Review: The Curse Girl by Kate Avery Ellison

I would like to extend gratitude to the Shut Up & Read group on Goodreads along with the author for the opportunity to read this book

Genre

YA Paranormal Romance

Publication Date

May 14th, 2011

Publisher

Self-Published

Available At

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

Format

Ebook

Paperback

When Bee is imprisoned in a magical, cursed house because of her father's selfish choices, she has just one plan... escape! But she must solve a riddle and help her fellow prisoners break the curse that binds them all before she can leave, and that is proving more difficult than she originally thought thanks to the bitter young master of the house, Will. 

Will wants nothing to do with Bee or her help (and he certainly isn't planning on falling in love with her), but he might have underestimated just how determined and clever--and irresistible--she can be.


Review
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars


Beautiful cover, right? Plus, who doesn't like Beauty and the Beast? This story is bound to capture a lot of attention. It instantly captured my attention, but I would have liked to see more.


I like this book, the concept derived from Beauty and the Beast was extremely interesting. The story quickly grabbed my attention, making me entranced by the gorgeous words.


"A shattered chandelier lay three feet away, crystal droplets spread like frozen tears across the marble."


See? Gorgeous. Great imagery. Even the characters were fun, without any downright flaws, but my biggest thing with The Curse Girl is that it would have benefited greatly from a longer length. I liked the characters, but there wasn't really enough time to connect with them in a way that would have brought forth an even greater investment. I would have liked to see more of the budding feelings between 'Curse Girl' and 'Beast Boy' that would have lessened the instantaneous feeling that I got. I also would have liked to see a bigger interaction with the the other characters, because of the length, the story pretty much solely focuses on Bee and Will which isn't a bad thing, but it would have brought more emotion and better ties from me, the reader, to them, the characters. In other words, it would have rounded out the story more, adding depth. I know I'm not the only reviewer that has stated that the length should have been longer and honestly it's great how it is, but it would have been beyond fabulous if there was a little more detail. I know this because Kate Ellison has a talented writing ability that draws you into the world that she has created. There were just so many things that could have used more elaboration which would have only added layers to an already great story. Plus, there definitely should have been a more romantic ending!


The plot successfully kept me interested as they searched for the clues to break the curse, even twisting in unexpected ways at times. There were the obvious things that came from Beauty and the Beast, but there were also fresh ideas that made the story as fun and great as it was. There was one huge inconsistency that I found that didn't hugely subtract from my reading experience, but it was a big part of Bee as a character so it did take away from the magic of the story. If you've read the story, I'm sure you'll know what I'm referring to. It is firmly stated that Bee experiences something for the first time in a long while when I precisely remember reading about it happening twice prior to that moment. 


A fast, fun read that shouldn't be missed, especially if you are a fan of fairy tales and um, Beauty and the Beast! 

Would have benefited from a longer length, more time to develop those feelings instead of it being almost instantasouly. Definetly would have liked to see more character development with the secondary characters, could have also bennifited from that. Enjoyable, fun, but didn't produce a huge connection to Bee.