2.25 ⭐

As a theatre, horror and book lover, I thought this would be my new fave book. Unfortunately, it just didn't quite land for me. I felt it was quite confusing, slow and it almost felt like it needed to lean more into the script style or back away. It felt slightly clunky to me.

A Play About a Curse follows Corey, a 23 year old playwright/student who befriends her mentor, Maxine. Maxine is a woman in her 40s who has had great success in the theatre industry. When Maxine accepts a job in another state, Corey feels betrayed (and jealous). She seeks out a psychic who helps her put a curse on Maxine and allows Corey to be "better" than her.

The book follows Maxine's decline and contains some key themes like obsession, jealousy, feminism, history and (of course) curses. And sirens! 🧜🏻‍♀️ I liked the premise, and the tie in with history (as a history graduate) but it just didn't quite work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and CLASH Books for this advanced Reader Copy. 🎭🧜🏻‍♀️😨

First off, I would like to thank NetGalley for providing me an ARC of "A Play About A Curse"!
Phew! Where to start with this book?
My initial reaction to it was "if your favorite character in Glee is Rachel Berry, then you're gonna love this". I still stand by that, just like turn up the darkness by a hundred.
I've never been, truth be told, an avid theatre reader. This past year I've had to read several plays for some of my classes, and I found myself dragging through them. However, Macon's story manages to take the best aspects of the play format and mix them with a novel, creating this intriguing and quite fascinating cast of characters and plot.
I've seen some reviews talking about the main character being unlikeable, and I think –in some way– that's the point. Personally, I loved her, because she's so achingly human and we get to explore parts of human psyche that sometimes authors are scared to write. In this case, we see our main girl be ruthless and ugly and devious, but it's constructed in such a way that I couldn't help but keep on reading!
The pace in the book also helps, with short chapters and beautiful dialogues. I found myself that every time I tried to put the book down, I just kept on wondering what was yet to happen.
Macon's structure –with the play-like dialogues and cues– makes it such an interesting object not only from a "I'm enjoying this book" kind of way, but also from an academic angle! One can see how much dedication the author has poured into this, and it bleeds throughout the pages. There are some parts that are begging to be studied and analyzed, some of Maxine's dialogues and interpretations of theatre such an entrancing theory.
I'm excited and happy to say that this will be on my top 5 books of the year!

I liked the concept, and mostly the writing was good but sometimes came across overworked and the dialogue didn’t flow. I found it very difficult to understand why the main character decided to set the curse in the first place. It didn’t seem as though it should have been such a big deal that her mentor took another job, let alone a reason to make a deal with the devil. However, I don’t think I’ve ever hated a main character more than in this book and that itself is testament to the writing.
Corey is malevolent in nature and Maxine is the unwitting subject of a curse she didn’t deserve. The descent in to madness made me want to look away and look at something cute and cuddly as it was so scary how someone could be so vindictive. It read like a horror film. Where you want to scream at one of the characters to get out of the way or open their eyes to what was happening and it made me as a reader feel very out of control and uncomfortable. It was a very different, disturbing read, ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was simply FASCINATING to read.

Act 1 Scenes 1 and 2 do a great job of foreshadowing future events.

Notable Quote:

“I’d rather run a knife into my stomach than be bored.”

The author’s choice of a three course meal reflects the three acts in this tale, which in turn symbolise the breakdown of the relationship between Maxine and Corey; the starter meal is exciting, like the idea of a budding friendship with her mentor. Corey idolises Maxine, going out of her way to dress to impress.

The main course is something they enjoy together, a reflection for their mutual acceptance of this new friendship - “We savoured every bite…alone but still together.” Corey has what she wants, now. It’s comfortable, it’s nice.

And the bliss ends with the arrival of the chocolate and raspberry soufflés. Corey’s appetite wanes at the end of the night.

Act 1 Scenes 3 - 5 excellently include motifs of spirituality, otherworldliness, witchcraft and the practice of dark magic. There is use of incense and cats, typically associated with bad luck or the dead. Ironically these can also be seen as lucky or holy. (In sense is used within churches, for example). Corey blurs the lines between themes of good and evil when she equates the feeling of walking into the clairvoyant’s den “like [ feeling she ] was about to walk into [ a ] sacred church.”

Throughout the book, the colour green is used to portray her jealousy/envy; Maxine’s use of green pen, “a mystical green cloud” appearing as a figment of Corey’s imagination, towards the end the lightbulb in her bathroom “casting a sickly green tint across [ her ] skin.”

Water also plays a very significant part in this story, with Maxine almost drowning and Corey accepting her fate - she must go to the lake in Annency.

The author portrays Corey as a character aware of her hamartia; she knows she’s jealous, she knows she’s horrible. In Chicago she describes feeling judged by the Jesus on the crucifix in the wall of the old parochial school, deciding she doesn’t care about the disproval in his stare. Corey thinks, “I should have felt ashamed that even the son of god would harbour disdain. But I didn’t. I felt sick with glee.”

Corey is so consumed by her greed, her jealousy, ultimately it is what contributed to her decline. Yet she occasionally displays conflicting thoughts, particularly evident when Maxine ventures into deep water, risking her life, and in the police car with Daniel.

In my opinion this is almost like a modern Greek tragedy - use of pathetic fallacy, the use of mythical creatures/lore, the question of morality, the concept of death and the physical structure in the writing.

I like to think that in the ending, Corey attempts to seek some sort of redemption by honouring her side of the bargain.

It’s almost like she finally awakens in Act 3, displayed by her eventually getting Joan Fontcuberta’s name right, compared to when she first mentioned it in Daniel’s Interlude.

She also appears to die, written as undergoing a gruesome transformation. Her hands crack, nails change shape; she goes “wrinkly and stinking, just as Maxine had.”

And she finally figures out what her oversight is, mentioned in the interview exercise at the workshop with Maxine, Daniel and Corey. Once she accepts everything she has done, she feels herself transform back to her natural appearance.

So, are Maxine and Corey “both victims and monsters” ? This idea is presented in Act 3 through the “embracing skeletons.” Maxine had her flaws albeit from Corey’s perspective - and Corey had hers, the latter being more obvious to the reader.

The book ends with a “Blackout” as a stage direction. It leaves me as a reader with questions. It is unclear exactly what is happening towards the end. What exactly is part of the play and what is not? What is reality? What really happened? This reminds me of Maxine’s Interlude - the narration about, in a nutshell, when does a play really end?

Corey is an unreliable narrator; it is clear from her monologues - she’s unstable, possibly crazy. It’s difficult to decipher reality with her version of events.

This is the first time I have read something like this and it certainly didn’t disappoint me. I enjoy plays and books that conform to the structure of a tragedy.

A Play About A Curse was a very engulfing read. I would love to see more from this author. She exemplifies skill as both playwright and author and it is rare to see both intertwined so well in this way.


Trigger warnings for A Play About A Curse should be highlighted:


- Suicide
- Eating disorders
- Abusive behaviours such as gaslighting, tampering with medication
- Addiction
- Mental Health struggles - anxiety, depression, manic behaviours


Themes:

- Death
- Femininity and Womanhood
- Jealousy/Envy
- Good vs Evil
- The supernatural/otherworldly
- Redemption
- Guilt
- Sexuality
- Fatal Flaws
- Obsession
- Mental health
- Tragedy
- Literature/The Arts- references to artists such as Mozart and Salieri, for example
- Betrayal
- Desire

I liked this one. The writing is good and the pacing just right. I had good time reading it. Longer review to come.

A Play about a Curse is a novella written in the style of a playscript, it's an interesting modern take on the tragedy play as well covering a curse.
I will say this didn't connect well with me, I found myself enjoying the dialogue sections more than the main playscript but overall the storyline is intriguing and mixes tragedy with horror and folklore.

This was my very first ARC read (digital format) from NetGalley.

I requested an ARC as I was interested in the synopsis and the book title.

Being a lover of theatre and scripts, I found the alternating narrative style between play and first person a great approach, but everything else felt underwhelming.

I found the characters to be pretentious, and I couldn't even side with Corey's motivation for cursing her mentor.

I won't even go into the writing. Perhaps we didn't vibe. I had to get a palate cleanser afterwards because some of the sentences were too far reaching.

I nearly didn't review this one as I feel it's such a low rating, but it's my genuine opinion.
Thank you to Netgalley and Clash Books for the opportunity to read A Play About A Curse.

Written partly in play format and first person I felt like this never really clicked for me. I enjoyed mostly the dialogue parts that were in the play format, but found the first person parts quite dull and almost pretentious. I also found Coreys reason to but the curse on Maxine quite mundane and the whole thing felt very farfetched.

Overall I didn't really like any of the characters and there was a small part about how woman's symptoms are often ignored in a medical field, that is a important topic, but it was touched so briefly that ultimately it's not enough for me to rate this higher.

This book pulls you straight into a psychological spiral that’s as gripping as it is unsettling. It explores the hunger for recognition, the corrosion of envy, and the slow unraveling of sanity—and does it all in a way that feels bold and inventive.

Told in the format of a script rather than a traditional novel, the structure actually deepens the emotional impact. It’s not just a stylistic choice—it makes the tension between the characters crackle on the page.

Corey and Maxine are an intense duo. Their dynamic is messy, manipulative, and completely captivating. Even at their worst, I couldn’t look away.

If you're into stories that are offbeat, psychologically rich, and just a little bit unhinged, this one’s a must-read.

Did you ever wonder which depths of human nature could be unraveled if a student can’t get over the superiority of their mentor? Then this book is definitely for you!

Dealing with jealousy, greed, anger, paranoia, mania, and insanity, this book really offers you the whole package deal of unwanted human emotions and how they can affect an individual. You get to watch the characters slowly unravel and feel with them deeply.

The book is partially written in the style of a playscript, which I really enjoyed since I’m really into unconventional novel formats.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between the characters and how they interacted with each other, as well as how much detail the author gives the reader. It paints a great mental picture and you get absorbed into the story easily!

The structure of this one was a fun change-up from a normal novel. It’s both a novel and a play about an unhinged young woman who, furious at her playwright mentor’s decision to move away from her, seeks revenge via a curse produced by a psychic at a strip mall. This was super short and a good, unexpected time. Because of it’s length and structure you don’t really get to know our narrator, Corey, more just follow her along on her quest for revenge on Max, her mentor. But I don’t think that’s a negative with this one! It’s perfect for what it is. I really like when authors shake up a traditional novel structure, as well. The background setting of the theatre in this one adds to the melodrama of the story. I very much enjoyed this weird little gem.

I love books about theatre, especially horror, so this was a real treat. A book that starts out feeling like a B-movie (no shade, I love B-movies) and ended up having these strong feminist themes, as well as some very powerful messages about mental health. I did wish it was a little longer so we could find out more about the characters, specifically Corey, as I felt a bit detached from her intentions. I also have mixed feelings about dialogue in novels being written in play format- while it’s easy to read, I feel like we lose some of the emotional aspects of the story this way. Overall some solid writing, especially loved Maxine’s interlude about Bertolcht Brecht.

This book is a brilliantly written and structured descent into envy, desperation for success, and ultimately madness. The way the book is structured, like a play script instead of a traditional novel is not a gimmick, it brings depth and originality to the story and characters. Corey and Maxine are such complex and interesting characters that even when they are doing mean, strange things to each other, it’s always engrossing. I loved this unique, dark, and horrific book.