Review: Born Upon a Curse by M. Kane

Born Upon a Curse: The Darkness Within (The Cost of Magic, Book #1)

by M. Dane

Release Date: May 1st, 2024

2024 Independently Published

ASIN: B0CTJH7821

ISBN: 978-0645520989

Genre: Fiction / Fantasy / YA

Source: Review copy from author

3 / 5 Stars

Summary

When a handsome stranger reveals she’s not an ordinary nineteen-year-old, but a demon, everything she thought she knew about herself is turned on its head. 

After an elemental battle to secure her passage, Alina steps into Astaroth Academy, a prestigious school for demons. Here, Alina seeks the academy’s arcane knowledge, hoping to permanently silence Machina once and for all.

But a brazen other self isn’t her only concern. Aran May, the brooding captain of the Flag Fall team, is as alluring as he is untouchable. As their forbidden desire intensifies, Alina uncovers a sinister plot that threatens not only her stay at the academy but her very life. 

My Thoughts

Born Upon a Curse is an interesting read and overall, I rather enjoyed it. That does not mean that I didn't have issues with the plot and character development, but there was enough to keep me engaged and interested in the story and the characters. I particularly liked Alina's inner conflict with Machina, what she though it was, and what it actually meant. It was a bit of a twist I wasn't expecting and I was rather intrigued by the concept.

First of all, Alina. She is the only character I could honestly say got some character development in this story.  While I didn't necessarily like her all the time, and I didn't care for how she treated people at times, I did like her growing realization that the reason she has a lot of problems is because of her own behaviour and attitude. It totally turns me off when an author places all the blame on others for one's own actions, and while this did happen at times, Alina's friends weren't so complacent with her and let her know when she was a problem. To be honest, I don't think it went deep enough as Alina could be horrible at times and deserved a lot of what she got.  When she realized she wasn't necessarily suffering from associative disorder, I would think the mental games that would play on you would be difficult, especially when you believed one thing all your life only to be told it was something completely different. When she asked her friend to help her with her problem, I definitely understood where she was coming from, but being so new to magic and all it entailed, perhaps doing some more research yourself and making sure everyone would be safe should be your main concern. Unfortunately, Alina acted very selfishly quite often, getting people around her hurt or killed.  

The other characters were quite cliched, including the love interest. I wish more time had been spent developing some of the secondary characters, but except for Raven and Oliver, I didn't really develop any empathy for any of them, even her best friend CJ. I actually thought the author treated CJ terribly in this book, having her party and seem only interested in boys, so when an incident happened, I could see why Alina reacted the way she did. Maybe develop CJ's character instead and the whole thing would be more satisfactory than it was. 

Now the love interest. Not a fan AT ALL And why, for the love of whatever, when Alina is first escorted to the chateau, would a teacher take her to a male's room for her to shower and get ready for the selection, or whatever it was called.  Honestly, there would be dozens of FEMALE rooms for her to do so and be more comfortable. That whole scene left a bad taste in my mouth.  And naturally, what happened next was so predictable. Enter the....gasp....girlfriend.  Let's just say I wasn't a fan of the romance and the book would have been fine without it. I should probably mention that I am not a fan on insta-lust either. Let's just leave it there.

The plot itself though, was fine. While a bit slower at the beginning, I thought it was interesting to learn about the new world and the academy as well as the people.  Yes, it had similiar feeling to Harry Potter, but so many boarding school books that I have read, so nothing new there. I even loved the game they played.  What I didn't like was the constant parties and alcohol sessions. And where were the supervisors? Some of these kids were 12 years old.  And it was constant. Play a game, have a couple of beers. Go to class, have some beers. Win a game, have some alcohol. Have a bad day, drown your sorrows in alcohol. Alcohol everywhere. Even the teachers show up drunk, smoking cigarettes. What? 

Verdict

Born Upon a Curse had a lot of good things going for it, things that I hope the author will continue to focus on in the next book. There was some interesting world building, even if it is only in the infancy stages, and I would love to learn more about the other cities and people that inhabit the world.  And while the ending was satisfactory, there are definitely a lot of threads that need further development in the next book. I am still waiting to find out exactly why all the demons want Alina and there were some cryptic allegations made during the battle that made me curious enough to want to read the next book it is released. If you enjoy books about demons, then this book may be for you.