Beneath These Cursed Stars

Synopsis: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lexi Ryan comes a romantic fantasy in which a human princess armed with death’s kiss and a fae shifter on the run become unlikely allies when a mission to assassinate an evil king collides with a fatal prophecy. Princess Jasalyn has a secret. Armed with an enchanted ring that gives her death’s kiss, Jas has been sneaking away from the palace at night to assassinate her enemies. Shape-shifter Felicity needs a miracle. Fated to kill her magical father, she’s been using her unique ability to evade a fatal prophecy. When rumors of evil king Mordeus’s resurrection spread through the shadow court, Jasalyn decides to end him once and for all. Felicity agrees to take the form of the princess, allowing Jas to covertly hunt Mordeus—and starting Felicity on the path that could finally take her home. While Jasalyn teams up with the charming and handsome Kendrick, Felicity sets out to get closer to the Wild Fae king, Misha. Kendrick helps Jasalyn feel something other than anger for the first time in three years, and Misha makes Felicity wish for a world where she’s free to be her true self. Soon, the girls’ missions are at risk right alongside their hearts. The future of the human and fae realms hangs in the balance as fates intertwine. Between perilous tasks, grim secrets, and forbidden romances, Jasalyn and Felicity find that perhaps their stars are the most cursed of all. Cover: Once again a wonderful cover. I simply love the covers designed for this series. I loved it in These Hollow Vows and I love it in Beneath These Cursed Stars. And even though there are two series playing in the same world, I love that the Covers (and fonts) still match, and give it an intertwined feeling, which also fits perfectly with the stories! Writing Style: Since These Hollow Vows I am a big Lexi Ryan Fan! She writes beautifully and always manages to get me addicted to her characters and storytelling. Characters: I’m gonna be honest here (like always in my reviews): First I wasn’t sure about a new series with the focus on Brie’s sister. But I have to admit, she totally won me over. Jasalyn is so bad-ass while simultaneously fighting so many of her inner battles. I feel like she doesn’t even know how strong she is. She survived so much in the past. And after that ending she certainly still has many more fights to come, but if this book showed me anything, than that she is more than capable and definitely strong enough to endure and overcome those next chapters of her life. Seeing her slowly starting to heal felt like being overcome with strength to fight your own battles and never give up. I also enjoyed reading Felicity’s POV, especially when she is with Misha, who we already know (and love) from These Hollow Vows. She has learned how to hide behind different faces and lives, and I really hope for her that she can soon go back to being her true self, because that one is simply stunning and fearsome and strong in so many ways. This book was definitely full of strong women born to lead, they simply need to know that themselves. Plot: Lexi Ryan is a master of Romantasy mixed with strong female leads, sexy fae and great plot twists. Once again she created a plot difficult to let go of. Combined with awesome characters and a drama made for the screen, her books are impossible to put down. Be warned, that it has a cliffhanger, and I wish I wouldn’t have to wait what feels like an eternity to finally be able to read the next book. Conclusion: Have I mentioned how much I loved this book? NO? Well… I loved it. I won’t compare it to These Hollow Vows or These Twisted Bonds, because that is simply impossible, but if you haven’t read any of these three books, you really should. You could start with Beneath these cursed stars, but since it plays 3 years after the ending of These Twisted Bonds, I really recommend reading These Hollow Vows duology first, so you won’t get spoiled. Thank you to Leyi Ryan for the physical ARC. You made my day/month/year with the cute package. However, that did not influence my opinion on this great book in any way. Also thank you to NetGalley UK and Hodder & Stoughton for the eARC.