The Curse Keepers By Denise Grover Swank

The Curse Keepers by Denise Grover Swank (Book 1) 4 STARS

Synopsis--The wall between our world and that of vengeful spirits has protected humanity for more than 400 years. It’s about to come crashing down.

Ellie Lancaster has lived her whole life by the site of the mysterious Lost Colony of Roanoke, the Virginia settlement that vanished without a trace around 1590. Only the descendants of the two men who banished the spirits of an enemy tribe from the material realm know what really happened to the colony. Ellie is one of those descendants—a Curse Keeper. Her father took pains to teach her what he knew of the curse and the responsibilities of its guardians. He taught her that if the two Curse Keepers ever meet, the curse will be lifted, the gate will open, and the raging Native American spirits will be unleashed to seek their revenge.
Despite her father’s seriousness, Ellie has always taken the legend for a harmless fairy tale. Until she meets the darkly handsome, but downright infuriating, Collin Dailey and realizes everything she was told is true. For when they meet, it’s like the air is sucked from the room. Collin’s presence is electrifying… and it’s not just attraction Ellie feels, but the inexorable pull toward her destiny. The prophecy is real, and now Ellie and Collin must battle supernatural forces and their loathing—and passion—for each other to set things right. The Curse Keepers are all that stand between the world and its destruction.

Overall-- Wow. I really enjoyed reading this book. Ms. Swank has done it again!!! Much like her Chosen Series, this first installment in a trilogy kept my interested, entertained and satisfied, all the way until the very end....where I then wish I could devour the next book in the trilogy, but its not out yet!!! I love the characters and their development. I love the plot and its twists and turns. I like that the story moved so easily and fluidly, without the feeling of something missing. The Curse Keepers is a book with a lot going on. Ellie and Collin meet and become quite entangled with one another, in more than one way, when their encounter unleashes the gods and spirits that have been locked away for 400 years, and together, they must shut the gates the hell. Unfortunately for this duo, its not that easy, and it has nothing to do with the spirits, most of the time, and much to do with each curse keeps sordid past. The adventure that these two go one is incredibly curious. I was uncertain when I started this book, but love the authors other series, so I thought Id give it a try, and boy am I glad I did. Loved this book and cant wait for the others!!



Cover --Pretty 

Rating: PG 13 
Overall: Mysterious adventurous, love, and finding oneself. 
Characters:  Ellie, Collin
Page Turner: Yes
Series Cont.? Yes
Book Boyfriend: None. 
Genre: New Adult 
Sex Scenes: Yes
Setting Virginia Area


Plot--The plot wasnt all that surprising, most of it is in the synopsis and is predictable. But thats not what makes a book good. And the setting and characters behind the plot are what makes this book good. The story premise of a curse and the missing Roanoke town are certainly intriguing, but thats not enough to grip someone. The beginning started off slow, but it built quite nicely. At first the internal dialogue felt all over the place and annoying. The voice of Ellie took some time to get used to, but, Swank wrote this perspective actually quite well, and by well I mean realistically. Sure there are flaws in the book, as I could find in every book, but sometimes there s more to a book than that. This book was gripping, it kept me glued to the pages (well my e-reader) and I was devouring it because of all the twists and turns. What was interesting was the added back story issues that Collin and Ellie ran into. Their tension, while obvious felt raw, and listening to the internal battle with Ellie later on was interesting. Collin and Ellie both had secrets which were bound to be released. These secrets are what get Collin and Ellie into plenty of interesting scenarios and cause great strain on their relationship. But thats to be expected in the first of three!  



Characters-- 

Ellie-- Ellie was different. She strikes me as pretty, and smart, but lacked drive and ambition. Frankly, she was also annoying. Her voice at first was plain frustrating. But, as I kept reading, I found her also quite interesting. Her internal voice had no filter, and her continual rationalization of the issues was really funny at times, and interesting. It also kept her (and me) sane. She was stubborn but loving, she was smart, and brave but also stupid and annoying. Her reactions, most of the time, were real to me, and the tension between her and Collin was quite palpable at times. At least to me. I enjoyed their banter and the tension ebb and flow. Overall I ended up kind of falling for Ellie as a character because she was in fact relatable, but what makes me like her, is the end, and how she "deals" with the fall out. 


Collin- Collin is the sexy bad ass jerk that Ellie is forced to work with to save humanity from the curse. He's hot, and he's the biggest jerk ever. He makes this VERY clear to Ellie. He doesnt like her, she doesnt like him. They need each other. But slowly, Collin seems to get into Ellies heart. Even though she shouldnt trust him and even though trouble follows him everywhere, and I really do mean everywhere, they somehow become connected. Their "love story" isnt sweet. Or romantic. Its not sad either. Their mission, tension and involvement with the curse leads them to fall for one another. But will it last? Collin made it clear he is a jerk, and cant be trusted, but he protects Ellie with his life, refusing to let ANYTHING happen to her. Yet he refuses to open up completely to her about his past. They have a tumultuous relationship with a lot of angst and at the end of the day Im left wondering, where can they go from here? How will this work....and yet I must know!!!
CANT WAIT FOR BOOK 2!!!!