When eighteen-year-old Arianna is stolen from her family and sold into slavery, she spends months disguised as a half-breed Fae struggling against the devastations of a decade-long war. But she never expected to find herself at the mercy of her country's greatest enemy. There were some grammar errors. Although minor, they were frequent enough that this could be a turn off for other readers. The premise, world building and magic in this book are incredible! I really enjoyed all those aspects and seeing how the story unfurled! The writing and pacing I felt were good as well.

Also, why do they mention 5 countries if only 3 of them are going to be relevant. I know the world's wide and everything, but if I haven't seen them in a map I don't need to know they exist, and hearing abotu them will only be distracting. From award-winning author J.E. Reed comes a breathtaking new series full of curses, love, and survival. A queen in hiding. When eighteen-year-old Arianna is stolen from her family and sold into slavery, she spends months disguised as a half-breed Fae struggling against the devastations of a decade-long war. But she never expected to find herself at the mercy of her country’s greatest enemy. General Rion is ruthless and commanding. He relishes in his reputation as The Demon-a vile creature incapable of love or compassion. With a secret no one can know, Arianna strives to placate him while plotting her escape, but sometimes fate has other plans and rumors can’t always be trusted. She’ll have to make a choice. Kill the most feared male on the continent or stay and let a forbidden bond take root. But what will happen when he discovers her secret? The Divine and the Cursed by J.E. Reed – eBook Details This book includes some elemental magic being used in unexpected ways. Using sand to kill?!? Gruesome, but cool? Don’t know what that says about me but it’s definitely different! The book starts with a bang, the writing is easy to understand, the chapters are short, which just helps to pull you in and not let go. General Rion is ruthless and commanding. He relishes in his reputation as The Demon-a vile creature incapable of love or compassion. With a secret no one can know, Arianna strives to placate him while plotting her escape, but sometimes fate has other plans and rumors can't always be trusted.This was the first book I read from J.E Reed, but her writing captivated me so much, I promised myself I’ll read many more in the future! First things first, this is not my preferred genre, but I've really enjoyed The Chronopoint Chronicles so far, that when the author asked if I wanted to be an early reviewer for TDATC, of course, I jumped on it straight away. However, I have zero complaints about how the enemies-to-lovers part was handled and I find super refreshing how Rion and Arianna were virgins. It was very cute, especially considering that Rion's this big and strong and deadly soldier who you'd think has sex every other minute. When eighteen-year-old Arianna is stolen from her family and sold into slavery, she spends months disguised as a half-breed Fae struggling against the devastations of a decade-long war. But she never expected to find herself at the mercy of her country’s greatest enemy. I loved the development from Adrianna she learned to be a fighter and protected what was hers. I can’t wait to see how this story continues now that there is a new war on the rise.

Rion also has great character development. He learns how to repent and accept the pain he has inflicted. He believes he is a monster and lives his life to that standard. Later, with Arianna’s help, he sees that he wasn’t born a monster but rather his actions made him that. He makes amends with the many people he has hurt and sets off to be a better person. His trust issues did annoy me quite a lot though. After the first one, I couldn't not roll my eyes every time he explained what had happened to him. The story follows our reluctant heroine, Arianna, who, though pushed to safety by her friend in the middle of a war, was captured regardless and sold into slavery. For the last year and a half, Arianna has done whatever she could to survive, including keeping herself out of the males' beds, by disguising herself as a half-breed Fae. Enter Rion, The Demon, the most ruthless, most feared male in all of Alastriona whose vile, abhorrent magic was enough to condemn him from birth, who now has her life in his hands. The story was compelling and I really thought the idea was original in lots of ways and would read a series of it.

The writing style was dual pov first person which is my favourite format to read, so I loved that! And the writing, wow. I am an aspiring author myself and hope to one day write as good as name. First of all this series has a really fresh idea to it. It has a magic system that isn’t just a male fantasy lead with shadows and darkness. I thought the demons that Rion struggled with and the way they manifested into his character becoming the demon was really interesting. I thought the author did a good job of empathizing the fact that his trauma wasn’t instantly washed away but what was happening. The female main character also overthinks everything to the point where half the writing in a chapter is her worrying written down.

THANKFULLY, I'd add, because The Divine and the Cursed is actually avwell written and interesting little gem that will definitely surprise its reader. I must admit I found the romance a little boring. In some ways, the dynamic and the immeasurably melodramatic love they felt for each other, reminded me a lot of Twilight's Edward and Bella with their histrionic speeches. I guess we could say it's a very emotional relationship rather, than a physical one, and while I appreciated the way it was presented, I would have liked it to be a little less intense in its telling and a little more audacious in its showing. countries at war, 1 Queen in hiding” - This is the main plot of the book, but true to its name, the story is centered around Arianna and Rion, even more than the war itself, although that’s what shapes their relationship. It took me a little to convince myself to add it to my tbr, because, let's be honest, the current one doesn't do it justice and it almost made me wanna pull a Kaz Brekker on my own eyeballs.This was dark, twisted, addicting, magical, and romantic, all in one book that you’ll want to read cover to cover in as few sittings as possible. This takes the enemies to lovers/forbidden love trope to a whole new level. I love seeing new twists on popular tropes, and Reed kept me guessing at every turn. I was dying trying to figure out what was happening next, and whether Arianna would find her HEA. No spoilers, you’ll have to find out where she lands on your own! (And it may not be where you expect). Arianna is an amazing heroine, and you can’t help but fall in love with her, she’s strong, smart, and determined. I didn’t want to like Rion, but I’ll let you form your own opinion on him. Final note…we are getting a sequel…right?! I'm happy that so many other reviewers really enjoyed this read, but I do think comparing it as "the next" ACOTAR set it up for failure with readers coming in with those higher expectations. This is one of the most DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. When 18-year-old Arianna is stolen from her family and sold into slavery, she spends months disguised as a half-breed Fae struggling against the devastations of a decade-long war. But she never expected to find herself at the mercy of her country's greatest enemy.