A Curse of Breath and Blood was such a unique story. The political dynamics between each group were so interesting, and I loved seeing the character relationships evolve throughout the book. This is a multi-POV book, which I personally LOVE. Overall, I really liked the concept of the story.

Sometimes, the book moved too quickly and could have explored more character motivations; at times, character actions were conflicting. It also would have helped if more time was spent on world building. Sometimes, time would jump as characters took action, and it felt more like I was reading a recap of what happened vs. seeing the events unfold.

Honestly I read this a bit ago and have been saving my review until closer to its release! But I have frequently thought about it since finishing!

It was a super fast paced fun fantasy read! The world building was incredibly detailed which had me envisioning the whole thing! Which I find can sometimes be the hardest part of fantasy reads so that added so much for me! My only issue would be that there were a couple things I felt confused about or that it was missing and had me doubling back to see where I went wrong

Thank you for letting me read this as an ARC!
Ok so if I didn’t follow this author on instagram, I wouldn’t have thought this was their debut novel. The writing style is a bit different than what I feel like I normally read but I LOVE THAT. This was definitely a page turner, if I had more free time I would have finished this in a day easily but responsibilities get in the way of that

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (rounded up to 4)

I spent a lot of time while reading this ARC waiting to be hooked. That’s not to say there weren’t any intriguing moments within the story, there definitely were some high intensity moments but for some reason I never connected with it in a meaningful way and I really wanted to.

I think there was a lot happening politically in this book that went right over my head and drove me away from the glimpses of connection I was beginning to have with the characters. It just felt like two separate storylines were happening at once for me and I was constantly looking to tie them together in a way that made me root for the MC’s.

I rate this 3 stars because I really wanted to like it and also I think a lot of time and thought did go into these characters in the backend, but in my opinion it was a bit overambitious for the page length. The ending to me felt a little rushed as well. I know we were leading up to it the entire book but the way it was done in somewhat of a hurry on the last page made me feel like there wasn’t much depth to it or thought behind it. I really imagined that moment in my head to be a lot bigger and it seemed to just be a passing thing that was brushed over.

All of that being said, although I didn’t personally connect with this book, I definitely appreciate the level of writing and skill behind this story. I think K. W. Foster is a brilliant writer and I can tell that they are well versed in literature. I look forward to hopefully reading more of their works in the future and connecting with them in a way that I might not have this time around.

I am so incredibly honored to have received a copy of this book from the author. A Curse of Breath and Blood was an absolute masterpiece and it was everything I could have asked for in a book and more. If you love ACOTAR and Divine Rivals then this story is a must-read. In other words, I love this story so hard. I went through the entire roller-coaster ride of emotions and I fell in love with all of the characters and absolutely loved getting the multiple POVs throughout the story. Aelia was truly a character I felt so bad for. She has been through so much in her life and is just trying her best to redeem herself and fight for justice. I truly love her interactions with both love interests but I definitely am rooting for her to be with one of the guys in particular. I will not name who the guy is though because you have to read and find out. Lastly, that epilogue had me in absolute shock and had me dropping my kindle on the ground because I could not believe what happened. I now want to read book two immediately because I need answers and see what happens next.

I was fortunate to get this book as an ARC and I'm so thankful to have received this beautiful story.

This book shows us a dark fantasy world but with characters that bring out the light in the hardest times. The FMC goes through a personal journey of healing and mending relationships along the way. She learns to forgive and to ask for forgiveness, meanwhile getting her strength back to be able to fight for her loved ones.

The love triangle was done so perfectly, I was scared at first, but I understood the purpose of these MMCs.

With that ending I need the next book ASAP.

4.3 stars

I wanted to like this book, I really did. I tried real lot hard to push through the slow parts, but it was really hard to do so. The beginning was good, and the overall premise seems interesting and could possibly be developed more. Aelia is a super complicated character but she drove me absolutely nuts throughout the entire book.
I think that the overall premise of the book sounds really good! Just needs to be steadier pacing throughout the story.

Thank you for the eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.