Curse of Stone

A Must-Read

***I was provided an ARC in exchange of an honest review***

Curse of Stone is about a girl named Julia who is studying abroad in Rome. However, Julia is still grieving the loss of her mother from cancer one year prior. One day, an ancient stone is discovered and the stone places a curse on Julia. Julia along with her roommate/friend Kai and her friend/boyfriend Nando must find a way to end the curse before it takes Julia’s life.

Here’s what I liked the most:

The characters- Every. Single. Character. Was. Realistic. That’s what I loved so much about this story. Even though it had mythology/fantasy elements in it, the characters still had the “normal” and relatable aspect to them. I honestly could find any one of these characters walking down the street because of how real they are. The emotion they feel, the words they say, and even the actions they do are all things that can be found in the real world. I absolutely fell in love with that!

Location- This novella took place in ROME. I mean, who wouldn’t want to go see Rome and explore it?! I certainly want to! The location was described very well and I could imagine myself being there while reading this. The location is also VERY important to the story line.

The hints of Italian- Yes, there were some sentences in Italian. Did I understand what they meant? Nope! But it didn’t take away from the story in any way, shape, or form. It only furthered its appeal to me. It is that realistic aspect that makes this story so wonderful.

The curse- How could I not love the cursed stone/cursed Julia in this story? I have read books with curses before, and none of them were anywhere near as amazing as this one. This curse was brilliant and the way it played out in the story was very well-written.

The pacing- Most books have uneven pacing or they go too slow or maybe they even go too fast. This novella? The pacing was just right. It wasn’t dragging and it wasn’t speeding through the events. Each important aspect had the right amount of time focused on it.

The mythology/history- There were a lot of little things that turned out to be big things. When reading them for the first time, I didn’t think much of it, but by the end, they all came back into the story and turned out to be important. I always love a book where I don’t see everything coming, and this did that for me!

What I didn’t like as much:

NOTHING. It is rare for me to find a story where I think everything is perfect, but I found it in this book.

I’d absolutely give this five stars and if there were more stars, I would give them. HIGHLY recommend this!

Also, that cover is beautiful!!!