Lit Review: The Cursed Melodies by Connie Glynn

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★ ★ ½

I hate giving this such a low rating, and I knew I would be doing so very early on, but I had to be honest with myself and be critical of the book like I would with any other despite Connie being a long-time comfort creator of mine. It probably didn't help that an hour prior to picking this up I had just finished what ended up being my new favourite book of all time, so the letdown felt that much worse. I've aimed to be as neutral and unbiased as possible with this review despite my support for the creator that goes beyond that of your average author.

The book has such good bones. It's a wonderfully magical foundation. Unfortunately a lot of the writing lets it down. Sentences like "an action that caused the gold pocket watch at his breast to blink alluringly" and "on the table the plant practically throbbed"  kept pulling me out of the world and giving me HUH moments. Many of the descriptors felt forced and excessive in the way your writing ends up when you try too hard to show-not-tell.

This being marketed as YA hasn't really done it any favours, either. It reads as more of a middle-grade, which is absolutely fine, but I can definitely see this putting some people off if they go in to it with the fair assumption that it is a dark YA.

The magic system is very cool though could definitely do with being fleshed out more. More exposition and explanation for the magic system and the world in general would be a great improvement going forward in the series.

I liked the characters in the same comforting way I did with those of the Rosewood Chronicles, and I really appreciate a queer cast with no fanfare, it was just hard to form a true connection there with the rest of the book's downfalls.

I think this book has it's audience, (though I don't think I'm the demographic like the marketing led me to believe) and with some more editing and tightening Connie's writing could really flourish. Unfortunately I do feel the need to acknowledge that this feels like a case of Youtuber getting a book deal because they already have an audience, which it obviously is, but it was much more noticeable to me with this book than any of the Rosewood series, sadly. Where Rosewood knows it's scale and limits, this felt like it was reaching really high up and tumbling down every time.

I do plan to continue the series, and I hope it's only upwards from here! I hate being this harsh towards the work of an author that has brought me joy and comfort over the years, but I have to because I care, and lying to myself and others about the quality of the writing in this book is not the kind of thing I want to keep doing (it has happened more often than I'd like to admit).

I would recommend this as a 'baby's first fantasy with queer rep' kind of deal to a younger audience. Here's hoping the marketing becomes more reliable going forward, and I can be immersed in the coming entries without being such a negative dickhead lmao.