Of Thorns and Curses by Jesikah Sundin | Book Review
She was cursed at birth to marry him. He is cursed to never know her love. Rhoslyn Gautier refuses to accept her fate. All her life she believed she was nothing more than a poor merchant's daughter from Factory Row, not an elven princess in an arranged marriage. But when thrown to the wolves as punishment after challenging her queen, she becomes trapped with an aristocrat in an enchanted chateau who is half-monster by daylight and full monster by moonlight, an ugly, tormented man from an enemy realm she was bound to in faerie blood from her first breath. If she breaks their bonds, she will die. If she falls in love with him, she will die. But when a beautiful man appears in her dreams declaring that he, too, is a prisoner, Rhoslyn knows she must revolutionize more than a realm on the brink of civil war if she is to break their curse and set them free. A new adult fae fantasy spin on Beauty and the Beast, blending faerie magic and pagan ritual with a French Revolution inspired setting.
Plot Summary (spoiler-free)
Rhoslyn Gautier grew up believing she was a poor merchant’s daughter from Factory Row, and refuses to accept the fate she was actually born to: an elven princess in an arranged marriage, bound in faerie blood from her first breath to a man from an enemy realm. When she challenges her queen and is thrown to the wolves as punishment, she ends up trapped with Adalwolf Fentienne, an aristocrat in an enchanted chateau who is half-monster by day and full monster by moonlight, an ugly, tormented man carrying an old curse.
The rules of the bond are brutal: if she breaks it, she dies; if she falls in love with him, she dies. Then a beautiful man appears in her dreams, claiming that he too is a prisoner, and Rhoslyn realises that freeing herself and Adalwolf means revolutionising a realm already on the edge of civil war. This is a new adult fae fantasy spin on Beauty and the Beast, threaded with Little Red Riding Hood, faerie magic, and pagan ritual, set against a French Revolution-style backdrop. It is part of The Ealdspell Cycle and can be read on its own.
Character Development
Adalwolf is a prince torn between his humanity and the curse that turns him into a beast, and his arc is rich in psychological weight: the pull of duty against a desire for freedom, the sting of rejection, and the rage festering underneath. At its heart it is a story about his evolving bond with Rhoslyn as he learns to face the darker parts of himself and reach for redemption.
Rhoslyn is a genuinely strong, resilient heroine, low in status and personally burdened, and her empathy and toughness both come through as she moves from a hardscrabble life as a seamstress toward finding a place in the world and in herself. The inner tension between survival and trust drives the plot, especially once doubts about love and loyalty set in. Fayette, an early love interest for Adalwolf, turns out to play a far more complicated role, her fae origins and manipulations personifying the false promises of power. Dalbréath Kadelaryn is a mentor to Rhoslyn, connecting her to the wider political picture, and his relationship with her is protective and platonic, a deliberate contrast to the charged one with Adalwolf.
Themes
The transformation-and-redemption arc is the obvious frame, layered with moral complexity around war, identity, and self-worth, and Adalwolf’s fight with his curse is an outward version of the internal battle he wages with his anger and grief. The French Revolution setting keeps inequality and resistance in view, with Rhoslyn’s seamstress storyline in Factory Row carrying that thread. Love and treachery are set as counterpoints, with the couple’s trust constantly nudged from inside and out, so that love itself becomes a dangerous force.
Writing Style and Effectiveness
Sundin writes poetically and descriptively, weaving historical detail into the fantasy world without seams. The language is thick with symbolism drawn from nature and fae, mirroring the characters’ emotional and psychological states, and the pacing stays consistent, moving from atmosphere-building into high-tension action. Showing both protagonists’ internal strife from several angles builds closeness with them without losing the larger stakes.
Conclusion
Of Thorns and Curses reworks well-worn fairy tales and gives them the weight of history and real psychological acuity. The character development is the high point, along with the interplay between personal and political conflict, and Adalwolf and Rhoslyn’s growth is touching and nuanced, even if the story leans on tropes familiar to seasoned fantasy readers and occasionally feels predictable because of it. Where it really shines is in developing its themes of redemption and power through Sundin’s evocative prose. Readers who love A Court of Thorns and Roses or The Cruel Prince should find a lot here.
Evaluation
- Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
- Writing Style: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
- Characters: ★★★★★ (5/5)
- World-Building: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
- Spice Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5): the romance is charged but the on-page content is restrained.
Trigger warnings: a curse and forced faerie bond, an arranged marriage, war and civil unrest, class inequality, manipulation and false promises, rage and grief, references to a traumatic past.
Recommendation: for readers who want a fae fantasy Beauty and the Beast retelling with a historical setting, a genuinely tormented beast, a resilient working-class heroine, and political stakes as high as the romantic ones. Fans of Sarah J. Maas and Holly Black should try it.
