From what I can recall, Laura Thalassa’s work played a large role in my falling in love with the genre of romance in fantasy with a large part of my reader heart has been shaped by her words. Also, in my opinion, Thalassa sets the true standard for a fantastically written anti-hero, who—as a reader—I can attest to having the best kind of love-to-hate-to-love relationship with.
As an author, the best most enticing experience to offer a reader, is to write books between series that feel very different from one another. While it’s always amazing to be able to dive into a book and recognise the author’s metaphorical signature style in; after a point, the repetitiveness that was initially endearing, doesn’t challenge and entice as much anymore.
But when an author writes a book, that as a reader, sounds, feels and reads different from a series of theirs you just finished, there’s no greater joy and satisfaction to be had than that. Thalassa has truly aced this technique and this is one of the main reasons I will always always come back to her writing each and every time.
Each series has its own tone, theme and storyline and if I had done a blind reading I would’ve never have ever guessed who the author was. Thalassa’s writing, thus, will always be her most powerful skill that she wields with precision. This particular book in the series reads as a prequel, even though it is not to be read before starting the series. It has an interesting position within the series and reads with a depth of emotion and pain that stays with you long after the last page. (Do check out the author’s page for the suggested order of reading.)
Books one and two, Bewitched and Bespelled dig a deep well of curiosity within the readers, leaving little hints and large hollows of longing to know the whole truth. Bespelled reveals the very end of what happens in The Curse that Binds and it expertly lays waste to the reader with just that short, but devastating reveal. Despite knowing that, the fact that wanting to read The Curse That Binds wasn’t even a question I had to ask myself, is further credited to Thalassa’s storytelling technique. The connections across the series, the foreshadowed dialogues, the references, the call-backs were all so wonderfully intertwined. So much so, that not a moment was left forgotten or overlooked. To be honest, this book was so well done that it might hold a place in my heart that rests just a little higher than the rest of the books in this series so far.
All this is only because of Thalassa’s plotting, writing and narration style and I’m so very grateful to have stumbled upon her work so early in my reading journey.
The world building in this book is written in a way that reveals just how much research has preceded it, to make it so richly detailed in cultural, social and historical content. I marvelled that, outside of the fact that the book can very much be read as a standalone with absolutely no prior knowledge about the series, it can also be enjoyed from a historical standpoint. The rules, lives and events in the book are etched with emotion, painstaking detail and acts as a fantastic foundation upon which the whole series can rest. The author leaves a wonderful note towards the end explaining the places in which she took some artistic liberties and where she leaned into the knowledge she gained from extensive research. I was so so grateful to be able to experience The Curse that Binds in all its true glory and all its imagined beauty. Additionally (as mentioned before), the world building in this book is required to extend beyond just this one novella and into the threads that make Bewitched and Bespelled and I love how Thalassa has ensured that while the tone of this book suits its time and circumstances, the essence of it can be found through the rest of its series, be it in the dialogues or in the personalities of the MCs.
Other than the two primary characters, this book boasts of a whole new cast. I absolutely enjoyed meeting all the new faces, watching the chemistry of all the budding and pre-existing relationships and of course all the emotional complexities these new characters add, given the nature of the set-up. Thalassa has done a fantastic job introducing all the secondary and tertiary characters at the perfect intervals, with just the right amount of scene space. Add to this some hard hitting dialogues by some of those characters and you’ll find you’ve signed your soul away for the most delicious deal. (If you’d read the Bargainer series by Thalassa, you’d have applauded this pun.)
The plot of this book in truth spans the length of this whole series (including its prequel). However, the interesting aspect about this series is that while the sequels have their own unique storyline, there’s also a strong thread of connection between them and the story laid out. The author has done a truly remarkable job of both, keeping the two very visibly distinct, even while surprising the readers with a hint of information that they just might be more intertwined than was initially presumed.
The best way I can compare the pace of this book is to the rhythm of hoofbeats as it nears you. Initially it’s a subtle drum that slowly draws your attention, until it becomes something that captures your curiosity and has you spinning to see in which direction you’re being approached. Eventually, it becomes loud enough that it’s the only thing you hear and see until it’s over. The Curse that Binds is like that, except that first chapter isn’t subtle in the way that it’s easy to miss, but in a way that it sneaks into your heart and stays forever in your memory. From there, there’s no looking away. You’re enraptured through and through, until the threads of the book tighten and tighten and tighten around you and you’re turning the last page, absolutely shattered.
Please do check trigger warnings for this book—for this whole series, for that matter—before starting. The book truly does deal with heavy themes that may be difficult for some and I do not recommend going in blind.
A ten star read, without a single doubt.
The Curse That Binds is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
The stunning prequel to the USA Today bestselling Bewitched series. Two thousand years before there was Selene, there was Roxilana. Her love fated, her life doomed, and her story forgotten—until now.
When young Roxilana first hears a voice in her head, she thinks she has gone mad. The truth, however, is stranger still. Because Memnon, the boy who speaks to her, claims he is real. Not only that, he insists they both are god-touched soul mates with the ability to wield magic.
As wild as his claims are, they gradually come to pass. First, Roxilana’s power Awakens. Then his. But nothing is nearly as startling as the day Memnon, now the sorcerer king of the Sarmatians, arrives at Roxilana’s doorstep, proclaiming the witch his wife and shepherding her off to his homeland.
Her fate is everything ardent Roxi could have hoped for. But there are things Memnon hasn’t told her—about his magic, about life as a Sarmatian and what, as queen, she will be asked to endure. Roxilana’s trials are only beginning. And as she’ll soon discover, there is nothing so dangerous as love mixed with power. For while the combination can build empires and shape legacies, it also has the potential to destroy everything in its path. And, if they’re not careful, Roxilana and Memnon could be destroyed along with it.
