Monday, March 7, 2016

Book Review: Adela's Curse

Adela's Curse by Claire M. Banschbach


Rating: PG (magic and mild violence)

Recommended for: Ages 10 to Adult

A curse. A murderous scheme. A choice.

A witch and her master capture a young faery and command her to kill their enemy. Adela has no choice but to obey. If she does not, they will force the location of her people’s mountain home from her and kill her. To make matters even worse, the person she is to kill is only a man struggling to save his dying land and mend a broken heart.

Count Stefan is a man simply trying to forget the woman he loves and save a land crippled by drought. When a mysterious woman arrives at his castle claiming to be a seamstress, he knows she is more than she seems.

Adela enlists the help of Damian, another faery, to try and delay the inevitable. He insists she has a choice. But with the witch controlling her every move, does she?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29085448-adela-s-curse

I read this book in one day. I enjoyed it very much, the fairy-tale quality of the story, the characters, the tough decisions they had to make...

Writing: 4.5/5

Claire's writing has greatly improved since her last book. She's gotten better at letting the readers in on her characters' thoughts and feelings. I was truly absorbed in the story. There's still some "head-hopping," but it was fairly minor.

Setting: 5/5

Myrnius is a well developed world. Despite having a definite fairy-tale feel, it still managed to feel real. The world of the faeries and the work they do was very interesting. The world of the humans is distinct from where the faeries dwell and just as well developed. It's a world that would be neat to visit.

Plot: 4.5/5

Adela is in a tough situation. She's controlled by a witch who is trying to get her to kill a man, but not only are faeries not allowed to kill humans, Adela naturally doesn't want to. As her target begins to fall in love with her, things only get more complicated, especially as Adela is finding herself to be in love with fellow faery Damian. Things escalate. I was honestly afraid for some of the characters' lives at times, especially since I know Claire is not above killing her characters.

Character Development: 5/5

I really liked these characters. I felt that I could understand Adela and relate to her. I also liked Damian. In the short time I was with them, they became friends, and I was invested in their lives.

I would definitely recommend Adela's Curse.

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 Author Bio:
Claire Banschbach was born and raised in Midland, TX, the fourth of eight children. She was homeschooled through high school and is now a proud member of the Texas A&M University class of 2014. She is currently working on her Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Texas Tech University Health Science Center. She continues to write in her spare time (and often when she doesn’t have spare time). She hopes her strong foundation in God will help to guide her writing.

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Giveaway!
3 winners! Prizes include 2 copies of Adela’s Curse, and a paperback version of The Rise of Aredor to celebrate its 2 year anniversary on March 11! Open to international entries. 

3 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for the lovely review, Morgan! :) Glad you enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely review. I enjoyed it to when I read the book. :)

    ReplyDelete

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