Review: The Divine and the Cursed by J.E. Reed

Thought I’d dive into the Kindle Unlimited world for my next review! I was mostly inspired by a single reel posted by J.E. Reed:

“Your enemy returns early and sees you in another male’s arms”

“He growls, ‘Put. Her. Down’”

That’s all it took for me to download “The Divine and the Cursed”, an enemies-to-lovers fae fantasy romance story. It can very easily be compared to other famous Beauty and the Beast-esque stories but has quite a few aspects that give it the potential to stand out.

This story takes place on the continent of Alastronia where two countries are in the midst of war. Our heroine, Arianna of Morin has been enslaved in her enemy’s country, Bronach, for over a year. Through luck and smart thinking, she is able to hide her abilities, hoping to stay unnoticed until an opportunity to run appears. With one attempt to protect another slave, Arianna’s advantage is revealed, her luck runs out, and she is placed in a position that should guarantee her death. It is here that she meets this story’s monster, The Demon. It takes some good stew and a few near-death experiences before Arianna and Rion (The Demon) begin their journey from enemies to fated lovers, but all of the expected elements are there!

I’ll save the rest of the details for you to read, but here are my thoughts:

It doesn’t take long to understand why Rion is the way that he is, and yet it is difficult to forgive him for some of his actions. I kind of like having actual enemies falling in love, rather than a love interest that was mean to me that one time. (Just like Violet Made of Thorns) Rion also takes a considerable amount of time to reveal his honest self, which makes the transition to lovers even sweeter.

Arianna seems weak or passive at the start, which may be a turnoff for some. Just wait a bit for a chance to change your mind about her. Are there times when she is naive and too lucky? Yes, but she learns how to hold her own.

This book includes some elemental magic being used in unexpected ways. Using sand to kill?!? Gruesome, but cool? Don’t know what that says about me but it’s definitely different!

Now let’s get into the world-building details. Some important pieces of information would have had more weight at the beginning of the book rather than at the end. For example, Fiadh’s actions would have meant more if we learned more about them sooner. I had too many questions at the end that made me feel like the author didn’t know what was going to happen at the end until they wrote it. Not a bad thing, but noticeable to me.

There were also a few characters that got chapters from their perspective towards the end but once again, it would have been more helpful to include them from the start, giving the reader time to connect with them.

This book does end in a manner that leaves plenty of room for a sequel and I hope we get one with more answers. Based on J.E. Reed’s Instagram, a follow-up is in progress. If you have Kindle Unlimited and are looking for a fairly quick read, look up “The Divine and the Cursed”. I am rating it ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.