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4.5
Cursed City
ByPublisher Description
This deluxe, first-edition trade paperback of Cursed City will feature beautifully stenciled edges and captivating interior cover art!
Welcome back to Harker Academy for Deviant Defense, where the line between hunter and hunted has never been thinner.
Viv Abbot will do whatever it takes to rescue Reid Graveheart, the reformed Brood demon she loves—even if it means teaming up with his violent, unpredictable older brother, Deacon. Her uneasy truce with him offers Viv something Reid never could: the chance to embrace her darkness.
As the search for Reid intensifies, Viv and her friends must maintain appearances on Harker grounds while wading into Astera's seedy underbelly with none other than the White Stag as their guide. But when a bounty on Viv's head puts those she cares about most in danger, Viv will be forced to go to lengths she never dreamed in order to protect them.
With enemies closing in from all sides and a ticking clock on her life, Viv must save the Half City from destruction while surviving a betrayal that strikes at the heart of everything she’s fighting for. Because in a world where monsters wear familiar faces and temptation cuts deeper than any blade, making it through her second semester at Harker will take more than skill—it will take everything Viv has left to give. Who can she really trust in a city that thrives on lies?
Welcome back to Harker Academy for Deviant Defense, where the line between hunter and hunted has never been thinner.
Viv Abbot will do whatever it takes to rescue Reid Graveheart, the reformed Brood demon she loves—even if it means teaming up with his violent, unpredictable older brother, Deacon. Her uneasy truce with him offers Viv something Reid never could: the chance to embrace her darkness.
As the search for Reid intensifies, Viv and her friends must maintain appearances on Harker grounds while wading into Astera's seedy underbelly with none other than the White Stag as their guide. But when a bounty on Viv's head puts those she cares about most in danger, Viv will be forced to go to lengths she never dreamed in order to protect them.
With enemies closing in from all sides and a ticking clock on her life, Viv must save the Half City from destruction while surviving a betrayal that strikes at the heart of everything she’s fighting for. Because in a world where monsters wear familiar faces and temptation cuts deeper than any blade, making it through her second semester at Harker will take more than skill—it will take everything Viv has left to give. Who can she really trust in a city that thrives on lies?
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesCursed City Reviews
4.5
“Thank you Ace and Berkeley for the e-arc off NetGalley!
Deacon Graveheart the man that you are!!!
I absolutely loved Half City and we’re back right into the action, the side characters who you care just as much about as the FMC and the MMC! This book did not disappoint!”
“First of all, thank you for the earc. Second, thanks for the anxiety, fear, excitement, and for the words that had me screaming and kicking my feet. What an amazing story. Every time I thought we peaked, something else explodes in your face. The forced proximity and banter is top tier. I will be thinking about this book for a long time. I really need the next one. That ending. I’m crushed I have to wait for the conclusion to the series.
Enemies to lovers
Urban fantasy
Forced proximity
Found family
Dark academia
Demon x demon hunter”
“Kate Golden’s Cursed City is an excellent follow-up to her first book in the trilogy. The second book of three is always hard, balancing pacing for the entire series while creating a self-contained story. Golden is able to achieve this balance perfectly, keeping me on the edge of my seat while building a larger story as a whole.
I read the Half City in preparation for starting Cursed City, which I think was a good decision for me. If you remember the general plot and characters, as well as the ending cliffhanger, I think you could probably go into Cursed City without rereading. Golden does a good job setting our scene, especially with the introduction of multiple new locations, while bringing small details from the first book to new light.
Our story begins with Viv, our huntress extraordinaire, beginning the hunt for her kidnapped boyfriend, Reid. She seeks out the help of Deacon, Reid’s older brother and the owner of a seedy demon bar. If, in our Buffy inspiration, Reid is a brooding, self deprecating Angel, then Deacon is Spike, gleefully murdering hunters with a complex moral compass and a wicked sense of humor. The two work together to find Reid and find a cure for the syribraxa in Viv’s back.
I loved this book. I read it in a handful of sittings, desperately wanting to see how the story would play out. The end had an incredible cliffhanger without neglecting the rest of the plot before, and the book felt complete until the final chapter set us up for book 2.
I do think the pacing of this book could be confusing for people who mostly read modern Romantasy. This story functioned as a mystery, romance and fantasy novel simultaneously, which meant it had to move slower at times than I think modern Romantasy readers typically expect. The mystery elements meant that the story moved between lots of research and dead ends, with quick bursts of movement when discovering or revealing. Once again we are reminded of our dear vampire slayer, who spent many a night in the library researching before heading into a battle.
This book has less of the balance between work, school, friendships and family that defined the first book and reminded me so much of the famous vampire slayer. Instead, this story allows Viv to wrestle with her identity as a hunter and aeon. Viv has always wanted to appease her mother, complement her sister, and be fully normal, but now that her powers could be removed, she questions whether she could ever truly live a normal life. Her banter and conflict with Deacon allows for a lot of growth within the story, as Viv must reconcile his moral depravity with the complex care he shows for the vulnerable of their community.
This story does not have any explicit content involving intercourse, but does have scenes with detailed descriptions of foreplay or masturbation. There is a love triangle, which could be frustrating for readers, but the triangle is resolved by the end of the book and I wouldn’t expect it to move into book 3.
As a Buffy the Vampire fan, the first story was exactly up my alley, and I was thrilled to start book two. I enjoyed it exactly as much as I hoped I would, and the climax of the story felt exactly as exciting as I hoped. The book achieves the perfect balance between moving the larger story and relationships while also creating a self-contained novel, and I’m already eager for book 3 to come.
Thank you to Berkley, Kate Golden and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!”
“OH. MY. GOD. THIS is how you do a second book in a series!!!! I AM SPIRALING!!! FIVE MAYBE SIX STARS FOR ME!!
First, thank you to Kate Golden and Netgalley for the e-arc!
Y’ALL!! This book has me well on my ass. This sucks you in so fast, and my GOD. The ride you go on… Consider my pearls clutched.
I do not want to give anything away, but let’s just say, the romance went exactly the way I wanted and I am verrrrry pleased with where this is going.
Viv is even better in this book, the self-acceptance and sense of self she gets is *chef’s kiss*. I loved how gradually we see her shift for the better.
The Reid and Deacon situation… I loved how this developed, and seeing the interrelationships between them and Viv. How complicated everything was, and how it changes in this next installment of this series was done EXPERTLY! I couldn’t have loved it more.
I will say, we get a bit less of Sophia, Eliot and Peter. But, more of Penny who I adore more than anything- omg. She is one of my fav side characters ever!!
Needless to say, I am dying for book 3 & and this book isn’t even out yet. So, a great experience overall.”“Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this title.
Wow! Amazing! I loved this so much more than the first one which I already enjoyed. It had me gasping at twists (even if I had seen them coming), laughing and crying with the characters. I really found I understood and connected more with Viv in this one than I did in Half City. If you liked the first book, Cursed City will 100% not disappoint.”
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