What if Someone Placed a Curse on Mr. Darcy?

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Source: Gift from Publisher

TYPE OF NOVEL: Pride and Prejudice Variation Novella, Paranormal

THE PREMISE: Once upon a time there lived a beautiful and winsome love-child who felt unwanted by everyone in the world. After being banished and discarded from what she believed was her natural father and the home she loved, this young woman vowed to one day seek retribution. Years later, her terrible curse lives on with a missing gentleman, a decaying and crumbling estate, and tales of eerie illnesses and evil spirits spread throughout the land. What would it take to break such a curse….?

MY THOUGHTS: Ooh! Where is Catherine Morland? She would adore this gothic adventure! This was such a fascinating read and an interesting development of some tertiary characters. The premise is wonderfully imaginative – telling both the past events of Jessabelle Wickham’s childhood and the present day happenings of Elizabeth Bennet touring the Peak District with the Gardiners.

First and foremost, I loved how this story was told. Amy D’Orazio has some of her own cunning arts and she introduces elements of this story in such a way to inspire great astonishment and curiosity. The backstory and the reasons for the present-day curse were compelling, meticulously considered, and skillfully executed. Even with dark arts and incantations, it was a fitting and credible storyline. And the curse was masterful – causing misery of the acutest kind and making another feel the pain of her loneliness and understand the torture of all being stripped away.

Like myself, Catherine Morland would admire Elizabeth’s intrepidness and thirst for mystery in this tale. Even though Elizabeth has been repeatedly warned about this dangerous and neglected estate, she is too curious to not see it for herself. I loved witnessing her time exploring and her musings about all that she saw. Her reactions to all that she learned felt natural and true to character. And her experiences of bravely exploring a cursed estate and encountering its sad and harrowing history felt a little reminiscent of Belle in Beauty and the Beast. And along that same thread – we see Mr. Darcy trapped in the same way as the Beast – with just a small window into the outside world and being helpless to break the curse himself.

My only wish would be for us to have more time with Elizabeth and Darcy together. I loved the scenes they shared and the new path their relationship took, but their feelings came rather swift and strong. I know the constraints of this being a novella is probably the cause of the swiftness, but at the same time I wouldn’t have minded a little more gradual romantic development.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

✨ An enchanting and magical tale where the best weapons hatred, injustice, and revenge prove to be consideration, acceptance, and love.

😈  What a thrilling new villain – Jessabelle was brilliant! Even with her treachery, she inspired my sympathy.

📖  Another spellbinding and enthralling read by Amy D’Orazio – I hope she dips into her cunning arts again in the future!

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