Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon - HIGH

Of Curses and Kisses (St. Rosetta’s Academy, #1) by Sandhya Menon, 361 pages.  Simon Pulse (Simon and Schuster), 2020. $19.  

Content: Language: R (39 swears; 14 “f”); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: G.  

BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

Princess Jaya and her little sister, Isha, have been sent away to St. Rosetta’s Academy to disappear out of the public eye in India after Isha’s scandal. Isha and Jaya are under the impression that a rival family, the Emersons, were the ones to slander Isha in the press, so when Jaya realizes that the heir to the Emerson’s, Grey Emerson, is at her school, Jaya plots her revenge. Jaya and Grey are caught up in a long-standing curse between their families and they start to realize that maybe they should be allies, not enemies.  

I liked this twist on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.  I liked Jaya and she didn’t drag out her revenge, so the storyline moved at an enjoyable pace. I’m not sure why there are so many “f” words-it was a bit distracting and moved the book from advisable to optional. Grey is the perfect brooding love interest and the other minor characters and their drama were just as entertaining as the main story.  

Reviewer, C. Peterson