Book Review: The Cursed by Laura Thalassa

Goodreads Summary:***Due to language, violence, and sexual situations, this book is recommended for mature audiences.***
It’s been two months. Two months since Gabrielle survived the horror that was Samhain. Two months since she slipped from the devil’s clutches. Two months since she learned that she might have to face him again.

Her nights are plagued by dreams of him, and she wakes to find that she’s creeping closer to that unholy reunion. So when a ritualistic murder occurs on a ley line in Romania and Gabrielle is called in to investigate, it seems like a harbinger of things to come.

Angelic victims, a killer that smells like ash and roses, and wounds that speak of pagan sacraments—it should be enough evidence for Gabrielle to solve the case and get back to her winter break. But the clues keep slipping through her fingers; someone is always one step ahead.

In the same city, Andre De Leon, king of the vampires, stands trial for the massacre at Bishopcourt, and his coven’s justice system is infamous for its cruelty. Up until now he’s been able to shield Gabrielle from their brutality, but her nearness makes her vulnerable to their wrath, and they will use her to get to Andre.

A killer, a vampire trial, the devil—all in the same city. It’s too coincidental, which is to say that it is not a coincidence at all. Fate has betrayed her.


Goodreads Rating: 4.11 stars with over 1,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Paranormal, Vampires, Romance, Young Adult

Get the Book: Amazon

Previous series reviews: The Unearthly, The Coveted

Review:

Edited 12/12016
I still hate myself for loving this series. It's so over the top and cheesy, but I'm entranced by it just the same. Each book, Gabrielle gets a little bit more powerful and a little closer to her destiny.

I feel like the supernatural stuff in this one is getting to be a bit much. Things keep being added, and it just seems ridiculous at this point. I rolled my eyes through some of it, especially the development of the myth. It's still interesting, but I just feel like the book is trying to be everything all at once. I feel like it's becoming one of those series where it starts off pretty decent, the second book gets a little better, and then the rest of the series is just completely ridiculous.

I was sad not to see Leeanne in this book, but Oliver grew on me. He annoyed the hell out of me in the first book but won me over in this one. I felt like Gabrielle did come more into her powers, and that was interesting to read. I'm still interested in her transition to full-fledged vampire. The romance between Gabrielle and Andre is still rather annoying, but it's growing on me. That or I'm just used to reading the mostly controlling creepy but sickeningly sweet relationship.

I will say there was a lot of action in this one. I was a little sad to see there wasn't as much mystery. The mystery was there, but it didn't feel like it was a huge aspect of the story. It was just kind of given that it was attached to the previous mysteries. Gabrielle became a bit of a badass in this one, which was awesome.

Overall, I was still interested in this series, but not completely enthralled with it like I was the first two. Given how The Cursed ended, I don't know if I'll immediately jump into the next book or not. I'm not feeling it at the moment, but we'll see if that changes.