Of Curses and Kisses

I absolutely adored Of Curses and Kisses, Sandhya is one of my favourite authors and her new book has taken the #1 spot officially.

I have so many emotions after just finishing reading this book my heart feels all sorts of ways right now, I cried, laughed, felt anger but most of all felt a lot of love for Jaya and Grey. I found myself constantly attached to the book wanting to know what happens next as it never falls down your typical romance plot holes which is amazing.

I adore that fact that all of Sandhya's books follow multicultral representations. Other than Sandhya I haven't read many books that focus around Middle Eastern/Indian culture. It really hits any misconceptions but it is also showing us about the fight for equality and modernization.

Having St. Rosetta set as an international academy is going to be amazing, I can't wait to see how the series continues and what cultures/retellings we see next.

Now, to talk about the retelling side.... I LOVED IT!! I adore Beauty and the Beast so I instantly knew that I had to read this. But I adored how it wasn;t your typical cliche retelling. Sandhya added so much more to this. Yes, we had our princess and our beast, but it was all played out so well.

I can't wait for the book to be released so I can buy a finished copy to go with my ARC on the shelves, I also need to see the maps for Rosetta and the academy IMMEDIATELY!

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

This book, I mean, was just simply amazing. As soon as I heard that Hodder would be publishing this book in the UK, I quite cheekily emailed and asked for a copy, and ended up first on the list. Waiting for the copy to arrive was a bit of a struggle, but when I got home on the Friday before Christmas, having broken up from work for the holidays and free to read as much as I wanted without feeling guilty, my copy was waiting for me to dive right in.

Of Curses and Kisses is a new view of Beauty and the Beast with a centuries long curse going back to the time of British rule of India. The Emerson family once stole a sacred ruby from the Rao's, and the matriarch of the royal family cursed the Emerson line. Since then, a feud has been rifting between both families, and they despise each other. Jaya is the heir apparent and princess of the Rao dynasty, and when her sister Isha is targeted by someone she believes to be linked with the Emerson's, she vows revenge, and Grey Emerson, a student at St. Rosetta's, seems to be the perfect target.

Grey, on the other hand, knows of the fated curse since his birth. Blamed by his father for his mother's death in child birth, he has been shunned by the family and told he was cursed from the get go. Never wanting to make any connections or unnecessary relationships with people when he believes he will die by the time he turns 18, when Jaya appears at his school, and seems to want to get close to him, and has with her items he believes vital to the curse, he can't help letting her in. What once might have been a tale of revenge, soon becomes a tale of love, but with familial expectations and the weight of reality hanging overhead, both Jaya and Grey don't know whether they can trust themselves, and each other, to truly let go, and give into their feelings.

I love retellings, but sometimes you find that they're all very samey. However, that definitely was not the case here. This retelling was unlike anything I've read before, with Sandhya's signature writing style and lyrical approach coming through on every page. Both the main characters had their own PoV's, which really helped me, as the reader, to understand them even more Neither Jaya nor Grey were perfect people, rather they both had worries, flaws, and imperfections. I adored each character in their own right, though Jaya's love for her sister and willingness to give up a part of herself and her happiness to best serve her people did endear her to me slightly more. Even so, all of the characters, from Isha, and the group of friends, Rahul, Daphne, and Leo, and even some of the other secondary characters were all fleshed out properly, and weren't just there for decoration.

The romance was simply phenomenal. Even from the first time they meet, when they don't fully understand who the other person was, the sparks were flying, and whenever both were on page together, you could just see the emotions flying. Yes, there are angsty moments, and times when I wanted to scream at them just to kiss, but nothing was done unnecessarily. The pain and the heartbreak was needed to fully encompass the story, and I was that hooked, that I flew through the book in less that a day.

All in all, Of Curse and Kisses was everything I needed it to be. From fantastic characters, to an amazing plot, I couldn't have asked for better, and now I need everyone else to read it, and then I also need to have book 2 ASAP!

I was sold at Sandhya Menon, but Menon and a Beauty and the Beast retelling? I knew this was a story for me! I read Of Kisses and Curses in two days (and would happily have sat and read it in one if I could have gotten away with it!) Here are three reasons I love, love, loved this book (and why it's the perfect book for Valentine's Day)

1. Of Kisses and Curses made me smile so much. The romantic storyline is very much at its heart and while the outcome always feels certain (given its fairytale origins) that doesn't mean that Jaya and Grey's relationship is predictable or dull; there are still plenty of twists and turns and lots of drama. It was great to have the story told from both character's perspectives, and I really liked watching them misunderstand each other and misinterpret the other's motives.

2. I loved how well developed all of the side-characters storylines were (and really hope we see a few of them again in future books!) Menon puts a really interesting twist on the stereotypical mean girl, and it was great to see the female characters coming together to help each other, rather than trying to tear each other down.

3. There was A LOT of glamour in this story - lots of money, plenty of designer labels, and some really great parties. It was really fun to read about a boarding school for the elite, famous and titled. Throw in mountains and snow and you have a pretty perfect location. St Rosetta's is definitely a setting I would like to return to, so I'm looking forward to the future books in this series!

{review will go live on blog on 14/2/20}