A Curse of Shadows and Ice (Deluxe Limited Edition) (The Shadowbound Series, 1)

Karen Kærbro Vestergaard

Another great read

"A different type of story by Catharina Maura, but just as well written as always. Loved the story and the charachters, even the castle 😊 ["

April 29, 2026 Verified Purchase

K Phillips

Fantastic retelling of Beauty and the Beast!

"A Curse of Shadow and Ice Felix and Arabella This book had all the feels. What a great retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The world building was great. The character growth was great, especially for Aarabella. She grew in confidence and self-worth, and in the end, she stood up for herself against her abusive father. There was character growth with Felix, too, but I wish the gap was bigger. I loved him and that he fell for her first. He was sexy and spicy at times, but I wish he was a bit more morally gray at the start. He was the Shadow Emperor with a darkness living in him, but I wish it hit a little harder. I love that he called her My Love or Beloved throughout, kinda staking his claim of her from the beginning, and as the story progressed, those words became true. I like the ending a lot and how it all came together and how Arabella was the hero of Felix's story instead of her being the damsel needing to have a prince rescue her, though I guess he was at the beginning. It was such a great quick read. Finished it in a day because I couldn't put it down! ["

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July 30, 2025 Verified Purchase

socks2004

Great and entertains read

"Once again Catarina Maura gave us a wonderful story. can’t wait for Raphael and Elaine’s story. ["

February 5, 2026 Verified Purchase

RedReviews

Good start... now I'm confused.

"Due to the ending I really wanted to give less than 3 starts but I fell in love with these characters. I'll start by saying, I haven't read any reviews so I have no influence from anyone's thoughts. Fairy tale retellings have never been an interest of mine but I read some synopsis and decided to give this book a chance. It started off great! I immediately fell in love with the main characters and even though Felix comes off as prickly, his protective nature makes him desirable from the start. There were parts I found repetitive (a characters thoughts would be rewritten a few paragraphs after they were just revealed) or there was some sudden hypocrisy (a character would say they definitely can't stay, they wont be touched, they won't love, etc but literally 2 paragraphs later they would suddenly say they don't want to go, they want more, they might just love, etc). I was able to overlook these issues because I was very interested in the plot and I loved these characters- they're written perfectly! Like I mentioned before, my problem was the ending. It was incredibly rushed! Written in just 1 or 2 pages and I had to reread them multiple times because I swore it had to be my fault that I must have missed something. The curse was resolved so suddenly and truly made no sense to me. There was a great plot twist but we were left with 0 explanation which made this finished book feel very incomplete. I'm so disappointed! I was looking forward to writing a review throughout the book but the ending ruined it for me. *Spoilers for those interested in my ending frustration* In the end, Arabella (whose future is that she will die upon returning to Eldiria) rushes to Fleix knowing the curse is about to take him over which could result in the end of the world. While she is on her way, Pythia (the seer) attempts to kill Felix because she wants the curse to die with him rather than him being consumed by it. Suddenly an apparition (which we can only assume is the same Arabella saw before leaving- "Palace" aka Felix's mother aka the woman who cursed the kingdom) appears to protect him and tells him to run because now he can truly die. Here's my 1st problem because if she created the curse, why did she just try to protect him?! So this made me wonder if perhaps, it was rumor and Pythia was the source after all but there's 0 explanation! The book ends without properly explaining (and I read this multiple times to make sure I didn't misread). Moving on, Arabella runs in and protects Felix which results in her being immediately stabbed and flames surrounding her. Felix is upset and gives in to the curse to kill Pythia. This all takes place in 1-2 short paragraphs. Then Arabella comes back to life, the vines fall from Felix, and the curse is magically broken due to true love. Buttttt reading through the book with their thoughts, it sure seemed to me that they already fell in love! The last few pages which could have been used for a more thorough ending were reserved for Raphael and Elain. For some reason he was the only shadow to lose his memory (surprise surprise, there's a book covering their love story) but Fleix forces their marriage. And that's the end. So rushed for what could have been a more complete, action packed ending for 2 of the most powerful sorcerers. ["

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September 24, 2022 Verified Purchase