I loved Katherine Macdonald’s Thief of Spring duology, so I was absolutely ready to pick up another book for hers. A Curse of Hope and Shadows kind of reminds me of a cross between Beauty and the Beast and Downton Abbey. The romance is sweet and slowburn, and the plot closely shadows the source fairy tale, but (and this is a personal preference) there wasn’t quite enough tension for me. Adeline and Dimitri fall pretty steadily for each other throughout, although at times, I feel like Adeline was a bit motherly toward Dimitri. But as per usual, Macdonald’s writing is gorgeous and her characters are both likable and showcase a lot of depth. I would totally recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet, character-driven Beauty and the Beast retelling.

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Thanks for reading!