Your rating:
From the author of The Wicked Bargain comes a high-stakes race to defeat a curse designed to kill about a teen demon who wants to be human, a boy cursed to die young, and the murderous island destined to bury them both. Dami is a demon determined to cancel every deal they've ever made in order to tether their soul to earth and become human again. There's just one person standing in their way: Silas. An irresistibly (and stubborn) cute boy cursed to die young, except for the deal with Dami that is keeping him alive. If they cancel the deal, Silas is dead. Unless... they can destroy the curse that has plagued Silas's family for generations. But to do so, Dami and Silas are going to have to work together. That is, if the curse doesn't kill them first. . . .
No posts yet
Kick off the convo with a theory, question, musing, or update
Your rating:
0**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**
Gabe Cole Novoa returns to the world of The Wicked Bargain with The Diablo's Curse. Readers follow genderfluid demonio Dami as they navigate the challenge of resolving all of their deals so they can experience a human life. They've resolved every deal except their deal with Silas Cain. Silas won't break their deal without Dami's help. Silas just happens to have a generational curse tied to the treasure of Captain Kidd and needs Dami's help to find it.
I was so happy to learn that Novoa was following up with Dami's book. Dami was a favorite character in The Wicked Bargain, so it was a joy to follow them this time. While this book does take place in the same world as The Wicked Bargain, I think it would be more accurate to call it a companion novel rather than a direct sequel. Certainly, a reader will get the most out of reading the books in publication order and this book comes after Bargain in the timeline, but a reader could start with The Diablo's Curse with no real harm done.
Everything I liked about The Wicked Bargain holds true for this book as well. I loved the representations of gender identity not only in Dami but also in Marisol. I loved that both characters were gendered correctly by everyone in the book, even in Spanish, where the choice to use the neutral "hije" was made for Dami. Again, the inclusion of untranslated Spanish was natural and fluid. I understood with no issues and no translation app despite lack of fluency.
This is now my third book by Novoa (including Most Ardently) and I really enjoy his style. Novoa keeps the pace of the book steadily moving forward and handles each character with care. He also includes romance tastefully and with respect to where it fits in the plotline at a level suitable for his target demographic. After I read The Wicked Bargain, I said Novoa would be an author to watch and I absolutely stand by that.
I look forward to reading anything Novoa writes in the future and happily recommend this and his other books to any interested party.
0
© 2024 Pagebound