Cursed by Benedict Jacka – Review

Published: May 29, 2012

Publisher: Ace Books

Series: Alex Verus #2

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 304 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis:
Benedict Jacka’s acclaimed Alex Verus series continues with Cursed.

Since his second sight made him infamous for defeating powerful dark mages, Alex has been keeping his head down. But now he’s discovered the resurgence of a forbidden ritual. Someone is harvesting the life-force of magical creatures—destroying them in the process. And draining humans is next on the agenda. Hired to investigate, Alex realizes that not everyone on the Council wants him delving any deeper. Struggling to distinguish ally from enemy, he finds himself the target of those who would risk their own sanity for power…

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Is it terrible that the Alex Verus series seems like it’s going to be one of those series that I enjoy, but don’t have much to say about? I really like it. It perfectly satisfies my need for a good urban fantasy with plenty of magic flying about but I just don’t have much to talk about!

Cursed is definitely a little more complex in terms of plot than Fated was. Alex has started to make a name for himself, though he’s finding that might not be a great thing. Luna is now his apprentice, though they’re both still working out what that means for them and Luna isn’t progressing as quickly as she wishes. She’s also brought around some idiot guy who wants to learn more about magic and somehow ends up with the Monkey’s Paw – a dangerous magical artifact that keeps showing back up in Alex’s shop – and now Alex is trying to get him to give it up and keep Luna out of danger. The big plot point is that someone is draining non-human magical beings to harness their power and Arachne is in danger. Unsurprisingly, some of the less savory characters from Fated show up again here. There’s a good bit of action, especially toward the end of the book as this resolves in something of a bang and there’s even a DRAGON! 

The plot of this installment, though perhaps unnecessarily complex for such a short book, was entertaining. I like Alex and Luna, along with the side characters like Arachne and the wind spirit. I like the setting (who doesn’t like London?). I am finding that while entertaining in the immediate, they don’t leave a lasting impact and you know what? That’s okay. I’m reading books for entertainment and they don’t all need to stick with me and emotionally put me through the meat grinder. In fact, I’m starting to appreciate these lighter books more and more as I get older and just want a chill read! It doesn’t make for a very interesting review but I think that’s okay too. I’ll definitely be checking out the next book in the series once I’ve worked my way through a couple other audiobooks I have in my queue.