Scott's Take: Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool

Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool is the first book in a duology romance mystery series. Marlow is a curse breaker living in the marshes of Caraza City. Her mother disappeared over a year ago causing Marlow to leave the rich part of Caraza City behind. Now she works in the marshes and canals filled with muck.

 

Her former friend, Adrius, from one of the five ruling families of the city, has tracked her down to hire her for a job. To keep the fact that he is cursed from the general public, they agree to pretend that they are dating. Marlow knows with access to his resources and connections; she could be able to finally figure out what happened to her mother so she agrees to help him. Uncovering the truth will be difficult as many people will attempt to stop them.

 

Marlow is a very flawed, but very interesting main character. She lives in an interesting world and is surrounded by a strong supporting cast. Her best friend, Swift, is a unique character who is also pretty capable despite losing an arm prior to the events in this book. Most of the time, characters get a prosthetic or somehow regain function of their arm, but instead this character goes through life as a one-armed man. There are plenty of different supporting characters to help the plot of this story move along and all of them are interesting and detailed.

 

There is humor, action, mystery, romance, and drama.  The ending is a great setup for the sequel. I highly enjoyed this read.

 

 

My reading copy came by way of the Libby/OverDrive App and the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2024