Gorgeous photo by @rebireads!
Hey fairy fam!
It’s the final section, are you ready to find out how A Curse of Saints ends? I don’t know if I am…
Today we’re reading from Chapter 66 to the end of the book.
Grab a snack, get comfy and let’s read!
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for The Curse of Saints by Kate Dramis, from chapter 66 to the end of the book. Please only read on if you’ve finished The Curse of Saints!
-!SPOILERS!-
Aya wakes up in the middle of the desert! She had placed the knife in a spot that would not puncture her heart or lungs, just end the ritual. Very smart.
She heals her wound and sets off back to Rinnia to find Will…then she passes out again.
Aya wakes up (again) and this time she’s in a cave. With Will! HE’S ALIVE!
He comforts her as she tells him what happened and then he reveals that everything he has done has been to protect her. They finally kiss and almost get lost in the throes of passion but Aya is too weak and Will sets her down to rest and eat.
When they get back to Rinnia, Will takes them to see Lorna…who is apparently HIS MOTHER?
It turns out Lorna faked her death and fled to Trahir. She’s a Seer and a descendent of the line who foretold the prophecy of the Second Saint. Lorna’s vision showed a crack in the veil, it’s weakened so Kakos may be able to tear it down. Lorna thinks Gianna wants to call the gods down to get rid of the heretics again.
Lorna believes that Aya’s power could react to something more positive if she allowed it. She has fed/restricted it with her fear/darkness up to this point but there have been moments when it has been positive. Aya has light and dark within her but she can decide her essence, Lorna gives her her mother’s necklace to anchor her.
Will tells Aya to accept the match with Aidon because Aidon is light and he is dark. This doesn’t last long though. At the ball, both Aidon and Aya make their choices clear.
Will immediately wants to speak to Aya and apologise for his suggestion but he is stopped by Sion who tells him Dominic wants to speak to him as Viviane’s party has been attacked.
After dancing for ages, Aya goes in search of Will. Sion tells her he left and went to drink at taverns in town so she goes to her room to wait on his return. She realises she put a shield up when she was being attacked by the Athatis so Will wouldn’t feel her die. Now she finds it and drops it.
Josie turns up at Aya’s door and tells her that they have Will in a dungeon on charges of espionage.
Aya goes to rescue Will but Dominic enters the dungeon, closely followed by Aidon, and guards escorting Josie and Viviane. A beaten Natali is also brought in.
Dominic demands that Aya show her power and the room is filled with screams as he hurts Will and Viviane to motivate her. He reveals that he wants Aya to help him build Kakos’ army.
Dominic plans for Aya to give her power to Aidon, but first to Viviane to check if it is safe. Aya agrees to do it if they let Will go free and Will is taken to his room under guard until she co-operates.
Natali talks Aya through the ritual of transferring her power to Vi. When it is done, they immediately inject Aya so she can’t use her power. Vi survives and Natali confirms that the ritual has worked.
As a “parting gift” Dominic has Aya and Will put in the same dungeon to await death.
As they realise their fate, Aya tells Will to read her now that she has her shield down so he can finally know how she feels about him. They kiss and he proceeds to give her some “motivation” to fight their way out of this…
The next day the executions are to take place in the throne room. Dominic orders for Will to be killed first but Aidon disagrees and says Will should watch Aya’s execution. Aidon asks “Do you remember what you said to me about inner wounds?” before plunging the knife into the scar on Aya’s chest.
Aya pulls the knife out, pushing against the wall holding in her power as she bleeds out. She finally breaks the wall and light explodes from her.
Peter stabs Will in the stomach and Aya is distracted, trying to heal him, so she doesn’t see Dominic coming at her with another knife. Aidon advances on Dominic, catches a knife from his mum and plunges it into Dominic’s heart.
Aya and Aidon both try to heal Will but he’s healing too slowly. They heal him but his eyes are closed and he’s not breathing…is he dead?
No! He’s alive!
Aidon reveals that he is actually a good guy and had told Dominic about Aya’s power to gain his trust and get in on the plan. But he had no idea what Dominic really had planned and he struggled to go along with it and find a moment to intervene. He got Josie and Vi out and commanded Aya to “heal” when he stabbed her, so that she would also heal herself from the tonic.
Aya tells Aidon to tell Trahir and the troops the truth so that they will follow him. She says they must know that the Second Saint and Second War are here and choose to stand against the Dechairé or against the gods.
On the boat back to Tala, Will asks Aya to heal his oath scar. She manages to do so and they then both make a new bloodoath to protect each other.
The epilogue gives us one final, violent scene of Tova being interrogated (or tortured) by Gianna. The book closes as Tova continues to tell herself ‘she is safe, they are safe’.
Did you know Aidon was going to come good?
Do you have any theories for the sequel?
What did you think of the book overall?
That was such an explosive conclusion, I’m still reeling! I need the next book like yesterday…
Thank you all so much for joining us for another FairyLoot readalong. I hope you had as much fun as I did and we’ll see you very soon for the next one!
Love,
India
The ending of this book was SO GOOD!!! I was on the edge of my seat terrified in the best way. I feared for all of the characters.
Now, questions:
1. Did you know Aidon was going to come good?
I wasn’t sure! I HOPED he would because it didn’t make sense for Aidon to turn knowing his morals. But you never know and it would have been a MASSIVE betrayal.
2. Do you have any theories for the sequel?
I have no clue beyond thinking Tova is not going to be in a very good place. I expect we’ll learn some more things about how dodgy the Queen is (I’m sure she’ll try and blackmail Aya into doing something specific with her powers).
3. What did you think of the book overall?
5 star read!! This is one of my top reads of the year that took me by surprise. Thank you so much for picking it to be your May Adult book!
This book is so well written that I had my doubts about Aidon there for a bit. I was of course hoping he was going to come out good, but I wasn’t entirely sure because he played along so well while in the dungeons. But I was really glad that he turned out to be loyal to his friends and his kingdom.
I can’t say that I have any theories specifically for the sequel, but I’m sure we’ll see more of Gianna and learn of her motivations and scheming. I truly hope that Tova will be alright, she seemed like such a great character and such a good friend to Aya. I hope she will be able to assist in the coming war battling Kakos (and hopefully winning).
When I started reading this book I wasn’t sure how much I would like it because at first it was difficult to get into it. But after the first 50-60 pages I was hooked and it was very difficult to not read further. Even though I have been receiving Fairyloot’s book boxes for over a year now I have never participated in read alongs before so it was a bit of a challenge for me. I usually read books in either one sitting or in a few days. But I was glad to participate and also read others’ thoughts. It is definitely a 5 star read for me and I can’t wait for the sequel.
The last section of this book was a whirlwind for me! I made myself look a bit silly by announcing to my boyfriend that I’d always known there was something dodgy about Aidon and then backtracking ten minutes later by saying I knew he was good all along though! HAHA!
Honestly I had no idea he was good – I didn’t know what to think! I was truly surprised when he came into the dungeons with his uncle because he’d seemed so genuine throughout the book, and then I was relieved when it turns out it was all a plan!
I really don’t know what will happen next! I assume they need to work out whether Gianna is truly good or not, Aya will have to learn to use her powers and they’ll either try to stop the war or have to fight in it! I can’t wait to see what happens with Will and Aya though!
LOVED this book! It’s just overtaken The Foxglove King as my favourite read of 2023! It’s everything I want in a fantasy book with the affinities and deception – thank you so much Fairyloot for picking it as your monthly book! I am sooo excited for the next one and I’m keeping my fingers crossed you’ll do a matching edition!
I hated Aidon so much in that moment! I honestly didn’t know if he was going back to the good side just because he did a good job of portraying the loyal general to his uncle. I’m glad he figured out a way to stop it in the end, I’m shocked at what happened to the uncle though.
I have no idea what’s going to happen in the sequel, I’m scared of them going back to Tala. I know they’ll probably have to put up with Gianna’s manipulation, and find out what she really wants.
I’m so glad I picked up this book for the read along! I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. It was well written and had the best enemies to lovers I’ve read in a while.
1. Did you know Aidon was going to come good?
I certainly hoped so! I was so shocked when it seemed like he was the bad guy T_T
I couldn’t really believe it after all he did and how well he got along with Aya!
2. Do you have any theories for the sequel?
Well, it was certainly eventful how this book ended! The war will definitely be a big part of the sequel, as well as navigating with the queen who has her own agenda. I am also really curious to see what will become of Tova after all the torture
3. What did you think of the book overall?
I really liked it! It was written very well and in a way that made it so hard to put down. I loved the depth the characters had, their flaws and their growth and the worldbuilding was done really well and in a unique way
Finally got time to finish the book, and wow that last section was arguably the best for me. Very exciting. Action-packed. Will definitely won me over. Switching sides from Aidon to Will haha! One highlight moment for me was when Aidon’s mom threw the silver dagger to him so he could plunge it into the king. So badass of her!
You know I do have to say that this book has given me Shadow and Bone vibes the whole time. I think it’s mostly Aya being the second saint and having a ton of power. Then there’s the travel to the capital of a country and the palace, ships, etc. Maybe it’s the setting.
I’m getting bad vibes from the epilogue because Tola let slip about Will. Now Gianna doubts Will’s loyalty, so when Aya and Will’s ship lands in Tala…I bet they aren’t going to receive a warm welcome.
And the extra Fairyloot chapter? Just made me like Will even more now!
When it’s revealed that Aidon “betrayed” them, I did believe it for a second because I had thought he was good at first. But then I doubted it because everything he’s done so far just doesn’t line up for betrayal. So I suspected he would turn around again.
I think the sequel will deal with Gianna as a primary concern because now Aidon controls Trahir and that side is settled now. There probably will be a journey through the Midlands to gather info and spy on Kakos, if not an excursion into Kakos if they can. I hope the wolves get more time to shine in the second book! And I hope poor Tova gets released.
I agree with you. The ending was so explosive and I devoured it in one sitting lol. Makes me really want to find out what happens next! Will and Aya’s love really was devastating in how much they would do for each other. I’m worried they’ll be torn apart in the next book.
The last section of this book was a so much for me!! I hoping that Aidon was going to come out good, but I wasn’t entirely sure. I can’t say that I have any theories specifically for the sequel, but I’m sure we’ll see more of Gianna and learn of her motivations. When I started reading this book I wasn’t sure how much I would like it because at first it was difficult to get into it for all the world building there was. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. It was so well written!!
Did you know Aidon was going to come good?
I wasn’t sure, but I did have my suspicions that he might
Do you have any theories for the sequel?
Not really. Not sure I’ll even be picking it up unfortunately
What did you think of the book overall?
I couldn’t get into it. I was super excited for it and I was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, but sadly it just wasn’t to my tastes. I was bored and didn’t connect with any of the characters. But to look on the bright side: the fairyloot edition of it is very pretty.
Thank you for hosting this read along!
Did you know Aidon was going to come good?
—no! i didn’t trust him?
Do you have any theories for the sequel?
—not completely sure, but i will be tuning in!
What did you think of the book overall?
—overall, i thought it was great! a lot of political stuff mixed with some romance and an awesome magic system?
I was worried for Aidon for a hot second there! I had faith Josie would always support our girl Aya, but Aidon was a mystery to me. He always seemed loyal to his kingdom above all else. What was good for the kingdom was good for Aidon. And if Aya’s death was good for the kingdom… But I’m glad that he came around at the end and now the whole kingdom of Trahir will be on Aya’s side as the story continues!
I have very few theories for the next book! I doubt that Tova will make it out of prison, or if she does, she’ll be a very changed woman. I’m so worried for her! I am very much hoping we’ll learn more about this Milsaio place smack dab in the middle of the map. I’m super curious about that. I would also love to see more of the Athatis!
I really enjoyed this book! As a huge fan of Shadow and Bone, I adored the worldbuilding. In the acknowledgments, Kate Dramis mentions Leigh Bardugo as a huge inspiration to her, and it definitely shows. Kate’s world is reminiscent without being an identical copy, which I love! I’m still undecided if this will be a five star read for me as I have read so many incredible books this year, but I really did enjoy it. Thank you for hosting another readalong!