Cursed
Ratings78
Average rating3.9
Still on the fence here, its hard not to compare this to the Dresden Files and find it lacking. Especially as I haven't really warmed to Versus but I'd probably leave my family for Harry and all his flaws!
The plot was fine but didn't fully draw me in and Jacka's characters still lack depth. Females, in particular, are poorly drawn with few qualities beyond their looks and a need to be rescued. My favourite character is Garrick, by far the most interesting, who makes fleeting appearances throughout - I'd rather be off following him in his story if truth be told.
However, I'll keep plodding on through these as they ARE fairly entertaining and easy enough to read. I'll give it another couple of books before quitting...
So Jacka seems to have the capability to repeat a successful formula. There are many similarities here to Dresden Files but its nowhere near as complicated. And its this simplicity that works out really well. That and the fact there seems to be some more heart in the second leg of this series. Must say am surprised that Jacka retains so many of his characters into the second book. Of course the high point is the Magical creatures that keep popping up making things for the future a bit more interesting. A very light read but an engrossing one all the same. Alex Verus and his ability continue to intrigue me!
Second entry in the series is still solid. Bit confused about one point in the epilogue, but I'm still enjoying the series. Kind of nice to have a little moral gray in a protagonist.
The tales of Alex and company continue to enchant and thrill. Modern urban fantasy at its best!
Cursed
Benedict Jacka
CAWPILE SCORE
C-8
A-8
W-7
P-8
I-8
L-8
E-10
TOTAL-/10
CAWPILECharactersWe get to see the character relationship between Alex and Luna grow and change, Sadly the death of the ship between the two of them. Martin the character we wish would die. Even though we don't see a ton of his character, we can totally relate him to people we know who think they know better or are smarter. He needed to die which he did, so its all good.Have to wonder slightly about whether the Monkey paw is actually evil, or just its nature and it can't fight against it, but it seems to take pleasure in the killingLight mages living up to Alex's estimation so far except for Taliseid. Belthas unabashedly wanting more power.Stupid Enchantress.AtmosphereStill London still felt realistic.WritingSolid writing, but nothing crazily different from the first book.PlotI liked that it felt like there were 2 plots going on a once. The Magic creature draining and the Monkey's Paw, and that they interacted and caused conflicting issues. The betrayals that you see coming and the ones you don't. Stupid MartinInvestmentVery invested, hard to put the book down.LogicThe Magic system is very consistent within world. The actions that people take make sense to their character, especially luna who just wants to be able to be around people.EnjoymentThese books are just so so good.Misc
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 6/19/26
Appealing characters; the narrative always moving forward; I'll be back for more.
Jacka did a great job following up his first Alex Verus novel. [b:Fated 11737387 Fated (Alex Verus, #1) Benedict Jacka http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1330906653s/11737387.jpg 16686573] introduced us to Verus' world, and Cursed lives in it. With the universe so well established, Jacka can focus on this particular adventure, building on [b:Fated 11737387 Fated (Alex Verus, #1) Benedict Jacka http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1330906653s/11737387.jpg 16686573].This makes for a more exciting read–more action, more character development, more of everything we liked in the first book. Jacka's got us all hooked now, we just have to wait for the next hit.
This is by far one of the best series I have ever read. The return of Alex Verus was just as good as the first installment. Character relationships in this novel are strained and tested and Alex is firmly shown to be an independent, not will to blindly follow light or dark mages.
If you haven't picked up Fated you may be a little lost during some parts, but overall the book is an easy read without too much knowledge from the first book needed (though I highly recommend reading Fated first).