3 stars and i haven't enjoyed the book at all, sadly

I really wanted to enjoy this one. The first 15-20% had me hooked, but after that, things got confusing and I started losing interest. The world-building felt pretty shallow for a fantasy, and I had trouble telling most of the characters apart — they didn’t have much personality or clear roles in the story.

There were a bunch of characters introduced early on, but I never really figured out how they all fit in. The romance was another issue for me. Since the POV alternated between Aelia and Caiden, I assumed it would be a second-chance romance between them. But halfway through, I kept seeing talk about Aelia with another guy, and honestly, that felt sudden and unearned. There was no real emotional build-up or connection, so it fell flat.

I also didn’t feel like I knew much about the characters’ backgrounds or motivations, which made it hard to care about their journeys. That said, the main plot has potential, and I think with a longer book the story and characters could’ve been developed better.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC and the chance to read this!

I really enjoyed this one! It was fast-paced and had me hooked throughout. I would have liked to see the relationships between the characters explored in more depth, but overall, the plot was very enjoyable.

This was a solid fantasy romance, and I'm definitely intrigued to read the next one.

Thank you for the e-ARC of this book!

I was hoping for great things from this but i feel the world building and character development lacked unfortunately. I DNF'd about half way through but will attempt to go back and finish in the future

A Curse Of Breath and Blood

I really enjoyed this story. It had all the things I love in a book, ancient evil, magic, enemies to lovers/ second chance love, found family. It has some spice.

It moves quickly and doesn’t leave you hanging or questioning. If anything I would have loved to see it fleshed out more. Ended too soon! Excited to see what may happen.

I would like to see some more character development and learning more about their pasts, the lands they come from etc. show me what it looks like. Some more suspense building would be great too. Overall a good start for a series.

This was an amazing read. I loved every second of it. I felt it was a little confusing at times. it had a nice mixture of darkness but cute. It tied up nicely

⭐ ⭐ ⭐.5/ 5 Stars – Grit, Heartbreak, and a Dash of Death Magic! Found through my love of ACOTAR..

Set in a world where magic has teeth and every bargain could be your last, this story delivers a heroine who’s more blade than balm. Aelia, once a queen and now a mercenary, is lured back into the heart of political ruin when Caiden Stormweaver—her former flame with a hero complex—shows up with a deal she can’t refuse. Add to the mix Tharan Greenblade, a charming rogue with secrets of his own, and you’ve got the makings of a deliciously tangled fate-triangle.

The magic system is sharp and unsettling (mind-breaking magic? Yes, please)😍 , and the narrative leans into the emotional wreckage of love lost and trust fractured. Aelia’s vow to erase Caiden’s memories after the mission adds a brutal edge to their already strained connection—one that simmers with unresolved tension and regret.

What makes this book stand out is its refusal to let anyone be purely good or evil. Loyalties blur. Love hurts. And no one escapes clean. It’s a story that asks what we owe to the people we once were—and whether it’s possible to walk away from your past without losing yourself completely.

A solid 3.5 ⭐, emotionally rich read with just the right amount of sharp turns and soft spots. Perfect for readers who like their fantasy laced with pain, passion, and a few beautifully bad decisions.

4.25/5 stars! I really enjoyed this book. It felt like correlations were built between this fantasy world and the real horrors many are experiencing in the real world. I thought the addiction to fairy dust was a cool element and I was rooting for Aelia's recovery. Having a psychic main character was also something I haven't read a lot of. Will be continuing the series.

This was a fantasy book which is my favourite genre, I did struggle with this one and found I just couldn’t get into the book. Whilst I read the whole book I did have to read it overall several days.

Very much looking forward to this, sounds like something I will definitely enjoy, can't wait to finally get into it.

“𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕.”

I was pleasantly surprised! I enjoyed all of the fantastical elements - sylphs, elves, goblins, the magic...

I loved both of Aelia's love interests! Currently, I think I'm team Tharan! He seems to love her for who she currently is. Caiden and her have a lot of history, so their love story comes with baggage. The bargain with Caiden was heartbreaking and it'll be interesting to see how their new dynamics will be.

That epilogue has me dying to read book 2! 🤯 Overall, I enjoyed the characters and the story and I'm intrigued to find out the rest. However, I think this book lacked some world-building. There were so many different kinds of creatures and courts and I think the rest of the story will benefit exploring that more.

I can’t believe I somehow missed giving feedback on this one! I really enjoyed the plot of this book! The romance… I didn’t enjoy the romance at all — the FMC went back and forth so quickly it was def an insta love, love triangle situation. But what kept me hooked and saved it was the plot and magic system! I was hooked.

This was a DNF for me. I got about 25% through and I could not get into it or connect with the characters unfortunately.

was not my favorite and i really could not get into the plot for some reason. i will try it again in the future

I really enjoyed this book and was engrossed in the story from beginning to end.

Our FMC, Aelia, has lived through very traumatizing experiences and we follow her in the aftermath of all this, on a quest to save the world next to her former lover and first love, Caiden.

A Curse of Breath and Blood was a great first installment. I've enjoyed the dynamic between Aelia and Caiden, and the addition of Tharan added a layer of tension and drama that was enjoyable. All of the characters were interesting and engaging and kept my interest throughout the book.

I am looking forward to seeing where the story will take us next. That epilogue promised a lot of drama and I can't wait!

Thank you to NetGalley and Aethon Books for the eARC!

A CURSE OF BREATH AND BLOOD - this review is a long time coming. I am giving it 4 stars because I felt like it was fun, climactic, and romantic, but I'm not convinced that I will be dedicating more time to the series in the future. KW Foster's writing is good, but nothing special that makes her stand apart from the crowd in such a saturated and overdone genre.

A Curse of Breath and Blood that is an immersive fantasy novel, that is action-packed, with vivid characters and a great debut novel. The book has a beautiful style and great pacing, however, book seemed to be poorly written and riddled with misspellings.

I don't quite know how to put how I feel about this book into words. I loved Aelia, but hated the love triangle and it was enough to make it feel tainted in the rest of the book. I couldn't choose who to root for, and it just felt messy.

This book just wasn’t for me. I didn’t finish it. It had great potential but was kind of all over the place.

I really, really wanted to like this book, but it just was not for me. To start, the world building is just not there. Throughout the book, random places, species, and magic components, etc. are introduced with absolutely no context. It also felt like the author just wanted to throw as many fantasy species and creatures into this book as she possibly could, and most of them really don’t add anything to the world or the story, nor are they all explained well enough for their differences to even be relevant. The magic system is also really confusing. It feels like the amount of power characters have is not only random, but also changes for convenience throughout the book.

The characters are also just…not compelling. The FMC is 30 (and believe me, I so badly long for older MCs), but she acts like a child. There is no point in saying a character is a certain age if they aren’t going to act like it. She will say she doesn’t trust someone or is afraid to share her story in one breath and then in the next, she just throws everything out on the table. Her tumultuous past is regularly mentioned, but we never get any details about what went on to give her the trauma she apparently has. Her marriage was abusive enough that she relies on sex and drugs (which she quits cold turkey because she is asked to and only subsequently mentions periodically when she has a lot of feelings), but we have no idea what kind of abuse she endured. All the side characters are one dimensional. Some love each other and some hate each other and we get no context as to why. Not to mention, the FMC and MMC agree to erase his memory of her ON A WHIM after a fight and seal their fate with the promise of death if they don’t make good on it? That just feels so dramatic and childish.

The plot doesn’t feel coherent. It just feels like a wild goose chase - we have one goal then when it’s completed, something happens and we randomly have to complete another goal. There are no nuances or intricacies that cause us to feel some kind of urgency.

Overall, the book just felt very surface level for me - I had trouble getting through it. Since it was advertised as Six of Crows meets ACOTAR, I had really high hopes, but the book does not give off the vibes of either book even remotely.

I really enjoyed this read - it had several tropes/aspects that I enjoy seeing in fantasy such as forced proximity and morally grey characters. The world building was done well to where it was a little higher than some more basic fantasy I have read, but easy to follow along with and kept me intrigued. I will definitely be continuing by picking up the next book. Thank you so much for the copy of this book!