Dark Curse (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 16)

While many people have had some issues with this latest entry in the Dark series, I personally thought it was fantastic. We finally find out some more information on what is going on with the Carpathian reproduction issue.
Many people mentioned the characters for this book, Nicolas and Lara. These are both interesting characters. They both have issues that will have to be worked through, not only in this book, but in future entries in the series. However, they are wonderful characters, and I can't wait to see how they continue to affect the war.

I've read many reviews in the past stating that this wasn't a great series because the books are all the same. And, before Feehan started really getting into the war with the vampires, I think this was true. For those that felt they were reading the same romance with different character names, this book will be appreciated. She really took this romance in a different direction, and I was thrilled to read it.
I can't wait for the next installment!

i have to admit i was a little wary after reading "dark possession" last year, but dark curse was everything and more! i feel as if she has given new life to the carpathian world, and after 19, 19 DARK novels people (wooh!) that is extraordinary!


**spoilers**
a few things that may annoy some people, all the scientific jargon in regards to what is happening to the carpathian women, the slight cliff hanger ending, the last one hundred pages or so are dedicated to the carpathian language..

inspite of these teensy things i cared for both lara and nicolas and i felt for them and for the carpathians as a whole (don't want to give too much away), yes this one is a tear jerker but such a great tear jerker...

i did not want the story to end and am very sad that we must wait another year for the next taste of the "dark" world


happy reading people!

I have been looking forward to Nicholas' story and getting the answers to so many of the problems facing their race. She also gave us several ideas as to what they will do in the future to ensure the survival of future lifemates. I do look forward to those. This book was better than "Dark Possession".

What I did not understand was how Natalya lost some of her mage skills, in this novel, yet was able to do so much in others even after she became Carpathian. Especially in the battle with Shadow Warriors.

I still hate the make-believe language that I have to ignore and skip to the next readable text. I wish she would quit taking up so much of the story creating a new language. I still do not have an interest in learning a language that does not exist.

For those of you who are fans of Feehan's Dark Series, you are already familiar with Lara, who escaped on the back of a dragon from the evil mage's cave. Flash forward and Lara is an adult who has spent a lifetime searching for the same cave in order to give her two aunts a decent burial. Reaching the village of the Carpathians, Lara is found by Nicolas De La Cruz, her lifemate. Nicholas is so close to turning vampire that he actually begins to feed on Lara before her voice brings him into the light. Lara and Nicholas begin to work out their differences and also begin helping to solve the low birth rate of the Carpathian women. Why mixed feelings?

Positive - A truly excellent hero. Even when Nicholas is doing things the reader doesn't approve of, Feehan still manages to create sympathy and empathy for her tortured hero. By the end of the book, Nicholas is a terrific lifemate and one you won't soon forget.

The mystery surrounding the Carpathian women's low birth rate is becoming clearer and clearer and the answers are intriguing and complex.

As Lara is a Dragonseeker mage, she uses various "rhyming" spells to work her magic. Some of them in the book are very descriptive, touching and very well done.

Negatives - Lara is a heroine that is too hard to like or to figure out. She is by turns insecure, confident, weak, strong, indulgent, selfless - the reader has a hard time figuring out her true nature. I realize that Feehan was trying to show that Lara was damaged emotionally as a child and is growing as the book goes along. However, the mixtures of emotions don't seem to ring true. At one point in the book, Lara tries to commit suicide. This was such a departure from the heroine's character that I was like, WTH? This is the same woman who escaped from a mage, became an adult, practiced her magic and went all over the world trying to find one ice cave. Someone that determined decides to throw it all in? I don't think so.

Feehan once again used the new Carpathian language which she introduced in Dark Demon. Her hero uses it constantly and the reader is forced to skim it, looking for the next English word to understand what he really said. It jars the reader from the story and makes it very frustrating to get a flow going - especially when you realize that it isn't really a true foreign language, but rather an imaginary one.

Feehan spent 32 pages at the end of the book on this so-called language to give translations to various words and phrases. I felt cheated and ripped off. Those 32 pages could have been used to write more to the story. At the end, I briefly considered taking the book back to the bookstore and asking for a return on my money.

So definitely mixed feelings about this book. I would recommend it to other fans of the Dark Series, but just be aware that along with a really good story are some serious flaws.

I read this all the way through the day I received it - wow, great entry in the Dark series! Nicolas has been a fave of mine since I read about him in Colby's book, so it was good to see him get his own story. Love Lara, too.

This must be the Summer for Heart-Wrenching Childhood Stories. First Acheron and now this. Fortunately, the emotionally difficult sections are shorter in Dark Curse than in Acheron, but still... it was a tough read for a little while, but it does let us see Lara's reasons for doing what she does. It also lets us see how Nicolas helps her cope and begin to move beyond it (after his being an *ss to begin with).

While I understand the dismay of another poster about the lack of a solid ending, for me the whole story opens up so many new possiblities in this series that I just can't reduce my rating over it. My only dismay is that we're getting just one book a year!

Dark Curse offers both classic Dark as well as a whole new horizon for the series. I'm excited about where CF is taking the series. Great "re-boot"!