Early Review – To Clutch a Razor (Curse Bearer, Book 2) by Veronica Roth (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Length: 240 pages
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: September 16, 2025
ASIN: B0DQJ7PJSF
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Curse Bearer series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for review
Rating: 4/5 stars
“A funeral. A heist. A desperate mission.
When Dymitr is called back to the old country for the empty night, a funeral rite intended to keep evil at bay, it’s the perfect opportunity for him to get his hands on his family’s most guarded relic—a book of curses that could satisfy the debt he owes legendary witch Baba Jaga. But first he’ll have to survive a night with his dangerous, monster-hunting kin.
As the sun sets, the line between enemies and allies becomes razor-thin, and Dymitr’s new loyalties are pushed to their breaking point.
Family gatherings can be brutal. Dymitr’s might just be fatal.”
Series Info/Source: This is the 2nd book in the Curse Bearer series. I got a copy of this on ebook from NetGalley for review.
Thoughts: I had some of the same issues with this book that I had with the first book in the series. I do think this book had a more cohesive story and that characters were more engaging this time around. I continued to struggle with all the Russian names for the mythological monsters/characters; it would have been nice to have an index or key for that. I do like the uniqueness of the Russian mythology throughout the story.
Dymitr needs to get his sword back from Baba Jaga, it is a part of his soul and he is dying without it. The cost she demands is incredibly steep. When Dymitr is called back home because of a death in his family he needs to decide if he wants to risk the visit. His family doesn’t know what he has become, and his first task for Baba Jaga is to kill the one he loves from childhood. However, his childhood home also holds a book of curses that Dymitr could use to bargain down the cost of Baba Jaga’s demands. Nico has his own mission to go on and little does he know it entwines with Dymitr’s past.
We still jump between many POVs in this short book (Dymitr, Ana, Nico, and Baba Jaga) and while that works okay it also breaks up an already short book. I did enjoy all the action scenes and how fast-paced this was, but some of the action scenes could use a bit more polish because they were hard to visualize at times. I was much more engaged with Dymitr’s, Ana’s and Nico’s stories this time around. I think it helped that all the technicalities of the Knights and the “monsters” were explained in the first book.
I liked that we saw a lot of character growth from all of the characters in this book. The story is very dark and vicious in tone but has some dark humor throughout to lighten things up which I appreciated.
I am not sure if there will be more books in this series. Things are pretty wrapped up by the end of this book, but also left open for a potential new chapter in Dymitr’s life. If there are, I will definitely consider reading them because this series so far has gotten stronger as it has progressed.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. I thought this was better than the first book; the story felt more cohesive and the characters had more depth and growth. We learn a bit more about this shadowy world as well. The story is fast-paced and engaging too. I would still like to see some sort of index or key for all the Russian terms throughout. If there are future books in this series, I plan on picking them up.
