romance drama, which I enjoyed.

The world-building was decent, and the characters remained just shy of feeling 3-dimensional. The writing gets the job done, but isn't anything particularly special. Zora's constant paranoia gets a bit irritating at times, but it is understandable. Even though this book claims to be YA romance, the romance itself isn't very important until the end, and even then, it didn't feel all that well developed to me.

I think my favorite character was either Larzen or Zora. My least favorite character may have been Griffen, because of how contradictory and overly 'protective' he was, but I hated his relationship with Alegra even more because of how rainbow-unicorns-puppies-and-fluffy-kittens it seemed.

(Just a side note that this book ends on an extremely dramatic cliffhanger, to which I had only one word: WHY??)

All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who's looking for a light fantasy read.

If you know me, you know that I never used to be into books about magic, or sword fighting, or potions or things like that. But it's books like these that have been changing my mind. A solid read, this story is full of mystery, questioning, a brave character that just keeps proving her own doubts wrong, and of course a lot of confusion. But all of that confusion doesn't make for a bad story, in fact it made for an amazing story. And of course, I can't wait for the next book after that insane cliff hanger of an ending. I really loved this book.

Following a seventeen year old girl named Zora, she hasn't really found her footing yet in life. Teaching children to sword fight for as long as she can remember has made her a very good fighter in The Dark Valley, the only place in their world where shadow monsters spawn from darkness. So, they don't let there be shadows anywhere. Always wearing tight fitting clothes, never using blankets or wearing skirts, and keeping furniture close to the ground as well as lights on at all times. Her life is about to change though, when her boyfriend starts pressuring her for something she's not ready for, and she realizes that he's been cheating on her. He doesn't love her, and she's humiliated, and sometimes when that happens, you need to take revenge swiftly, because if you think about it for too long, than your chance will be gone. And that's exactly what she does.

She steals his letter out of his bag that he foolishly has been too confident to sign his name on, proving that he's the champion of The Dark Valley, and giving him acceptance into The Royal Games, and this year, competing for The Blood Cup against the other strong champions. But what she doesn't realize until she gets there, is that there's something bigger at play, and someone's out to get her. Not only because she's the smallest, and not because she's the only girl, but because she's getting in the way of their plan. And that's not good for anyone.

Like I said earlier, I haven't always been into full fantasy stories like these with potions and sword fighting and enchantments, but books as great as these are making me really enjoy them. Once I started this book, I couldn't get enough, and because it's not as long as other books I've been reading lately, I really tore through it, and enjoyed the entire ride. Especially the ending, because I really didn't have a clue that any of that stuff was coming. I think my favourite character is Zora, because she's just so tough, an even when she's not sure of herself, she's able to face her fears, and her anxiety, and really power through it to get what needs to be done, done. I also love the cover. I think it's beautiful, and I really love the whole aesthetic of it. I would love a copy of this book for my collection, to look at, to re read, and of course, let my friends borrow to see if they would like it as much as I did. I think if you like stories about perseverance, a strong young woman who faces her fears, and a very interesting storyline, than this is something you should check out next.

(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)

Yeah … this wasn't the book for me.

Even I started this review, my computer started making an ominous burning smell, which bodes very well. (sarcasm implied).

So yes … there were some glaring issues with this book that really didn't sit well with me.

But let's hit the positives first, which for the least part are the less spoiler filled. Firstly, the idea of monsters being formed in dark spaces, and having to light up an entire valley to protect people is a stroke of genius writing. That kind of idea really carried the first tenth of the book (for as long as the idea was actually used). Secondly, I actually liked the idea of a kingdom being run by a man that isn't 1. like 50 years old and 2. an actual tyrant, like many other books. And I appreciated the dynamics (even if they were simply the barest of bones) between three brothers, one of which is a king.

Yeah … that was about it for things I liked. And surprisingly my main issue isn't even the fact this book didn't pass the Bechdel test.

It was the unnervingly similarity to Minecraft and Throne of Glass. And the writing with the content being completely unbloodied and without any stakes or feel of fear in the reader. And the complete lack of development. And the fact we are stuck with a massive Mary Sue.

Firstly with the issues with taking from other sources. You know back when you played Minecraft, as most Gen Z and Millennials did when they were a few years younger, and when monsters would spawn in the dark and shadows, with potions and enchantment tables. Yep. This book pretty takes all of their signature ideas and rolls with it as their own. I really liked the way that magic is used, but not when it has so many similar characteristics its either a massive editorial error or a blatant rip off. And Throne of Glass, unfortunately it just felt like … what was her name again? Zora? Zora. It felt like Zora was just another MC who was trying to replicate Celaena's Slytherin magnificence from ToG.

Secondly, the writing. Yeah I didn't really rate the writing. Firstly because the action doesn't really start to happen until way into halfway through the book, which is when the person trying to kill Zora turns up. And she isn't even like … actually scared by it? She thinks about it for a page or two and then forgets about someone literally trying to kill her. It also includes cringeworthy gems like this: "Goody-goody-hopeful-nice-girl Zora. Let them think so. Some might say she snapped. Nope. She had awoken. And seen the light." Meanwhile I'm sitting in my office chair trying not to let my lemon yogurt from earlier make a reappearance. Why? This kind of cringe worthy writing doesn't have a place in a story that's trying to tackle institutional sexism and a competition that required murder. To add more fuel to my fire, there is another passage from later, ""There's more. The Blood Cup required a sacrifice. If you win all the tasks, you'll still have to face and kill a lion, using only a shield, a sword and a lance." Zora glanced up at the poor animal and felt horrified. "No!" Her scream came out before she realised she should have been quiet." Let's just say I facepalmed at this. Because a few chapters ago she was poisoning her ex-boyfriend and only mildly concerned if she had overdosed and killed him. Followed by tackling the topic of consent and sex, despite never saying the word, it also cannot say wine either. "She had a cup with red juice in it and lifted it. "Cheers.""

Thirdly, with absolutely no development, Zara or whatever her name was, get's turned into a MASSIVE Mary Sue. At seventeen she's given the mind/temperament of a fifteen year old and the skills of a seasoned warrior. Even in the Dark Valley where she lives, she is already considered adept at fighting (why they didn't choose her as the volunteer I'll never know. "Zora had faces shadow wolves and even shadow balls." (Yes they literally call one of the main unnatural antagonists 'Shadow Balls'. "She taught children how to face them." At 17, if she's so good she's already teaching others how to defend themselves surely she should be better and less childish than she is. There's more- despite being desperate to save her people she's also completely unbothered by her impending doom by cheating her way into the competition. "Zora kept her face neutral, almost bored. Death?" Yikes this was just not the kind of vibe we need from a developed MC. And in addition to her literally living her life under constant light and fires to protect against the shadow demons, she wasn't even a little bit scared of the dark, even after never experiencing it. "Griffin probably thought she would freak out in the dark. Didn't he remember she'd been locked in a dark room in a library for a long time?" That long time being like half an hour. Sheesh.

So yeah … long story short, this really wasn't the book for me. It read like a first draft, which should have ended up mostly on the cutting room floor. Perhaps for the younger aspects of YA it might be a lot more appealing, but it really wasn't hitting it for someone who is meant to be a year older than the main character.

After facing heartbreak, you'd think Zora would learn her lesson and try not to fall in love with two people with different intentions... of course, we're clearly wrong and she falls for one of the guys while dealing with the tournament... Overall this book was a somewhat quick read and while there were parts that brought a smile to my face there were parts of the tournament that weren't really high-stakes. I felt like the stakes could've been higher and honestly it would have made the tension in the book so much better!

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC

Thank you to netgalley and sparkly waves for approving me for the e-arc for The Cup and The Prince. I did enjoy reading parts of this book and some of the characters. It was a pretty short read and it felt like everything was rushed especially with the whole tournament and characters in the end.

This book is fast paced, strong willed and bad ass. Zora is crafty and cutthroat and oh my gosh you have to love her for it. If you're looking for your new must read, fly through because you can't stop reading series this is absolutely it.

This is a wonderful read and draws the reader into a world of adventure and low key magic With sword fighting , flirting and intrigues this story has something for everyone. The characters are brilliantly written and Zora is fantastic. If your a fan of fantasy, action , adventure this it totally the read for you.

I. Throughly enjoyed this read and look forward to the next part of our champions journey!

The Cup and the Prince introduces you to Zora and the magical world she lives in. This book is full of competition, love, and an interesting cast of characters. I was drawn into the world and kept guessing who was being truthful and who was telling lies.

My only gripe was I felt the book was short. While I am glad it is the start of a series, there were aspects of the story, especially at the end, that I felt weren't explained as much and just skimmed over. There were also "twists" that seemed to come out from nowhere and I found myself wondering if I had missed something or if this was just to get you hyped for the next book.

All in all, though, I did enjoy the book and I do want to see what happens next. I just wish the twists were either not in there or that they'd been hinted at more so I wasn't thrown off as a reader.

“What do we do?” “We shine our light,” both replied. “What if shadows come?” “We fight, we fight, we fight.”
•
•
Every three years in the kingdom a great competition takes place, the champions from all the countries come to achieve glory and meet other people to establish political bonds and marriages. The Dark Valley has been isolated for decades, it has been punished because its ancestors have used dark magic and they must face the consequences. There are terrible monsters lurking in the dark and everyone must be able to fight them. Zora is ready to say goodbye to her boyfriend, he is the first champion for the Dark Valley and she is sure he will show his worth and he will come back with aids for her people. Except that she finds out that not only he is cheating on her but that he has no intention of coming back. Zora will be damned if she’ll let him go, so with a clever trick she takes his place.. after all she is well trained and she kills monster since when she is very young, it will not be difficult to win the competition. The problem is that this year is very special, because the price is the blood cup, a cup that is told it’s able to create powerful potions.. and one of the royal princes is determined to get it. Griffin wants her out of the competition and he designs challenges just to put her in difficulty. But Zora is so strong and she really wants to win for her people. She will find herself in a play of power bigger than her in which a very beautiful girl is pulling the strings. I actually loved Zora’s temperament, she is very stubborn and determined not to be considered weaker just because she is a girl, but she also has a very tender and sweet part that makes her cry a lot but that made me feel closer to her and made her more real! Her relationship with Griffin is very tormented, sometimes he seems sweet and the next moment he has eyes only for another girl.. this is quite frustrating but their connection is stronger and the book ends with such a cliffhanger that I can help but wanting more!

I’ve never read anything from Day Leitao but the blurb sounded pretty great so I decided to take a chance. I want to start off by saying that the Cup and the Prince has tremendous potential to be amazing. The concept and worldbuilding with the “Dark Valley” and the monsters who lurk in the darkness were extremely intriguing and I wished it was explored more.

The characters were just on the cusp of being made into fandoms, but for me, they fell flat. I believe the female lead Zora had an identity crisis as she was sometimes brave, then sometimes a weak small girl, then sometimes smart with her show of spellcasting. It was super difficult to commit to her when I wasn’t really sure who she was.

The Princes who were also the main characters felt underdeveloped. Larzen, who in my opinion could be as great as Little Finger from Game of Thrones, but he was so cryptic that at times I too felt lost as to his true motives and desires. I wanted to like Griffin so much but his actions and motives did not sit well with me at all.

This book is also extremely sexist and on more than one occasion I had to stop myself from abandoning it altogether. While I understand the use of stereotypes such as “you can’t do anything because you’re a girl” to enhance the final “aha” moment I didn’t feel like the lead female MC ever got justice.

The plot at times felt a bit oversimplified, as certain scenes that felt quite weighty should have been given more attention. This oversimplification made it hard to justify the behavior and choices of many of the main characters which detracted from the overall story.

I would love to see the characters refined and the world explained more in-depth, especially the dark valley and its connection to everything else. I felt like there were great components throughout the entire novel and it really just needs some tightening up. I would be open to reading the sequel just to see how the world develops and where it takes these promising characters.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc, all views and opinions expressed are my own.

If you haven't noticed by now, I'm a sucker for fantasy that promises a strong female protagonist, and this book delivered. Other than a propensity to randomly cry, Zora is a competent woman. And while her motivation is not as noble as that of other female protagonists, it is a legitimate one. After all, nothing is more dangerous than I woman scorned.

I enjoyed the book well enough to read it through and to have an interest in a sequel, but it's evident that this book has much more potential than what was delivered. The plot is solid, but the world wasn't. We are introduced to a magic system that is never explained and the world with rules and laws that seem arbitrary. As a result, certain stakes just don't hold the weight that they could.

The major downfall of this book is over-simple writing. The writing is not that of a final book, not even a second draft really. There are many scenes that would benefit from being drawn out that just aren't and at times the writing just seems incomplete. It's a quick read as a result, which isn't necessarily bad, but it's just missing something.

I enjoyed the book, I'm interested to see more. I feel like first books in YA fantasy series are allowed an amount of leeway for the author to focus on what they think is the most important thing to set up, in this case, that was the characters and plot. I'm open to a sequel in the hopes that it fleshes out this world more because there is definitely great potential.

When Zora, a girl from a village called the Dark Valley, finds out her boyfriend cheated on her, she comes up with a plan to take his place in the Royal Games in order to take her revenge. She competes for the Blood Cup against the representatives of other parts of the Kingdom. But no one believes she has any chance of winning, because she's a girl. And especially Griffin, the youngest prince who thinks she would only get hurt if she competes. Zora knows she's going to prove them wrong.

There wasn't anything in particular that stood out to me about this story or the characters, nor was there anything that was truly badly done. This book was simply an okay read that isn't memorable, and I believe I'll soon forget I even read this book.

I didn't really like the writing style, though I didn't mind it, as well as some infodumps that were thrown at us in the very first chapter. We really didn't need to know about all the types of shadow creatures, as they don't make an appearance in the book at all apart from the first chapter. The competition bit was interesting and I enjoyed reading about it. Though I wish we could've gotten more information about the Blood Cup.

Zora was a complete and naive idiot. And I loved that about her. Griffin was a lovable character as well. But I wanted more from him. I wanted to know more about his curse. We didn't really get much about it at all.

Overall, this was an average read for me.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'll be honest, as soon as I saw the cover for this book I wanted to read it, the synopsis really pulled me in. It sounded like a perfect fun read for a weekend and based on those expectations this book really delivered.
I love a book with trials or games that the protagonist needs to win and although this was included it was by no means the main plot and honestly it felt a bit rushed and pushed to the side.
Zara was a likeable main character and despite initially finding her motivation to enter the games pretty weak, the further the book went on I became more invested and began to root for her.
All in all, it was a fun & fast read with a main character I could get behind. There were hints of romance that could blossom in a future book and it’s definitely a good foundation that could be expanded upon in subsequent entries. Unfortunately I thought the world building was lacking and there wasn’t much depth to the story. I would be interested in reading further books in the series to see where the story is taken, however I won’t be running out to purchase them.

Zora Sunborn grew up in the Dark Valley, a place of punishment for the ancestors of those who had dealt with dark magic, a prison of sorts. Four types of magical creatures plague the valley: human-like grey creatures, wolves, spiders, and balls. In a way the Dark Valley residents are ahead because they grew up fighting for survival. They are what keep the darkness at bay from the rest of the kingdom.

For the first time someone from the Dark Valley will be allowed to compete in the Royal Games, a competition held every 3 years and this year is even more rare as the prize is the Blood Cup. In a matter of unfortunate circumstances and petty revenge, Zora ends up taking her ex-boyfriend's spot to represent her people. Zora is someone you feel for from the beginning. She makes friendships along the way with girls her age and other competitors and it is nice to see that not everyone is out to get her. Also it is refreshing to see she is not boy crazy.

This book includes court intrigue, courting games, and three princes. I loved that this book didn’t waste your time with scenes you didn’t need. It got straight to the point and it was very addicting. I read it all in one sitting.

Can’t wait for The Curse and the Prince

I quiet enjoyed reading this book during my lunch breaks and enjoyed the fact it wasn't just "girl meets guys one guy in her village and loves him forever" deal which I always find a tad bit boring. Zora actually has a nice bit of heart break which every girl and guy experiences at one time or another and she's goes about it the right and wrong way. Which I do appreciate an author putting their time to add little details like that and I highly appreciate how much time the author has put into writing the book.
Zora is smart and strong, kind and sincere, and sensitive but also terrifying when she has to be, this is what I enjoy seeing female characters.

It does remind me a bit of The throne of glass series along with Poison Study series but I found this book way more to my taste when it comes to YA books. I cant wait for fellow readers to enjoy this book when its released on the 15th of October.

Yes, this is the type of book that's written just for me - competing in a tournament, only one kickass girl in the tournament, love triangle/quadrangle/parallelogram/what you want to call it, magic, deception, girl falling in love with the prince.... All signs point to me.

This was a fun, fast read and I was definitely into it. I think some areas could have used a bit more bulk or character development and I did need some more explanation about the Blood Cup. I have a guess about what it can do for Griffin, but it felt weird to not have that specifically stated when the entire tournament is about getting the cup.

Alegra's choice at the end took me by surprise and I liked that these characters weren't completely predictable. I also think there's a lot more to Larzen we haven't discovered yet. As for Zora and Griffin, you can pretty much guess what's gonna happen there, but I still did appreciate the slow burn.

Totally a book for me and I'll definitely read the next one.

At first, I wasn't sure where this book was heading. The main character is scorned by a guy she is dating and finds out he's cheating (ouch), so she gets her revenge by taking his place at a national competition, where all the best warriors will fight. She's headstrong, naive, and comes across as one of those girls who tries to be anti-feminine just to spite people, but soon evolves into a character that I really enjoyed.

The beginning of this book made me question if I was going to like it. Sexist and ableist comments are not how I want to start off a book and I was a bit nervous. As we move along, the comments turn more sexist and directed at our main character, which pissed me off, but gave Zora motivation to win the Blood Cup. After 10% into the book, I became really invested and this turned into a favorite for me!

I loved the alternating POVs in this book, especially since we get a good look at some of the other characters through a different lens. The plot is really interesting, but the constant sexist comments towards Zora irritated me so much. I understand she's trying to prove that she can do anything a man can, but it felt overdone for the same people to make the same comments over and over again towards her.

Overall, this was a fun fantasy and I'm interested to see what happens next! 4.5 // 5 stars.

This book sounded great but unfortunately fell flat for me.
The world building is weak, and I found the writing repetitive, a little childish, and at times contradictory.
I wanted to like Zora, as a strong female character but couldn’t really connect.
There was an attempt to get you on her side by a somewhat demeaning almost encounter in the first chapter, but that wasn’t enough for me.
I think with a little more time and development this book could be good, but as is, isn’t great. Sorry!