With the secret of her divine heritage revealed, Freya finds herself on a path that could see thousands of lives lost to the magic in her blood. Desperate to avoid this dark fate, she risks an alliance with Skaland's greatest enemy to seek answers from the seer who foretold her future - the same seer who sent Bjorn to kill her.
While Freya still seethes with rage over Bjorn's betrayal, the blood oaths that bind her demand that she keep him close as she hunts for a way to avert the looming war. Her magic draws her to the front lines of an old enmity, embroiling her with Nordeland's Unfated - children of the gods who serve the king she was raised to fear. The same king who, unlike Bjorn, is now willing to fight at her back. For despite the desire that burns hot between Bjorn and Freya, his growing distrust of her chosen path threatens to drag them further apart.
As war approaches, gods and mortals must choose their weapons. Yet the fiercest battle will be the one Freya wages within herself. With the magic of two goddesses burning in her veins, she must weave the threads of destiny to decide her own fate:
Will she be the shield that protects her people or the curse that destroys them?
Genre: fantasy
Publication date: February 2024
Mature content: yes
Review: A Curse Carved in Bone is book two in the Saga of the Unfated series and in terms of plot closely follows book 1 (A Fate Inked in Blood). It's not meant to be read as a stand alone.
When I read A Fate Inked in Blood I enjoyed the originality of the plot but had some concerns about the characters, especially Freya. In book 2, those concerns increased even more. Freya is inconsistent and inconstant, continually saying that she will never use her powers again and then obviously failing to follow through. Same thing happens in her relationship with Bjorn: one minute she hates him, the next one she's thinking about forgiving him, and then the circle restarts. Bjorn deserves extra points for loving her so unconditionally, because she's really not an easy person under any perspective.
Also, the plot complicates so much that becomes unrealistic (or as unrealistic as a book full of magic and Norse mythology can be). There are lots of twists and turns, yes, but each of them is more unbelievable that the previous. Overall, the story is well crafted, but sometimes too much is just that - too much.
This is a book I read because I wanted to know the end of Freya and Bjorn's story and the previous book had stopped at a cliffhanger, but not one I would actively recommend. To be honest, I much prefer the Bridge Kingdom series, by the same author, than this one.
Happy readings!
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