The Curses by Laure Eve
Faber and Faber 2019. ISBN: 9780571328048.
(Age: 12+) Recommended. The Curses, sequel to The Graces,
follows The Grace children and their recently resurrected friend,
Wolf. Wolf is the first person who has ever been resurrected but
something's off with Wolf, is it just that he'd been dead and come
back or is he completely changed? No longer wary of the love he and
Fenrin share, the pair grow closer and more reckless. Meanwhile,
Thalia grows close to Nathaniel, their dead cousin's boyfriend who
only seems to be encouraged by Thalia and Iona's resemblance. Is it
only Summer that can see something's wrong? And how does the Grace
family curse play into all this?
Strange things have begun to happen in town and it seems witchcraft
is never far away. With River's power and the handful of other
amateurs trying their hand at magic, it's up to the residence
witches to reign in the magic before anyone else can be harmed. With
the help of River, the wealth of Marcus' supernatural knowledge, and
a great deal of initiative perhaps Fenrin, Thalia, and Summer can
clean up their mess before their parents find out.
With magic and plenty of mischief, Eve's novel explores grief,
greed, and making mistakes. This coming of age novel shows that
everyone has a lot of learn, regardless of their age with not only
the children but also the parents being shown as complicated and
conflicted beings. I would recommend for lovers of fantasy twelve
and up.
Kayla Gaskell