{Review} Cursed (The Guardian Chronicles) by Trakena Prevost

Posted by Melanie
Release Date: December 11th, 2014
Finished Date: March 27th, 2015 

Publishers: Evernight Teen
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Source: For Review
Format: Paperback

Pages: 400

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

Half-succubus Jazz Watkins spends her nights knee-deep in Chicago drug dens hunting Suecai—an evil kind of incubi and succubae who devour the souls of humans. But when a leader of the Suecai curses her, Jazz has to track him down. 

Either she kills him before the curse burns through her, or she’ll become a full-fledged, out of control, soul-sucking monster. 

She’s got a handful of weeks, absolutely no leads, and only her sexy best guy-friend, Khan, covering her back. But will the growing attraction she feels for Khan get in the way of her mission to save her own life?

The Review: Cursed was a really good read giving the reader a slightly different take on the subject of Succubi & Incubi.

As the synopsis tells us, Jazz Watkins is a half succubus and a warrior for her kind. She and her team go out at night, hunting the Suecai. The Suecai are the evil kind of their species and they take pleasure in sucking the souls out of unsuspecting humans, it is in the taking of the complete soul and killing the human that they become evil.

When hunting one night, Jazz has a second attempt at catching the leader of the Suecai but finds herself the one who is captured and then cursed. The curse will turn her into one of which she hunts so with the time she has left, she heads of to find the leader and kill him. Her best friend Kahn has her back as always and joins her on the quest and with time running out, it’s now or never for the attraction that simmers between them. One thing is for sure…Jazz will never be the same again.

I really enjoyed Cursed and thought it was great introduction to the series. Straight off we get two sides in the evil Suecai and the Dorcai that hunt them. As I mentioned earlier, this is a slightly different take on Succubi and Incubi – normally they gain energy by indulging in sexual activity but in this case they don’t.. although it does involve a kiss. Also, they drain the soul or chi in this and it is like a drug when first turning to Suecai so think more like soul/chi vampires where one side will devour you but the other will only take the necessary sip.

 Jazz has the potential to be an awesome kick ass character and in this you can see the warrior that she was starting to evolve into something else, we do see her at her best but also at her worst and throughout the story we will see what she is made of. The love connection comes by way of Khan, her best friend and member of her team who always has her back. I thought their chemistry and progression from friends to more was very natural and believable, they had some very sweet moments and I liked that Jazz’s predicament leant an urgency to the situation by making them both realise what they felt for each other and that time was of the essence. There was what seemed to be the beginnings of a love triangle and to be fair, I did feel the connection there too although Khan will always be my choice.

The storyline was good and I liked everything about it, the way Jazz was cursed was a great way to bring about the action because not only does it make her wanted by the Suecai but wanted by her own people for what she may become. She has a foot in both worlds now and must traverse both in order to come to grips with what has been done to her. I liked the use of magic in this and that it introduced another type of person into the mix, after all it was a wizard who performed the curse on Jazz and that is where she might find answers. The answers that she does find are a bit of a shock but she uses that for her benefit and a sort of plan B to her situation. The ultimate goal is always to find the Leader and kill him so they plan for that but again, plans don’t always follow the way they were laid and Jazz has some hard times ahead. The story was paced very well and full of everything a book of this genre should have – action, chases, fighting, enemies, plots, a race against time, magic and a nice dose of romance that makes this book a very enjoyable read and I will be looking out for the sequel. 

Thank you to Trakena Prevost for giving me the opportunity review this book in exchange for an honest review.