Curses

By: Lish McBride

Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle

Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

"Curses is the 'Beauty and the Beast' retelling I've been waiting for." (Marissa Meyer, number one New York Times best-selling author)

"A unique and twisty magical romp!" (Tamora Pierce, New York Times best-selling author)

Merit Cravan refused to fulfill her obligation to marry a prince, leading to a fairy godling's curse. She will be forced to live as a beast forever, unless she agrees to marry a man of her mother's choosing before her 18th birthday.

Tevin Dumont has always been a pawn in his family's cons. The prettiest boy in a big family, his job is to tempt naïve rich girls to abandon their engagements, unless their parents agree to pay him off. But after his mother runs afoul of the beast, she decides to trade Tevin for her own freedom.

Now, Tevin and Merit have agreed that he can pay off his mother's debt by using his con-artist skills to help Merit find the best match...but what if the best match is Tevin himself?

©2021 Lish McBride (P)2021 Listening Library

Critic reviews

“McBride’s voyage into this full fantasy world brings a different kind of humor than her Necromancer duology, and it’s a worthwhile pivot.” (Booklist)

“This gender-swapped take on ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is a snappy blend of old-school fairy tale appeal, with true love and pretty gowns, and modern-day sensibilities in dialogue and plot points.” (BCCB)

“Earnest and amusing.” (Kirkus Reviews)

worth the audio

Curses by Lish McBride is one of those books that would best be enjoyed as an audiobook. It has a painfully slow start and as an adult reading this, I just couldn't get into the rambling. There was nothing in the few beginning chapters that hooked me in as a reader. I then decided to buy the audiobook because I was really interested by the synopsis and wanted to see where it lead.

That being said, the audio was great because it felt like you got an entire cast, that added life, character and personality to the stories. The author created an intriguing tale that may have gotten too carried away, but was entertaining once it was underway.

Definitely a life lesson for stubborn, rebellious teenagers and equally stubborn moms with good intentions, but closed minded. Give it a chance, buy the audiobook and get lost in this ya novel.

I love this book!!!

I loved the story and kept me hooked through the whole thing. I loved how it had love but adventure all in one book!!❤️

Mehhhh...

A gender-bent Beauty and the Beast retelling, wherein the beast is a 15 year old girl is cursed to marry a man of her mother's choosing OR a man who truly loves her by her 18th birthday. Our "beauty" is a charming con-man, who is recruited to help Merit sift through potential suitors as her deadline draws near...

First, I thought the narrator did a great job telling the story. Normally, I crank up the speed on my audiobooks, but I really enjoyed Jayne Entwistle, so I kept the book on 2x for the most part. Great job there!

Second, I thought this story was all right for the most part, but I thought it was lacking overall. I am someone who generally reads higher fantasy and will go back and forth between YA and adult, so I'm used to complex world building and magic (Brandon Sanderson, Cassandra Clare, SJ Maas, Diana Gabaldon, and so on). I felt that this book was lacking in that regard, BUT, it's possible that this novel could make for a good transition book for younger readers transitioning between middle grade and YA.

3/5 stars total for me- It was okay

An Ok Book

This was an OK read, I don't know what was it that made me lose interest in the first third of the book and this feeling continued with me until the end of the book
The book tells the story about Merit she is kind of a princess and her mother wants her to marry since she was 15 but she doesn't want to marry someone she doesn't love, so she gets cursed to be a beast until she marries someone of her mom's choosing or someone who loves her the way she is .. and then we will meet Tevin ( who is an angel despite being a con man ) his mother trades him to serve the beast and he does it so perfectly .. he must find a husband for Merit to be free and break her curse .. but what if the one who loves her is there all along ?
the story takes a really interesting take to the story and Tevin's family are amazing .. but for some reason I was kind of bored through out the book .. it was ok, not bad but not great either

The narrator was ok, I did sometime struggle to know who is talking but overall she did a nice job

I love this book so much!!!

what a beautiful take on beauty and the beast. it's sweet and fun wonderful read

WOKE

Story mediocre. didn’t enjoy the WOKE agenda. Want to listen to a good story, not someone’s skewed political opinion.

Painfully slow

Slow, I could only get through the first 1/3, the world building is lacking and the characters are super flat. Plus shoehorning woke gender ideology into this story for no reason at all makes for an extremely mediocre read. For a supposed “genderbend” of Beauty and the Best, the only similarities of this is that someone transforms into a beast. Save your credits, 3/10. The performance was good though.