So I think I enjoyed this book moreso because it was the first book in a while that really drew me in. There's nothing like picking up a book and feeling relief when you can tell its one that you will sink into. However, this book does have its flaws. The romance is a slow-burn but the whole resoning behind the "hate" isnt well discussed. There is sort of a love triangle but it quickly goes nowhere (a good or bad thing depending on the reader). The plot was quite confusing, so much so that I still don't really know what happened in the end? But I still am intrigued enough to pick up the next book. Also, the fact I left this review for a few days so I can ponder on my thoughts but have already forgotten the plotline just shows how flat the writing is. For example, Aya goes on a very dangerous mission that no one survives, but she breezes through it in 10 or so pages.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this book. It contained almost everything I love, exquisite world building, brilliantly brought to life characters, peak enemies to lovers romance and plenty of twists and turns to keep us guessing. I feel like it's a hard book to sum up without giving away spoilers, so I'm just going to jump straight into my review.

The Curse of Saints is told from three POV's; Aya, a Spymaster and one of the most powerful Visya (someone who can use magic) in the Country. She is someone who carries a weight around with her, something that drags her down, makes her feel unworthy and never truly allows her to reach her full potential. Deadly, filled with snark and definitely more likely to kick ass first, ask questions later, she is a character that I instantly bonded with.

Will is another Visya, though his magic is different to Aya's. These two have been arch nemesis's ever since they were children and they carry a lot of baggage between them. Will is someone that, despite getting his POV, we're never sure if we can truly trust. He's broken in so many ways, and puts on a facade that he thinks will keep the people he loves safe and similarly to Aya is not afraid of a fight or a little snark.

Our final POV is that of Aidon, the Prince of a neighbouring Kingdom. His POV doesn't crop up for the first bit of the book, but it is so pivotal to the overall story. Aidon is someone who will get the crown thanks to his birthright, but he doesn't want to rule, not truly. He is someone who has a complicated relationship with the people he loves, and another character that we spend a good portion of the book wondering if we can trust. Alongside these, Dramis gives us a well built cast of side characters who I adored, especially Tova, the third member of the Queen court and Josie, Aidon's sister. Every single character has a part to play in this story and Dramis does a fantastic job of keeping us on our toes, wondering who is truly a friend and who is an enemy.

Aya and Will come from the Kingdom of Tala, a place where the old God's are still revered and where those who can use their powers, Visya, are seen as almost holy. Dramis does a brilliant job of bringing her world of life, giving us the perfect amount of history and knowledge to feel in the know, and I loved learning about every single bit, but especially the different types of Visya and what their powers could do. There were more elemental types who could affect, fire or water or earth as well as those like Aya and Will whose powers had control over the mind, rather than an element. Everything was developed incredibly well, without any info dumps, and Dramis gave us just enough foreshadowing the ensure we hit ourselves for not seeing the big twist coming.

Speaking of twists, Dramis gives them to us in folds throughout this story, but they are all perfectly placed as well as foreshadowed. Her writing style was lush & descriptive and instantly envelops you into the story. I especially enjoyed the parts of the story were we got to see the Visya powers in full force, be it in training or in battle. Also, if you're a lover of a good animal sidekick this book has wolves! Though they do play a small part in the overall story & I would have liked to see them a little more. I would definitely call this a fantasy romance, but it's one of the few I've read where the author actually gives as much attention to the fantasy part as they do to the romance, and like I mentioned about we get a wide depth of world building, along side the wondrously slow burn, enemies to lovers romance Dramis treats us to.

And now for the romance... it was absolute peak enemies to lovers, these characters hated each other, but also had the knowledge of how to truly hurt one another that only comes with spending as much time together as they did. It was filled with drama, wondrously slow burn and definitely a little spicy in parts and I lived for every single second. If you're a fan to enemies to lovers where one character would burn the world to the ground to save the other, then this is 100% the book for you. There was a slight love triangle, but if I'm being honest, there was only going to ever be one winner, so it never truly bothered me, in fact it added a little more tension to the scenes between our two characters which I adored. Their story was filled with snark, mutual trauma and as much as they threatened to kill each other, they both had more in common than they realised.

I well and truly adored this book! Dramis ends the story so incredibly well. I wouldn't say it was a true, OMG I can't believe you ended it there, cliffhanger, but there was still plenty more to be developed and plenty of plot lines that hadn't been tied up, and that epilogue... that epilogue nearly killed me. Safe to say I will be begging for a copy of book two as soon as I can get my grabby hands on it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Dramis introduces some interesting ideas, such as the religious element to the plot, but overall I felt the characters didn't jump off the page in the way they needed to in order to get me properly invested in the story. Having said that, I would be interested to see where it goes next.

I requested this book from Netgalley because of the author's social media.
Unfortunately the premise of the book and what the book actually delivered were vastly different. Enemies to lovers was really allies that bickered and repressed their feelings, none of the characters were particularly engaging, likeable or had much growth. It was fast paced and with more depth could be much better.

The sexual tension in this book is off the charts! My heart fluttered, my knees went weak. Now this is what enemies to lovers is all about. You need more tropes? There’s also forced proximity and he falls first and she’s ill and he looks after her. All of the good stuff.
Knives are drawn, lines are crossed, secrets unravel, betrayals are rife. This book will definitely keep you on your toes.

Aya is one of the Queen’s Eyes, the three most loyal and skilled soldiers of Queen Gianna of Tala. She works to discover the players in a treasonous plot to provide weapons to an enemy kingdom using her powers, skills and intelligence. When it doesn’t go to plan, the hunt is on and she must work with Tova and Will to find the information they need to protect their country and queen. Aya and Will have a complicated history which comes to light in pieces throughout the book and it’s clear to see why these two are enemies. When Tala is targeted again in a dangerous attack from within, it’s difficult to know who to trust, especially when people are being framed and everything seems suspicious. Aya doesn’t trust Will but they need to work together to find out what’s happening and to survive the targets on their backs, even if it means getting closer than intended to the charming and steady Prince Aidon. There’s a lot going on in this book, plenty of political intrigue, mysteries to uncover and fights to be had and our main characters are definitely morally grey - my favourite! A little slow in places, and quite a long book, but it has plenty of action to get your teeth into and a strong and skilled female lead.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

This story follows Aya, the Queen's spymaster, and Will, the Queen's enforcer, as they try to work to together to stop a war threatening their country.
Aya's romance with Will is everything I want in an enemies-to-lovers romance with excellent banter and sarcasm and I loved how the relationship developed. The world building is also excellent and the plot contains plenty of action and plot twists.
This is a great debut entry from Kate Dramis into the world of fantasy and I can't wait to see what happens with Will and Aya next!
I have followed this book from the early days of its creation on TikTok so to be able to read an ARC of it was so amazing - Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A great fantasy debut by Kate Dramis.
Initially I hated Will (assuming that was intended by the writer), but grew to live him. The magic system reminded me a little of shadow & bone, but the setting of this book felt more real and written older as it’s an adult book. I can’t wait to see more of Will and Aya!

I've been following this book since its early days on Tiktok before it was picked up by a publisher so I'm very grateful to the author and publisher for giving me access to an ARC for review.

This book came with a lot of hype surrounding it and while it fell below my expectations it was still a fast-paced read full of magic and prophecies and intense brooding. I can definitely see this appealing to fans of Sarah J Maas, Brigid Kemmerer, and Leigh Bardugo. The plot follows the royal protectors of the Queen, Aya who is a Spymaster, and Will, an Enforcer, and while they have a complicated past that has made them detest each other's company they must find a way to work together and stop the looming war that is threatening their nation.

The enemies-to-lovers aspect was very heavy-handed and while I understand many people will really enjoy that, the sarcastic quips and witty banter did not work for me which unfortunately pulled me out of the story as this takes up quite a major component of the prose. I did like the political intrigue and court drama aspects of the book and would love to have seen more of this as well as the magic system which was fun and intriguing.

Overall, while I recognize this book wasn't it for me I can see YA fantasy readers really enjoying this fast-paced fantasy romance.

I didn't get off to the best start with The Curse of Saints. The opening was cliche and I attempted to get past it quite a few times, to the point where I thought it might even be a DNF. However, I eventually came back to it and pushed through.

The author has been promoting the book for it's enemies to lovers trope, so I wasn't expecting much in terms of the plot. So, it's ironic then that that is what actually ended up being the bit that had me hooked. Like the court politics and betrayals? So good!

It's mostly told from Aya's and Will's POV, and if I'm being honest I was pretty neutral about them both. It's the occasional third POV we get, from the prince of another kingdom, that I found compelling. The only complaint I have about his POV is that when describing his mum and sister he mentions the word 'curves' which I found awkward...

I've seen people complain about books marketed as enemies to lovers not actually delivering. If you're one of those people then this is the book for you as it definitely reads like a true enemies to lovers romance. I mean, the knife to throat fans will eat this up. Unfortunately, I was indifferent to the romance. Which is a shame as I do love a good romance in my fantasy. One thing that annoyed me and made me roll my eyes was how Will kept saying love every time he said Aya's name. It would have been fine every now and then, but this was too much.

Romance aside, I can't wait to see where the story goes next.

This book was amazing, it had everything I wanted. I loved the enemies to lovers trope, the female lead character with hella power, a broody male mc with Secrets. It was so interesting to see the characters develop and all the mystery of who's on whose side throughout. Really can't wait to see what happens next in the series.

This book has everything I adore about this genre - powerful female lead, full of action and adventure, twists and turns and maybe a little romance too. Brilliant read!

Jaw, Dropped. I loved this book, and absolutely devoured it because it was that good, Literally finished the whole thing in one sitting.
I loved seeing how Aya and Will's relationship developed through the book, and i also loved how no one in the book was flawless, making the characters seem so much more realistic. Not only was the character building amazing, but the mystery of trying to figure out who was on who's side, the morally grey characters, and of course the dancing scene made the book an amazing read. Additionally, I loved how the book didn't just explore Aya and Will but also other character dynamics, such as Aya and Tova, which again gave the story so much depth.
Overall I give this book 4 stars.

I've been following Kate Dramis on Instagram for a while and her debut novel The Curse of Saints was my most anticipated book of 2023 so I was absolutely thrilled when it exceeded all of my expectations.

I was hooked from the very first chapter, where I instantly fell in love with the protagonist, Aya, who is Spymaster to the Queen. She is an extremely well built character and I loved her growth throughout the book. The swoonworthy love interest, Will, is the Enforcer and despite the fact that they often must work together, Will and Aya are bitter rivals. Their enemies to lovers romance was definitely one of my highlights of the book. I'm really looking forward to seeing their relationship progress in future books.

The plot was everything I'm looking for in a fantasy book. It was not only highly entertaining but also kept me on my toes because I could not predict what was going to happen. The magic system was incredibly intriguing and I found it to be unique in comparison to other books of this genre.

The Curse of Saints has quickly become on of my all time favourite books and I am beyond excited for the sequel! Fans of Sarah J Maas and Jennifer L Armentrout are bound to fall in love with this fast paced and romantic fantasy.

Thank you so much to the publisher for the ARC.

A sparkling masterpiece of fantasy!
Will and Aya had me laughing, crying, and everything in between!

I have followed this book from the first draft to now, where I was lucky enough to receive an arc.

The world building was original and expertly done, and I had a clear view of where the characters were the entire time.

The characters are unique and each possess their own individual personalities.
Each POV and voice had a clear differentiation and made me fall in love with them just that little bit more.

The plot itself is well crafted and cleverly thought out. I found myself incredibly invested almost immediately and was rooting for our characters from the start.

The enemies to lovers is unmatched and had me laughing as well as crying.

I adored this book, and I am so excited to have watched Kate create this world.

5/5 stars, a true masterpiece.

Wow, just wow! I have been dying to read this since I first came across the lovely Kate Dramis on Instagram and it did not disappoint! This, to me, was a mix between the Throne of Glass series mixed with a few other books I've read in the last year or so! So many fantastic tropes throughout too: enemies to lovers, he loved her first, fantasy-smut, I could go on but I don't want to give the game away too soon 😉

The first line of this book had me enraptured and this was a page turner for sure, I literally read the book in 7 hours 🫣

The last few chapters had me in a freaking vice, I laughed and cried at this book and I loved every second

The world building and character progression was beautiful as Aya battles with her guilt, grief and other "dark" emotions with her "inner wounds" preventing her accessing her affinities, I found this quite emotional to read 😭

The only thing that let this down and, I don't know if this is just the proof that I read but, I got so confused with the POV and time changes in the book and I'm not talking between chapters, I mean within chapters, you'd be reading Aya's POV and then the next sentence you're reading from Will's POV, it was just a little confusing to me. Do not let this put you off though 😅

I am dying to read the next book in the series and I will leave you with this final thought "No matter how far the fall"

Ah, where do I begin?

Firstly, I really enjoyed reading the first few pages – Aya immediately gave me badass bitch vibes, and Kate Dramis introduced Aya in a highly captivating way. Which, of course, made me look forward to reading the rest of the book. However, I found that the more I read, the more confused and lost I was. I admit that I rarely read fantasy, and it’s common to be lost during the first 50-100 pages of a fantasy book, but it was more that I was confused with why Aya hated Will. There were a lot of moments where we were told how much Aya hated Will and how angry she was with him, but their interactions proved otherwise. There isn’t as much romance as I’d thought, considering ‘The Curse of Saints’ is marketed as a fantasy romance novel on social media. However, I understand that the other important themes within this book need discussing, too. In the rare romantic scenes, Kate Dramis does a great job writing them – so it’s clear she has potential, and I can’t wait to read more of her books where she writes more romance.

Three things I liked about this book (or why you may like this book):
1. Kate Dramis has a good writing style that draws you into the story.
2. The romantic scenes are written very well, and there’s great chemistry between Aya/Will and Aya/Aidon.
3. Although sometimes confusing, the storyline is an interesting one.

Three things I didn’t like about this book (or why you may not like this book):
1. It starts very slow – we only really get into the main plot of things at around 25-30% into the book.
2. The plot may be confusing if you’re new to fantasy.
3. The ending is quite abrupt, in my opinion.

Thank you to the author, Kate Dramis, and the publisher for letting me read this early in exchange for an honest review! 🥰

5/5 ♾️ I absolutely adored this book, it had incredible characters, a story to get lost in and gorgeous writing. The enemies to lovers in this book is unmatched and it's filled with so many amazing scenes it's so hard to pick a favorite! It was so hard to put down that I found myself trying to make it last longer because I didn't want it to end. Everything about this book was simply outstanding I only have good things to say about it and I wish I could read it again for the first time, i'm sitting and counting down the days until the next book comes out. You will fall in love with not only the characters but the story itself, absolutely breathtaking.

DNF at 23% - this was just not for me. No offence to the author but I just found this to be quite boring and info dumpy.

Even though I have pre-ordered the hardcover, I was so excited to be given the chance to read this early through reading an ARC from Netgalley. I have followed Kate Dramis and this book's journey on Tiktok and Instagram for so long now and every snippet Kate revealed made me so excited for this book, and the book lived up to the hype. I absolutely loved this book! It has everything a great fantasy book needs; great world-building, a developed magic system, a political plot, an impending war, shifting allies, gods and saints, ancient prophecies, incredibly morally-grey characters and an unbelievably good romance. The romance is *chef's kiss*. The enemies to lovers is a trope that is very popular (with good reason), but this book executes it perfectly. Aya and Will are true enemies at the beginning. They are forced to work together as part of the Queen's Tria, but do not get along at all. However, you can feel the underlying tension between them and their flirty insults hint at something more. The something more is revealed slowly and I loved the entire pace of their relationship. Will is the epitome of a book boyfriend who will destroy the world if it means saving his love. Every interaction between Aya and Will made me squeal and I am obsessed with them.

This book is the first in a trilogy series, and this book already has the formula down. The main over-arcing storyline has been developed enough that I can somewhat predict what the next two books may look like, but the shorter storyline within this book (with the King of Rinnia being a problem for Aya, Will and the whole of Tala) was nicely concluded and left just enough of a cliffhanger for the next book to be started without leaving me wanting more. I cannot wait for the next two books and I already know that I will re-read this book when my hardcover version arrives in May. I cannot recommend this book enough!

After reading the blurb I wasn’t quite sure if this YA story was going to suit my older age group. But my concerns were unfounded as the first paragraph of chapter one grabbed me and I was immediately hooked. The story expertly builds tension as the story takes unexpected turns towards an exciting ending. Kate Dramis debut book launches her straight into the ranks along side the best fantasy writers. Thank you to Michael Joseph and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.