Garden of the Cursed - Katy Rose Pool

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐

From the covers:

Garden of the Cursed:

"Since fleeing the gilded halls of Evergarden for the muck-filled canals of the Marshes, Marlow Briggs has made a name for herself as the best godsdamn cursebreaker in Caraza City. But no matter how many cases she solves, she is still haunted by the mystery of her mother's disappearance.

When Adrius Falcrest, Marlow's old friend and scion of one of Caraza's most affluent spell-making families, asks her to help break a life-threatening curse, Marlow wants nothing to do with the boy who spurned her a year ago. But a new lead in her mother's case makes Marlow realize that the only way to get the answers she desperately seeks is to help Adrius and return to Evergarden society - even if it means suffering through a fake love affair with him to avoid drawing suspicion from the conniving Five Families.

As the investigation draws Marlow into a web of deadly secrets and powerful enemies, a shocking truth emerges: Adrius's curse and her mother's disappearance may just be clues to an even larger mystery, one that could unravel the very foundations of Caraza and magic itself."

Masquerade of the Heart

"The city of Caraza sits poised on the edge of chaos. And cursebreaker Marlow Briggs is at the center of a deadly struggle for power. In the tragic aftermath of the Vale-Falcrest wedding, Marlow is spurned by Adrius, who refuses to speak to her and publicly vows to find a noble wife before the year is out. 

Despite her heartbreak, Marlow is still intent on breaking his Compulsion curse. To do so, she'll have to play loving daughter to the man who cast it - the man who's hell-bent on reshaping Caraza in his own image, no matter the cost. But the closer she gets to her long-lost father, the more Marlow starts to question if he's really the villain she's made him out to be. As the lines between enemy and ally blur, Marlow must decide if she's willing to sacrifice her heart's desire to save a city that wants her dead."

📚📚📚 

I don't know if I've ever written about multiple books in one review before, but that's what I'm going with for this one because it's a duology that probably could have been one book. I got the first book in a subscription box and it really hooked me, so when it was a duology I was like ok, hell yeah, let's buy the second book! And then second book? Meh. 

The whole storyline is basically unraveling a mystery, so I don't want to give too much away, but basically book one is Marlow taking on rival gang members, corrupt politicians, and the odd person with a grudge as she tries to figure out a. what caused her mom's disappearance a year ago and b. who cursed Adrius and what she needs to do to break his curse. It's full of intrigue and danger, with just enough information revealed to keep you on the edge of your seat. And then, just as things are coming to a head - to be continued.

Then book two just feels so aimless. Honestly, I feel like this is something that happens a lot with duologies and trilogies. The concept is so good, the first part of the series is action packed and full of suspense and then...not enough compelling stuff left for the last book, but you gotta fill the pages somehow, so it drags. In this case, if anything there were too many ideas. It was like okay, I know we need to get from x happening at the end of book one to y happening to wrap everything up, and we could do that via Twist A, Twist B, Twist C, or Twist D...orrrrrrr maybe we do it with ALL OF THEM! There were so many ends that were brought in and then just kind of dropped, it made the whole narrative feel unfocused, and then when things finally did wrap up in the last handful of chapters it was kind of unsatisfying. 

Probably the most unsatisfying thing about being unsatisfied with the ending is that I thought the main plot hook in the second book was GOOD! Truly, if this had been one like...450-500 page book instead of two 350-ish page books, it probably would have been five stars for me. But alas, had to go with a duology, and now here we are, three stars. Not every story needs to be multiple books, y'all. Someone tell that to publishers.