Review: Wings Once Cursed & Bound by Piper J. Drake

Wings Once Cursed & Bound by Piper J. Drake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided both a print and audio ARC of this book via Netgalley.  

I really enjoyed this!  It has a huge cast of fantastical and mythical beings that work together to find magical artifacts.  This follows Peeraphan aka Punch on a magical adventure after she steps into the famous cursed "red shoes" from the Andersen fairy tale at dance practice.  Punch is able to resist the curse of the shoes for a time, but they begin to take a toll on her and no one is sure when she will break.  Enter the Dark Consortium and their representative Bennet, who not only wants to collect the shoes but is also interested in protecting Punch and help her explore her not quite human side.  Bennet agrees to help Punch break the curse of the shoes and in doing so he introduces her to a world filled with magic, supernatural artifacts, and beings she never knew existed.

I thought this was a fun take on a retelling mixing the Red Shoe fairy tale with a bit of urban fantasy. mythology/folklore, and some paranormal romance.  This sets up a solid foundation for the series and I'm excited to see where the author takes Punch and Bennet next.  There are quite a few side characters to keep track of, but the main focus is on Punch and Bennet.  I look forward to getting to know all of the characters more as the series develops as we only get to know them on a surface level.

This has some mild steamy scenes toward the end.  They aren't super graphic and detailed but they aren't closed door/fade to black either.  You certainly know what is going on.  I actually thought this book was fine for a YA audience until we got to those parts then it was definitely suited for the more mature/adult reader.  The romance between Punch and Bennet does develop kind of quickly, but that isn't uncommon in urban fantasy type of books.

I love anything with a mythology and folklore background and I hope to see more of Punch's kinnaree heritage explored and explained in the next book.  I haven't come across Thai myths previously and I'd really like to learn more about the kinnaree and the bird princess lore.  We get a bit of it in this book, but I hope the author delves more into it as Punch learns more about herself and her abilities as the series progresses.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to more books in the series!

View all my reviews