⭐️: 4.5/5
🌶️: 2.5/5
Format: 🎧 alc

This was such a quick listen for me, because it had that perfect balance of unique world + characters I liked + plot movement, and I cannot wait for the next one.

Astra, to me, felt realistic in that she's thrust into this situation and is very much like "um, what the hell?" which....same, girl. She has been raised to be a decoy for her kingdom's princess to keep her safe under any circumstances, including standing in for the princess in marriage. She is very resigned to this life, even so far as questioning when someone wants to marry *her* instead of the princess she's trained to protect.

Marlak is more what I'd expect for this type of storyline--he's a little mysterious and keeps his mouth shut about, you know, any questions we have at all, but he's a little snarky and always giving us the vibe that he knows more than he lets on.

While I will note that the world-building wasn't as complete as I'd like, I am a SUCKER for forced proximity and this whole "in my dreams, he holds me" trope. I also listened to this on audiobook so it went quickly, and any gripes I may have had with syntax didn't bother me when listening.

Overall, I really enjoyed this, and ill be diving into the second book soon!

To my surprise, A Cursed Son totally hooked me. What I thought would be a typical fantasy romance turned out to be a fast-paced thrill full of dream magic, sharp banter, and sizzling enemies-to-lovers vibes. It had its usual “romantasy” steamy scenes but fit well with the unusual storyline and world building & character development was decent. With royal intrigue, elemental powers, and serious Reylo energy, it was an unexpectedly fun and addictive read. One for spicy Fae romantasy fans!

3.9 stars

You know that one plot point of Crescent City where Ruhn has a dream connection with another character? Mix that with the first book of The Bridge Kingdom series and you’ve got this book.

Is the magic system or world built out? No, not really. But it’s an accessible new adult fantasy that’s easy to fall into. It’s a fun time.

The audio narrator was engaging and enjoyable the whole time. Perfect for the vibe of this book!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced audio copy!

A good steamy romantasy with interesting characters and magic with a little different story line.
Good narration did good job with all voices.
will like to read the next book.
Voluntarily reviewed.

If you are picky about repetitive writing.... Don't read this. The number of times I had to listen to "so I decided to ask a question" made me genuinely want to quit this book. The story is fine, nothing special. It leans closer to being a mess than anything else.

The characters are pretty shallow and their dialogue is extremely corny or unrealistic. I cannot be convinced a 19 year old girl who has been stuck in a tower training her entire life can give "wise" advice like she does throughout the story. It just comes across as making her so perfect in every way because she's the FMC so clearly she is just amazing at everything!!! Oh and she has purple hair because she's so different and special!

I would not call this steamy or romantasy, that's just straight up false advertising. Oh she has sexy dreams about him? Well they are not described in really any depth so no, that does not make this "steamy". Let's all stop pretending something is romantasy just to lure more people in (looking at YOU publishing industry!!!).

Overall a middling read that didn't intrigue me enough to commit to a second book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sparkly Wave for providing an eARC of the audiobook version if The Cursed Prince by Day Leitao.

A Cursed Son is a steamy, fast-paced romantasy full of dream magic, sharp banter, and sizzling enemies-to-lovers tension. Astra, a royal decoy, and Marlak, a disgraced fae prince, share a mysterious dream bond that turns very real—and very complicated. With arranged marriage drama, elemental magic, and Reylo vibes, this book is a fun, sexy escape for fans of fae and fantasy romance. Add it to your TBR!

I am so in love with this book. This is easily one of my favorite books I have read! I LOVE the FMC and the mysterious villain 🙌🏻 Arranged marriage, steamy dreams, humor, and a slow burn enemies to lovers. The MMC is an instant top book boyfriend. All the feels of Rhysand but even more 🫠 broken, mysterious, deeply sweet, caring, protective. All the best swoon! This book had me laughing at the indecent situations and banter and pulled at my heart in the broken moments. The writing is great and I could not out this book down.
The audio is fantastic!!

❤️‍🔥 Forced Marriage
❤️‍🔥 Steamy Dreams
❤️‍🔥 Banter
❤️‍🔥 Touch her and ☠️
❤️‍🔥 Crawl to Her
❤️‍🔥 Burn the World
❤️‍🔥 Fated Mates
❤️‍🔥 Mysterious and Broody MMC
❤️‍🔥 Hidden Identities
❤️‍🔥 Elemental Magic


This is a 🌶️🌶️ (open door, descriptive) read

A fun romantasy story that was a fun listen. It had some generic similarities to lost of other romantasy stories out there but still felt unique. The narration was entertaining and kept my attention.

I had the opportunity to listen to an Advanced Listener Copy of The Cursed Son audiobook, and it's such a fun book. The narrator did a great job of portraying Astra and using her voice to convey naivete, confusion, sass, fear, & overall growth. You could feel Astra's journey throughout the course of the story. Marlak is your typical morally grey MMC, so of course, I loved him. There was so much tension throughout the course of the story, and it built to such a great cliffhanger ending. I'm ready for A Traitor Sister when you are Day!

A Cursed Son by Day Leitao was an enchanting read that kept me hooked with its mix of magic, mystery, and romance. The world-building was immersive, and I loved how Leitao created a universe where magic and political intrigue went hand in hand. The chemistry between Astra and Marlak felt natural, and their evolving relationship added a nice layer of tension to the plot. I appreciated how the characters weren't just caught up in their romance but also had personal growth and challenges. The pacing was steady, and while there were some moments I wished for more action, the emotional depth and clever twists more than made up for it. If you enjoy a good fantasy with rich world-building and a dash of forbidden love, this is a great pick.

3.5⭐️
I think this is a very promising debut and I am quite anxious to find out what happens next, but there were parts of the story that left me wanting.
The pacing of A Cursed Son kept me invested enough, even if I do believe the story is a bit long winded so far. I wasn’t bored, though I definitely wanted more world building and less inner monologues from Astra. As a main character, I felt she came across as a bit immature and naive and I really wanted to see more growth from her character. In fact, all of the character development seemed very slow to progress and it made it hard to connect with anyone. The plot seemed to jump around in places and because there was so much going on, it led to some confusion as to what the plot of the story actually was.
To be honest, I had pegged this book as a 3⭐️ read until I reached the end. The way that things started to come together really took me by surprise and I’m still reeling at the way things with Astra and Renak were left. I’ve already downloaded book two.
The audio for A Cursed Son was well done. Caitlin Kelly emphasized the characters inflections well and made my reading experience more enjoyable!

Beautifully written and the narrator had me at every moment, I felt captured!
I loved this book the ending nearly finished me off but I honestly really enjoyed this story!

3.75⭐️ rounded up

This was a fun story and I enjoyed the audiobook narration for it.
The premise of A Cursed Son is very intriguing. I love that Astra appears soft and pampered but is in fact highly trained as a bodyguard decoy. It gives nostalgic Padme and her bodyguard vibes, although the princess in this ACS is never actually seen. I also liked the setup of her bond with Marlak and that it was mostly realized in the dreamscape and before they’d actually met. Their first meeting was a great “oh shoot” moment. I do think their entire relationship was basically the miscommunication trope which did get very frustrating for me at times.
The overall plot was a little slow. There was good world building but I think the focuses was more on character and relationship development more than a central plot. Both are great things but the plot did feel like was a little slow paced. The ending, however, definitely ramped everything up big time, and I think we will get really good plot and action moving forward.
Caitlin Kelly does a great job as the single narrator for the book. She makes it easy to tell when she is switching between characters and also brings good emotion into her narration to help reflect the tone of the scene. I would look for books narrated by her in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley & Sparkly Wave for the ALC copy!

If you are a fan of romantasy you will like this book. Fun and fast paused, this makes for an easy read. The characters did not really stand out to me but it’s interesting world and to my knowledge no orientalist writing that can be seen in other books of the genre. Not my favorite, but worth the read.

I liked this audiobook and story and the narrator was really good at bringing a voice to the characters, I liked the connection between the MCs and would be interested to continue the series. At times I did struggle to follow the history of problematic relationships in the book but overall it was a good read.

Wow! I could not put this book down. At every turn there was something exciting happening! I loved the tension, enemies to lovers plot line. The ending was written in that perfect way to leave me wanting more. I cannot wait for book two to come out!!

Absolutely loved A Cursed Son! I am so excited to read the second book in the series and plan on recommending this to all my romantasy loving friends!

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

This one is a bout Astra, who has been trained from childhood to be a decoy for the royal princess. Astra has altered her appearance and learned to lie, spy, and fight (in heels) as a substitute, but her existence has been isolated and lonely; except in her dreams. A night, she dreams that she is loved and cherished by a man with a star on his chest. Then, one day, on the way to a royal event in which she is posing as the princess, her carriage is attacked by the exiled fae prince Marlak, a dangerous and powerful rebel who is rumoured to have murdered his family. Of course he had to be the man in Astra's dreams!

I really liked this one! Astra is naive and inexperienced, and her inner demons of anxiety and lack of self-assurance really threaten to undo her throughout the novel. It was so compelling to see her work through these issues and struggle with who to trust, her upbringing, and her developing relationship with Marlak. Her training definitely aids her in her journey, but it's her untapped and untrained magic that I think will lead in a very interesting direction in the next book. We get some glimpses of it in this one and I can't wait to see where it goes. The pacing was really good throughout the novel, and especially near the end it really picked up and got me with a few reveals I didn't see coming. I listened to the audiobook for this one, and the audio for the next one isn't out yet, but I want the next one so badly that I may have to get the eBook.

The audiobook was great! I listened at 1.5x comfortably, and there was very little/no distortion at 2x so I could have probably listened to it faster if I had to. It's a single narrator, Caitlin Kelly, who did the Cruel Prince audiobooks (so basically one of the best there is). I think she really nailed all of the voices, as there are many characters and it was easy to tell who was speaking.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Victory Editing, and Day Leitao for the Audiobook!!

I only got about 13% of the way into this audiobook before I was no longer able to play it in the NetGalley app. I’m not really sure what was going on there.

For the portion that I was able to play, it was ok. I don’t feel 13% is far enough along to really give a strong review, but I felt intrigued. Would I have listened further? Yes. However, I wasn’t terribly heartbroken by the situation either.

This book had such a great premise, but unfortunately I found it fell a bit short of delivering. Sadly, I found the MMC had no personality besides being ‘mysterious’ and the FMC just spent the book mentally talking herself in circles. Despite being highly trained in combat, poisons, politics and seduction you didn’t actually see her use this skill set one. The first half hooked me enough that I purchased the ebook copy of it so I could keep reading even when I was unable to listen, but sadly any sort of play of character depth sputtered at about this point.
The narrator however was brilliant and very engaging!










***Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an audio of this book.***