Petra Grayson's Reviews > The Cursed

I was a little hesitant to read this book. Some of the Alyssa Day books I've read before have had villains that were a bit too sadistic to me. But the description of this one was too good and I couldn't resist. I'm glad I read it. There was no sadism and in fact there weren't necessarily "bad guys" in the book either - each person simply has different motivations for their actions.

Rio is an orphan living in Bordertown - a magical section of land near Manhattan that's not on any maps. A place where magical beings can be free or hide out from their enemies. When Rio witnesses a kidnapping, she goes to Luke, the resident wizard and private eye, to help find the missing girl. But all in the span of a day, Rio loses her job and apartment and is being chased by multiple bands of magical beings. Somehow it has to do with Rio's birthday and she's in a race against time to figure out what's going on. Rio is upbeat and makes friends wherever she goes. Mostly because she treats all people with respect. I could really picture Rio and Luke, and I loved both of them. They're tough, but broken and they need each other. They're super funny too. They're joking with each other all the time and it felt really natural and actually funny. I never felt like I missed the silliness. It was drawn so wonderfully that you could tell Luke and Rio enjoyed being around each other and were on the same wavelength.

In terms of magic, I didn't feel like very much was explained. Even at the end of the book, we don't know what Rio's powers are or what she's capable of. I'm hopeful that this means it's just an introduction book to the world of Bordertown and that Rio and Luke will get more airtime as the series continues. From giant ducks, to quoted movie lines, to jokes like "wizard pendulums hang low", I found the book to be very entertaining. I'll definitely be buying the next book when it comes out.