Audiobook Review – Cursed Luck (Cursed Luck, Book 1) by Kelley Armstrong, Narrated by Carly Robins (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: 12 hours and 20 minutes
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Release Date: May 04, 2021
ASIN: B08YPDJ7LG
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Cursed Luck series
Source: Borrowed Audiobook from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Kennedy Bennett comes from a long line of curse weavers. For centuries, her family has plied their trade in Unstable, Massachusetts, an unconventional small town that’s welcomed paranormal practitioners since the dawn of spiritualism. Kennedy has recently struck out on her own, opening an antiques shop in Boston, where her specialty is uncursing and reselling hexed objects.
Then Aiden Connolly walks into her life with an offer she really should refuse. The scion of a wealthy family of luck workers, Aiden has a scheme to get his hands on the most famous cursed object of all: the mythical Necklace of Harmonia. He’s not the only one after the necklace, though. And he’s not the only one looking for a curse weaver to fix it. Kennedy’s sisters are kidnapped, and she finds herself plunged into the underbelly of the magical world where even Aiden is in over his head.”
Series Info/Source: This is the 12th book in the Incryptid series. I got a copy of this as an ebook through Netgalley to review.
Thoughts: I enjoyed this. It is a well done paranormal read, nothing super special here but a solid story and intriguing characters. I liked that the characters’ magic was based in Greek lore and dealt with the Greek gods, this was a fun spin on the paranormal genre.
The story follows Kennedy Bennet who runs an antique shop; she is also secretly a curse worker. When her sisters get kidnapped and she is confronted with a man named Aiden Connolly about a curse-working job, she thinks the two events are definitely related. Aiden is trying to get his hands on a mythical cursed necklace and he needs Kennedy to help remove the curse. However, he didn’t realize what a tight bond Kennedy has with her sisters, or how deep he was getting into the underbelly of the magical world.
The characters here were decent. Kennedy is kind of the wild child of the sisters but she’s not stupid just rash (as so many UF heroines are). Aiden is a very proper and buttoned up business man. The two form an unlikely partnership and their relationship reminded me a lot of the relationship that Gabriel and Olivia have in the Cansville series. Kennedy has a very tight bond with her sisters and has tried to stay out of the magical world as much as she can.
I really loved the fact that all the special powers in this book are tied back to mythical Greek deities; it was fun to see how various magical aspects related to Greek mythology. The story itself is a blend of mystery and investigative aspects. Kennedy is trying to rescue her sisters and solve the mystery behind this cursed necklace. We do get into some magical politics as well.
I listened to this on audiobook and it was well done. The narrator sounds exactly how I imagine Kennedy would and does an excellent job with emotion and other characters’ voices as well.
My Summary (4/5): Overall this is a quick and simple read, there are some twists and turns to the plot that were entertaining enough. However, this is very typical paranormal/UF fare. There is a bit of romance in here but not much, this is definitely slow burn. If you are looking for a fun, well-written paranormal read you might find this entertaining. I enjoyed it but didn’t love it. I am not sure if I will continue with the series or not at this point.
