Curses and Crimes
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
"No witch shall live among those who hold to God's will. They shall be cast out, lest they bring corruption to all."
Nightingale Goodweather has a secret.
Ten years ago, Gale and her brother Hawk were abandoned in the woods as their village starved. They returned as heroes, children used by God to slay the witch who had cursed their land.
But Gale has never felt like a hero, and since her return she's kept a dark secret: during her time with the witch she allowed magic to corrupt her soul. She's never wavered from her vow to turn her back on that tempting power. But when a new curse arises, spreading sickness and death, Gale realizes she'll need to stretch the limits of her faith and defy the laws of the land to fight magic with magic.
If she wants to save her people and become the hero she's always wished to be, she'll have to risk her soul and her life… and enlist the help of the last person in the world she ever wished to speak to again.
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CONTENT NOTE: please be advised that this story contains scenes involving deaths of characters of all ages, gore, and religious indoctrination
Customer Reviews
Fantastic Hansel & Gretel inspired story!
If you had to choose between the beliefs you’ve grown up with and the person you feel you should be, which would you choose?
Curses and Crimes is the story of Hawk (Hansel) and Gale (Gretel) 10 years after they escape from the witch and break the curse on their village.
But, now, another curse is sickening their community. Hawk and Gale set out to break this new curse and once again become heroes.
There are some heavy religious overtones, but I found it interesting to follow Gale as she battled between the beliefs of her community she grew up with, the person she felt she should be, and what she would need to do to save her village. Gale strikes up a friendship with an unusual ghost who helps her along her path.
While Curses and Crimes can be read as a stand-alone, I’m glad I read Vines and Vices first since some of our favorite characters show up again.
I was lucky enough to receive Curses and Crimes as an ARC, but all opinions are my own.
A dark YA retelling of Hansel and Gretel
Curses and Crimes is a dark YA fantasy re-telling of Hansel and Gretel. While it’s technically the second book in Kate Sparkes The Queen’s Knaves series one does not necessarily have to read Vines and Vices first to read Curses and Crimes. Though it is helpful in understanding the background on some of the character we run into as the story progresses.
Curses and Crimes follows Nightingale Goodweather as she attempts to navigate her deeply religious upbringing and her natural affinity to magic(which her religion is against) while searching for a cure be it magical or non magical to save her village. We see how her and her brother Hawks experience with a witch still affects their lives 10yrs later as they both search for a cure in their own ways.
I was kept captive as the story picks up quickly and flowed nicely all they way to the unexpected twists I didn’t see coming. Literal gasps when they came about. 5 out of 5 stars for me and I look forward to reading more by Kate Sparkes.