Am apreciat construcția lumii și a magiei, puterea cuvântului și multitudinea de categorii de oameni ce formează societățile din universul lui J. First of all, I just want to say a grateful thank you to the author for sending me a free copy of this audiobook, I enjoyed most of it a lot!

One setting I will not mention due to spoilers was quite interesting, but it was quickly done away with in a matter of two chapters, which was a pity. I need more of Arianna and Rion and I need to know what happens next and how all the dots are connected.One minute Arianna is this incredible warrior of legend, strong and won't let anything, let alone over a year of slavery, break her. THANKFULLY, I'd add, because The Divine and the Cursed is actually avwell written and interesting little gem that will definitely surprise its reader. It was also a little predictable, but I am in fairness a bit more prone to guessing where a story will lead than most considering how much I read in this genre. I can suspend my belief for a story, but particles of sand ripping off body parts just felt like a lot, and so did the level of fear associated with his magic, which seems perfectly natural and in line with his people.

It feels like we’re supposed to excuse him and his family having slaves cause “they treat them well” which will make you hate any main character. The descriptions of how the magic worked and wound itself around the characters and how they used it were incredibly unique for a take on elemental magic and beautifully written. While I love the vulnerability and love and intimacy between the characters, as well as the well written character development. I'm happy that so many other reviewers really enjoyed this read, but I do think comparing it as "the next" ACOTAR set it up for failure with readers coming in with those higher expectations.

For the pacing, I appreciate how things immediately kick off but the female main meets the male main like immediately and way too conveniently. Ambii protagoniști beneficiază de o poveste complexă, de o creștere realistă pe parcursul romanului, iar relația lor este plină de momente de tensiune, de incertitudine, dar și încredere și speranță.

Additionally our main love interest, Rion is literally a crying emotional mess one minute and then a killer the next?The world-building could use a little polishing, but I enjoyed myself and will definitely keep and eye out for this author in the future. There are a lot of dramatic affirmations, thoughts and feelings stated versus seeing a physical display of these. It's just I enjoyed this as an audiobook, which I received from the author directly, and I didn't really have a lot of time with everything going on in my life to sit down and listen to the book. I truly loved the escapism that this book gave me, in those short snippets of time when I was able to dive back into the world of Alastríona and just listen to the tale between the Divine and the Cursed. and a 3-star rating for this one, because even though I did enjoy the story, it felt like a fanfiction of every popular fantasy romance out there, but poorly edited and without the strong world building in the background.