Review: Effective appetiser for "Sealed with a Curse"
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 7, 2013
"The Weird Girls" is an effective appetiser for the main meal "Sealed with a Curse". As a prequel novella as it introduces our four heroines, showcases their kick-ass capabilities and drives home their strong bond. The four girls' supernatural natures were the result of a curse that backfired. I would have loved to see them getting used to their powers but in this novella, they are fully functioning.The story is told from the point of view of Celia who is physically the strongest. Although she has the ability to morph into other creatures, the only one she can consistently call up is a tiger. This makes it hard to date, socialise with others etc as even regular humans recognise the predator in her. She may be a very capable fighter but she needs her sisters' love and support to survive. The sisters' powers do not fit neatly into a box as many of their skills overlap. Celia for instance can shift physically into a different location as well as into a tiger. The skills they possess are more fully explored in the first novel and make for interesting reading. Taren wields fire and lightning, Shayna can manipulate metal and she uses this particularly to fashion blades of swords, knives etc while Emme can heal people and use telekinesis.In this novella one Wird sister takes on a witch in a bathroom of all places and much like World War I things escalate on both sides until the Wird sisters are taking on an entire coven. Failure is not an option and Celia does everything she can to shield her sisters from any fighting. The novella is so short so I can't say too much more without spoiling the plot. I will say however that from the first few pages until the end there are great action scenes, snarky humour and a bit of angst thrown in.The whole point of a prequel novella is to drum up interest in the real thing. "The Weird Girls" comes up trumps if you measure it by that standard. Read this one before book 1 (unlike me) as the snack-sized appetiser won't hold you until 2 July 2013 when "A Cursed Embrace" comes out.