The Curses: A Graces Novel

The flavor of this novel was different from The Graces (one of my favorite reads of 2016) but just as riveting. Whereas the narrator of The Graces is outsider, "River", The Curses puts you right inside the Grace family, where Summer Grace introduces us to the whimsy of their home and sheds light on the excesses and constraints of all its occupants. Without giving anything away, I will say that I liked the way magic exacted a real price in this book. I also liked that through Summer's eyes we see more residents of the little town, and more members of the fascinating family. Want to learn what "River" looks like, and her real name? You'd better snag The Curses right away! Now I'll just bite my fingernails and hope Eve writes fast... Whether it's more from this world or another, I'm on the edge of my seat to see what she comes up with next!

It’s so witchy I love it

The Curses by Laura Eve - A Graces NovelBlurb~“Picking up the pieces after the chilling events of the previous year isn’t easy, but the Grace siblings are determined. Wolf is back after a mysterious disappearance, and everyone’s eager to return to normal. Except Summer, the youngest Grace. Summer has a knack for discovering the truth—and something is troubling her. But exposing secrets is a dangerous game, and it’s not one Summer can win alone. At Summer’s behest, the coven comes back together, drawing their erstwhile friend River back into the fold. But as the coven’s powers magnify, Wolf’s behavior becomes unpredictable—and Summer must question the nature of the friend she so loves. This riveting sequel to The Graces is saturated with magic, the destructive cost of power, and the nature of forgiveness.       My Review~“Ok, The Curses is not a stand-alone. Once again, I requested a book because the cover was so awesome! Not realizing it was part of a trilogy, I had to check out The Graces from the library before I could read this. JIC you’ve not read it already, I think the following review by: rhapsodyinbooks provides a good synopsis of The Graces without giving away spoilers, so I’ve included it here (with permission) so you can get the gist before reading my review of The Curses.From: rhapsodyinbooks.wordpress.com~ “The Grapes are a family with rumored magical powers who draw everyone into their orbit and punish those they don’t like. Despite the risk however, “everyone in this town was in love with a Grace.” Summer Grace is 15, and twins Fenrin and Thalia are 17. All the girls at school try (unsuccessfully) to imitate the ethereal beauty of Thalia, and all of them are in love with Fenrin, “more creature than boy.” When River Page, 15, transfers into their school, she becomes fascinated with the Graces along with everyone else. She manages to become friends with Summer, who is in her grade. Through Summer, River also gets to know Fenrin and Thalia as well, even getting invited to the Grace house and to Grace parties, something no one else has managed to do. But River has secrets of her own, and soon the four of them get entangled in a situation that it seems even magic can’t fix. Or can it?Evaluation: This is a book about magic, witches, coming of age, first love, and even the biggest hellscape of all: The High School Cafeteria! But in my opinion, the two biggest draws to this book are the fae aspect of the Grace family, and the excellent set of twists the author has woven into the plot. It reminded me in that way of the book We Were Liars. I think this will be very successful in the young adult market.” Kinda get it now, right?     Okay, on with MY review of The Curses. This is pretty much a new favorite series for me. I was excited to read this one. Eve is a very good writer and lucky me- I got to read them back to back. The third is already on Amazon so YAY! I feel like Eve really captures the sense of Pagan witches in modern society and how they are so harshly judged, and outsiders are suspicious of them. She put a twist on this book by changing the character POV to Summer, the youngest Grace sibling. This allowed you to see things through a different lens, so to speak. Eve has a special talent for drawing you in to the story. It has magical and fantasy elements of course, but also gives a bit of mystery and suspense. The story is fast paced, to me, for this type of novel. Things happen like waves, fast and almost drowning, but then the group uses powers to afront any wrongs or difficulties.  I couldn’t quite figure out exactly WHO was the “bad guy.”   This book is a page turner. Entrancing and engaging, I found it hard to put down and was engrossed in the story from the beginning of The Graces. I really like the family history aspect of the story. It adds dimension and gives a unique facet to the narrative. The character development was solid. The siblings have a strong bond and stick together through thick and thin. And they go through a LOT in this book. Eve has written them to be resourceful and resilient, however, and you are pulled in by them as well. You get a better sense of their personalities in this book, especially Summer’s. Providing some background to the family in general, the reader feels a realistic dynamic between the brother and sisters.  The author has created characters that the reader can sympathize with. The Curses was an easy and enjoyable read. There was a bit of a shocker ending, and though somewhat sad, the reader is left hopeful. I will be glad to read the third in this trilogy and have everything tied up in a nice little bow.  I rate this book a 5/5 stars and am looking forward to adding the physical copies to my bookshelf. I received this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Kiersten and I both really enjoyed the first book in this series, and couldn't wait to return to the world of The Graces. Eve switched things up a bit with book two, and I really enjoyed the changes.One of the biggest changes was that the story was being told by Summer. This really changed the whole tone of the book for me. Summer was a Grace, and watching the story unfold from an insider's point of view versus an outsider's point of view, really shed some light on a lot of different things. And let's face it, this story focuses on a curse, which affects the Grace family, and therefore, the story should be told by one of their own.The other difference that really stood out to me was that this one felt like more of a mystery, than the previous book. There were quite a few things the siblings were trying to fix. First and foremost, they were trying to figure out what was going on with Wolf, and that led them to researching "the curse" linked to their romantic pairings. Which subsequently led to the discovery of some cool magic and how it was linked to a horrible event in the Grace family history. But the mystery continued from there, and I really enjoyed following the path as the Graces uncovered more and more pieces of that puzzle.The Curses also had all those things I loved from the first book. This book was brimming with magic and Eve did such a fabulous job wrapping it around me. She painted many a mysterious and etherial scene, which kept me captivated and wanting to know more.The ending was rather sweet too. After all the darkness and loss, it was a nice way to leave that world. There was redemption, rekindled love, and revelations, which was all served up with a dash of hope.

I absolutely loved the magical world of the Graces.Full of magic and mystery, The Curses follows the Grace siblings as they deal with the resurrection of their friend Wolf from the dead, a family curse, and a mysterious witch who is granting wishes to the locals in exchange for money. When the Grace siblings attempt to put an end to the family curse, they encounter an evil stranger from the family’s past.I loved the dynamic between the siblings, especially between Summer and Thalia, and how no matter how bad anything became, they still stuck together. There were plenty of rich people problems, and the scenes at the boarding school were hilarious. It was nice to be able to dive into a book where the characters are aware of their magical gifts and are comfortable using those gifts.Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. It had been awhile since I read the first book in this series so it took me a little while to get back into the story line, but we are back with ther Grace siblings. This is magical and witchy read that it was excited to get back to their lives and the adventures they are on. I think I enjoyed the first book better but I enjoyed to read this book.

Following on from ‘The Graces’ and its OMG! cliffhanger ending, time has moved on a few months and the narrative voice switches from that of outsider, River, to the youngest Grace witch, Summer.I found it a quite good follow up, addressing various questions left open at the end of the first book. It did feel like a YA novel in terms of the story and its characters but was a fun witchy read.

At last! A novel about witchcraft that maintains that it is a practice to be acquired rather than inherited. A book which blurs the lines between fantasy and reality. I won't say anymore for fear of spoiling the story for you but I believe this to be even better than The Graces.

A brilliant stunning follow up and conclusion to the graces. I couldn't put it down. I was completely lost in a world of magic, and all the twist, turns and consequences that come with it.

I enjoyed this book immensely. On some crazy level it makes us aware of the true nature of humanity, if we're honest with ourselves, we all experiences the stages described here.I liked both books, by this was my favourite by far. An easy and pleasurable read - goof job Laure Eve.

Der zweite Teil beendet die spannende Geschichte zufriedenstellend, aber die Autorin konnte nicht die atmosphärisch-düstere Wirkung des ersten Romans wiederholen bzw. ändern.In diesem Teil werden die magischen Elemente näher erkundet.