3.5 ⭐️ A Cursed Son by Day Leitao was such a fun, addictive listen. Enemies to lovers? Check. Dream sharing with a mysterious, brooding fae prince? Double check. Forced proximity, elemental magic, and an arranged marriage neither party is thrilled about? Oh yeah, we’re in for a ride.

The story follows Astra, a royal decoy who has been trained to impersonate a princess. She’s smart, stubborn, and all too familiar with the dangers of court life. Then there’s Marlak, a fae prince with a curse, an attitude, and a knack for invading Astra’s dreams in ways that are definitely not G-rated. Their connection is immediate, filled with tension, banter, and that delicious push and pull dynamic that makes this trope so satisfying.

Now, let’s talk about Caitlin Kelly’s narration because she nails it. She brings Astra to life with just the right balance of wit and vulnerability, making it so easy to get sucked into her story. And Marlak? That deep, brooding energy? It works. The chemistry between them practically crackles through the audio, which makes those dream scenes even better. That said, Astra’s dialogue sometimes feels a little too adolescent, which makes certain moments less impactful. The narration also amplifies this at times. Kelly’s voice for Astra can lean a bit too childish, which doesn’t always match the stakes of the story.

Beyond that, some parts of the world building felt rushed. I would’ve loved even more time with the magic system and fae politics. While the romance and character dynamics were fun, the dialogue and pacing kept this from fully hitting the mark.

A solid fantasy romance with some great moments, but the writing and narration choices hold it back a bit. If you love broody fae, steamy dream-sharing tension, and fast-paced romance, it’s still worth a listen.

Thank you NetGalley and Sparkly Wave for the ARC

This was a really interesting and intriguing fantasy novel. I loved the dream aspect and how different the relationship between the FMC and MMC was in dreams contra reality. The elemental magic made for an interesting backdrop as well. I liked how well-developed and colorful the characters were. They had a good backstory that made me more curios about them and made me want to learn more about them. I also adore enemies to lovers so the romance was great.

I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review. I listened to the audiobook version.

A Cursed Son is a fast-paced romantasy, with great world building and unexpected plot twists!

I really enjoyed this book. I had a great time learning more about the fae world and relics.

One thing I will say about this novel is that it was so funny! I definitely laughed out loud a few times. Some of the characters' interactions together and thoughts were hilarious.

The ending really was so good! There were so many twists I really didn't see coming.

I would definitely recommend this book if you're looking for a face-paced, steamy fae romantasy! Can't wait to read 'A Traitor Sister' to find out what happens!

This book was an interesting concept. I liked the idea of the school and was fascinated by the royal "substitutes". I liked the FMC enough to power through the first part of the book which was slower paced. Once the pace picked up the book definitely became more enjoyable. I thought that the world building was well done. And I do love a good enemies to lovers story. The narrator did a good job of bringing the story to life which made it an easy listen.

I knew 40% in I was going to be obsessed with this series! I absolutely LOVE Astra & Marlak.
I saw another review saying this book was perfect for ACOTAR &A Court this Cruel and Lovel fans and I strongly agree!
Impatiently waiting for book 2! (:

Publisher's summary
In her dreams, he envelops her in love. In real life, he imprisons her in ice. Assassin, liar, impersonator—dreamer.
As a royal decoy, trained to replace the Krastel princess even in a political marriage, Astra’s life is not her own. With a duty like that, how can she dream about love?
And yet she knows she has a kindred soul. She can feel his presence every night, holding her in his arms, surrounding her with his warmth.
But ice-cold reality crashes in when Astra’s carriage is attacked by the Crystal Court’s disgraced prince. Banished for heinous crimes and armed with powerful stolen relics, he’s a wielder of mighty magic and can even infiltrate minds.
It turns out that he is the man in her dreams.
And this is about to get very, very awkward...

Thanks to NetGalley & Sparkly Wave for the ALC of this book!

A Cursed Son
By: Day Leitao
Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly
Publisher: Sparkly Wave
Series: Remnants of the Fallen Kingdom, Book 1
Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins

Omg!!!
Where to start? I hadn’t read the book so I wasn’t sure what to expect but I didn’t expect it to be so good and the end was mind blowing, I loved being so surprised
The narrator was amazing and did a great job, it was very clear and easy to understand, very good pace as well! The voices made were very very good. What an incredible performance!

📚 ⭐️⭐️.5
🎧 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶.5
I went into this with high hopes while the story is interesting. This reads like a YA book with some adult scenes. The story and the world are intriguing. Unfortunately, the execution fell a bit flat for me. The main characters being connected by dreams was an interesting aspect of this book. If not for the quality of the audiobook narration, I would have had a hard time finishing this book. The narrator did a great job creating a voice for every character and helped move the story along.

*I was honored to receive an ARC of this audiobook. This review is voluntary, and all opinions are my own.

Holy shoot, this was even better than I thought it would be. The description had me super intrigued and the cover I was instantly drawn to and clearly for good reason. This book had all the fantasy elements you want with elemental magic, political intrigue, great world building, as well as the romance elements we love like enemies to lovers, arranged marriage and the bannnnnterrrrr. Chef's kiss. That ending though... ouch. This was a really exciting first book in a new romantasy series and I am super excited to see where this goes now with book 2! The audio was very well done, and I really enjoyed is and easily followed along.

In her dreams, he’s her soulmate; in reality, her captor.

The tension was great and the ending got me guessing for what’s coming. The narrator did a great job at keeping the characters personalities distinguishable which was fun to listen to.

Thanks to NetGalley, Sparkly Wave and of course, Day Leitao, for creating this adventure.

A Cursed Son was such a pleasant surprise! From the very start, I was already thinking ahead to book two and how quickly I could get my hands on it.

While it follows a familiar fantasy/romantasy blueprint, it stands firmly on its own. I was completely invested in the two main characters and fascinated by the world-building, magic system, political intrigue, and dream dynamics. The push-and-pull between the FMC and MMC was compelling—I felt just as torn as they did, constantly questioning secrets and potential betrayals.

I experienced this as an audiobook and absolutely loved the narrators!

Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing, and Sparky Wave!

I received the ARC audio for this book, but it was already well after publication date. Either way, thank you to Day Leitao, NetGalley, and Sparkly Wave.

This book had me on the edge of my seat towards the end. Although it features a version of miscommunication that causes quite a bit of issues for the "couple", I did enjoy this story. Astra was pretty annoying most of the first half of the book, but she's a product of her upbringing. The MMC is *chefs kiss*!!

Astra is part of the royal guard and tasked with being a double for the princess. When she goes on her first "mission" it goes wrong, and she comes face to face with the evil fae prince. Her and the human prince she was traveling manage to escape unharmed. The Evil Fae prince comes to the castle and demands Astras as his wife. What happens after is a story about who to trust, lies, figuring out Astra's true self, and potentially falling in love.

I do see book 2 is out, and I am already queuing it into my TBR on my kindle. I know im not the best at reviews but this book kept me wanting to read more and made it's second book, jump to the top of my TBR to find out what happens next.

This was a really enjoyable fantasy!
There were several aspects that were really well done. I think my favorite thing about this one were the characters--almost all of them had flaws that made them real and relatable, and they also added an interesting element to the story. The lore was really cool-- I loved learning about all the different courts as well as the differences between the fae and the humans.
Watching Astra learn more about herself and her magic was really inspiring. She was a totally different character by the end of the book, and I'm so excited to see how she evolves in book 2!
Marlak is so cool! Seeing him slowly start to trust Astra was heartwarming, and it made the ending all the more soul crushing. Again, I am so excited to see how he evolves in book two!
I don't have much criticism for this one. For me, the audio book narrator read very slowly (but this is easily remedied by changing the speed). I also thought some of the lore and magic system could be more thoroughly explained, especially with the different types of stones and fae magic.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one, and I'd recommend it to fans of fantasy.

3.5⭐️

**Thank you to NetGalley and Sparkley Wave for the audiobook ARC**

Astra is a spare. A guard who is waiting to take the princess’s place at any time. When she gets the opportunity, she meets who she believes might be her kindred soul. One problem: he’s the enemy. Marlak, our enemy, decides she is better to be his wife than to share his secrets she fears she has glimpsed through shared dreams. Their sudden marriage places Astra in the world of the fae, and is forced to start to confront her own heritage and whether she wants to embrace her kindred soul.

This is an enemies to lovers and slow burn romance. Though we see several explicit scenes from their dreams, our actual love does not blossom til much much later. To be frank, it felt too long. It became tiring of the constant inner dialog of: do I love him? Should I? Does he actually hate me? It was exhausting. There seemed to be so much more that could have happened and could have happened in other ways had we addressed that issue sooner.

I enjoy the overall story and world. There is painted an intriguing story line and characters. Great character development! And I love the twist and cliffhanger at the end. It’s enough for me to want to know more. There’s great set up and potential for the next book. Would recommend, holding out that the next story has left of the “should I, shouldn’t I” debate.

Absolutely fantastic. World building was phenomenal and seems like it’s going to be a series which I’m very excited about. Very well written with super relatable characters. I was sucked in from the start and didn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop listening to the audiobook finishing it in 1 day. I loved it.

4.8 ⭐️Read! 🌶️🌶️ and half


Thank you to the Author and NetGalley for the opportunity of getting to be An arc reader for this.

I am a huge fantasy and romance lover so when I saw this, I knew I would absolutely love it. Plus it’s a magical world so what’s not the love about this!

It’s very fast pace. This is one of those stories where you think you know what’s going on for a good amount of time and then you don’t, out of nowhere things switch up on you and you know absolutely nothing. It kept me interested such as I was very excited to see where things went. It’s safe to say I wasn’t disappointed the ending alone left me wanting more.

you don’t get lost with the fantasy story or world building When it comes to
( A Cursed Son ) sometimes that can happen such as getting lost within the world-building and all the details to me it felt like it’s explained perfectly.

This is perfect for anyone who loves enemies to lovers. Fantasy and adventures in dreams

𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙯𝙮 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪.

Astra has trained from a young age to be a decoy and bodyguard for her kingdom's princess, ready at a moments notice to take her place. When she is passed over for assignment after assignment, she takes matters into her own hands to attend a wedding in the princess' stead, finally leaving the tower that has been her home for years. When her carriage is set upon in fae territory, she comes face to face with the disgraced Prince Marlak. Their meeting puts them on a wild path of arranged marriages, assassination attempts, mysterious magic and explicit dreams that feel too much like reality.

𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙛𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙚.”

Broody, dark, mysterious fae prince? Strong, sassy, hilarious female warrior? Tons of tension and banter and the most tortuous of slow burns? 10000% yes. Outside of the dreams, the book is more steamy than spicy, but my lord, the potential is there for book two. The cliffhanger left me absolutely salivating for book two, mainly for the MCs reunion, but also because I can just see Astra at the end of book one going, "Oh, I am going to kick. His. Ass." and I'm here for that energy.

“𝙄’𝙢 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙯𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙤.”

I cannot tell you how much I loved this story. From the very beginning it sucks you in and doesn’t let go. Both characters are great. While Astra not always confident in herself and I wanted to reach into the book and shake her a few times but she always figures it out. It’s just part of her but I loved her. And Marlak is amazing! So so amazing. And listen when I say this book leaves us on a massive cliffhanger I swear my jaw was dropped.
The Narrator for the audiobook is perfection. I hope they continue to use her for the whole series.

An absolutely fantastic book! I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook. I really liked Caitlin Kelly's narration as I found her voice very pleasant and it was very easy to follow the story even for me as a non-native English speaker. The story itself is a wonderfully written enemies to lovers fantasy romance with fae, elemental magic, an arranged marriage. The book had me under its spell from the very beginning and was so captivating I couldn't put it down. I became very fond of Astra and Marlak, but also of some of the other characters. It is a slow burn romance with good banter. After that cliffhanger at the end, I can't wait to read the next book!

Thanks to Day Leitao and NetGalley for letting me listen this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook for A Cursed Son. I am generally not one to DNF a book but I genuinely can not bring myself to get past chapter 3. I love fantasy books and read plenty of them, but this one is just not for me. The world building prior to the fmc being kidnapped by the disgraced prince is so unbelievably minimal. I just couldn't keep going I'm so sorry.

I got this ARC from Netgalley and the author and am grateful for the opportunity to review. I listened on audiobook. Narrator did a good job. Astra is a girl who works for the king as one of the "guards for the Princess." She has been trained to kill, be a decoy and has no real life. She dreams of kindred soul and these dreams are spicy but also filled with so much love. Then she meets him and he's got an awful reputation and ends up forcing a marriage. This is an enemies to lovers, lots of banter, magic, fae worlds and so much more.
I enjoyed this book a lot. Found myself really wanting to listen anytime I could. Most of the book is a lot of inner monologue of Astra. Some may find it a lot and annoying, but she is very young and has a very sheltered life so it's expected. I enjoyed Astra's journey to learn to start trusting more, believing in love, and despite what people have said about her kind she is kind, but strong. Marlak is awesome. He's kind and there is so much more than what people say. This is a good lesson on don't listen to rumors or believe everything you hear. I enjoyed the elemental magic and even a unicorn. Wish there was more about different courts and background of them both. The ending was sad and tense and a cliffhanger but now I can't wait for book 2!