Garden of the Cursed

Starred review from April 24, 2023
Pool (the Age of Darkness trilogy) fuses fantasy, mystery, and romance in this transfixing duology opener set in Caraza City, where spellcraft knowledge is regulated by the politically powerful Five Families. Because of her mother’s station as the right hand of a Five Families patriarch, Marlow Briggs leads a privileged life learning spellcraft alongside the families’ young elites. After her mother vanishes, Marlow, now 17, dwells in the gang-run Marshes and works as a cursebreaker, seeking out and destroying the sources of hexes. When Five Families scion Adrius Falcrest, 18, asks Marlow for help with breaking a dangerous curse, she hesitates. Though Adrius and Marlow were once friends bordering on more, he publicly rebuffed her, breaking Marlow’s heart. But regaining access to the Five Families would allow Marlow to investigate her mother’s disappearance. Posing as Adrius’s girlfriend to keep their agreement—and her snooping—discreet, Marlow swallows her pride and dives back in to the affluent world that once rejected her. High-stakes action and bureaucratic intrigue abound, but it’s Marlow and Adrius’s charged relationship that keep tensions elevated, continuously knocking confident Marlow off-kilter. Sumptuous worldbuilding and fully realized, intersectionally diverse characters further enhance this enticing tale. Ages 14–up. Agents: Alexandra Machinist and Hillary Jacobson, ICM Partners.

May 1, 2023
Grades 9-12 Marlow Briggs is a cursebreaker: like a magical detective, she seeks out curses and the people who buy and cast them. She frees the targets from the harmful magic--for a fee, of course. A year ago, her mother disappeared, and along with her, Marlow's life with the rich and powerful. When her ex-friend, heir Adrius Falcrest, seeks out her services, Marlow is drawn back into the throngs of the richest and most fashionable people once more. Worse, she has to pretend to date Adrius, whom she used to crush on, in order to get close to solving the mystery of an ancient, outlawed curse. But it's worth it if she can figure out the truth behind her mother's disappearance, too. The mechanics of cursing (each comes from a card, powered by stolen memories and body parts, run through spell shops that often act as pawn shops) adds intriguing layers to the world. Comparisons to Veronica Mars are inevitable but apt. This new series starter from Morris finalist Pool (There Will Come a Darkness, 2019) is recommended for any library.

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June 1, 2023
A resourceful cursebreaker sets out to investigate a curse placed on an old friend and encounters clues to her mother's disappearance. In the city of Caraza, the Five Families hold the power and the spellcrafting knowledge that turns the wheels of their gilded society. Seventeen-year-old Marlow Briggs used to be in the midst of it all in the exclusive Evergarden neighborhood, but since her mother's mysterious disappearance the year before, she has turned her skills in cursebreaking into a job in order to survive. When Adrius, an old estranged friend and the heir and scion of the Falcrest family, seeks Marlow's help to break the curse he is under--a Compulsion curse from a spell book that was supposedly destroyed centuries ago--she finds herself back in high society, pretending to be in a romantic relationship with Adrius in order to carry out her investigation from within. Marlow eventually learns that her mother's disappearance, Adrius' curse, and the very foundation of magic in their world are connected--with unexpected consequences. This first entry in a duology sees its main character navigate the deadly confluence of magic and power. The story blends creative worldbuilding elements, such as its magic system based on spellcards, with beloved tropes, like the charming fake dating between Adrius and Marlow, within a dystopian world of haves and have-nots. A range of interesting secondary characters are a bonus. Main characters are assumed White. Delightfully intriguing. (Fantasy mystery. 14-18)

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December 15, 2023

Gr 9 Up-A romantic high fantasy for fans of Chloe Gong's These Violent Delights and Shelby Mahurin's Serpent & Dove. In Caraza, spellcraft is controlled by an oligarchy called the Five Families. Once, Marlow had access to the rich and powerful, learning spellcraft alongside the children of the Five Families. When her mother disappeared, so did Marlow's easy life. When her ex-friend Adrius Falcrest, an heir of the Five Families, comes to her years later for help breaking a curse, Marlow finds herself on his arm, pretending to be his girlfriend to keep the investigation discreet. Adrius is her ticket back into the Five Families' sphere of influence where she can find out what happened to her mother, but now she's playing at the life she might have had if Adrius hadn't rejected her all those years ago. Pool has crafted complex, intersectionally diverse characters who propel the plot and worldbuilding to higher and higher stakes. Curses are cast through cards, which are powered by sacrificing memories (among other things), and Marlow's detective work invites readers to examine the layers of social, economic, and magical worldbuilding at play. The romantic tension between Marlow and Adrius is top-tier, as Marlow puts aside her pride and pursues her goals with ambition. VERDICT Romantic and adrenaline-inducing, with a mystery that will have readers back for the sequel. Recommended for general purchase.-Emmy Neal

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