Review of The Seer's Curse
Posted: 23 Jun 2025, 21:26
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Seer's Curse" by A.K. Nikole.]
Are you a teenager, young adult, or older person who is young in spirit? Do you enjoy romantic stories that give more emphasis to the emotional and moral aspects of love than the physical descriptions of lust? Do magic, Gaelic witch traditions, herbal remedies, midwifery, and greenhouse gardening interest you? If you answered yes to these questions, The Seer’s Curse by A. K. Nikole is a good book for you.
This is a story about a girl named Perrone whose father is the town’s keeper. Keepers have the task of finding witches and jailing them. Just before she turns 17, Perrone discovers that she may be a witch, and this possibility could change her life forever, bring disgrace to her father and family, and put her in harm’s way. She also learns that she is part of a family curse that condemns the people in her land to ongoing cold weather. The Oak King, who provides the warmer spring and summer seasons, will be overthrown by his brother, the Holly King, who is responsible for the miserably cold fall and winter seasons for the next 300 years. Destiny pulls Perrone into a world where she is a seer, has magical powers, healing powers, and a superior knowledge of botany.
Perrone, her daughter, granddaughter, great-granddaughter, and great-great-granddaughter must fulfill the same prophecy while maintaining pure bloodlines to allow the Oak King’s return. Until then, she must create and promote greenhouse gardening so that the people in her community can survive. Additionally, all of the matriarchs must marry and bear children with Elian men chosen by their fathers to keep the bloodlines pure.
These arranged marriages can be seen as being oppressive, but each woman has the choice to opt out if they do not like the mate that is chosen for them. The author emphasizes the importance of consent, respectful courtship, reciprocal empathy between the couple, and love over lust. The viewpoints of the women and their mates are presented by alternating their first-person narration in each chapter and through the use of dialogue.
This story is about a community of witches that is doing its best to survive the curse of the Holly King. The young seers of this family and their potential husbands must adhere to destiny and marriage rituals that safeguard them from the Holly King’s desire to destroy their pure bloodlines.
I enjoyed the explanations of the uses for different herbs and the procedures used by midwives to help distressed mothers giving birth. I liked the emphasis given to the utility of greenhouses in solving problematic climate conditions. I commend the author for drawing a parallel between the necessity of respect shared by lovers and the importance of controlling magic—harm is avoided in both cases.
I found the courtship before each marriage to be repetitive. The five generations of women pretty much had the same thoughts. Their potential husbands did too—I found this to be monotonous. Additionally, the story would benefit from a round of professional editing—I came across many grammar errors.
For the reasons stated above, I gave this book a rating of 3 out of 5 stars.
******
The Seer's Curse
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Are you a teenager, young adult, or older person who is young in spirit? Do you enjoy romantic stories that give more emphasis to the emotional and moral aspects of love than the physical descriptions of lust? Do magic, Gaelic witch traditions, herbal remedies, midwifery, and greenhouse gardening interest you? If you answered yes to these questions, The Seer’s Curse by A. K. Nikole is a good book for you.
This is a story about a girl named Perrone whose father is the town’s keeper. Keepers have the task of finding witches and jailing them. Just before she turns 17, Perrone discovers that she may be a witch, and this possibility could change her life forever, bring disgrace to her father and family, and put her in harm’s way. She also learns that she is part of a family curse that condemns the people in her land to ongoing cold weather. The Oak King, who provides the warmer spring and summer seasons, will be overthrown by his brother, the Holly King, who is responsible for the miserably cold fall and winter seasons for the next 300 years. Destiny pulls Perrone into a world where she is a seer, has magical powers, healing powers, and a superior knowledge of botany.
Perrone, her daughter, granddaughter, great-granddaughter, and great-great-granddaughter must fulfill the same prophecy while maintaining pure bloodlines to allow the Oak King’s return. Until then, she must create and promote greenhouse gardening so that the people in her community can survive. Additionally, all of the matriarchs must marry and bear children with Elian men chosen by their fathers to keep the bloodlines pure.
These arranged marriages can be seen as being oppressive, but each woman has the choice to opt out if they do not like the mate that is chosen for them. The author emphasizes the importance of consent, respectful courtship, reciprocal empathy between the couple, and love over lust. The viewpoints of the women and their mates are presented by alternating their first-person narration in each chapter and through the use of dialogue.
This story is about a community of witches that is doing its best to survive the curse of the Holly King. The young seers of this family and their potential husbands must adhere to destiny and marriage rituals that safeguard them from the Holly King’s desire to destroy their pure bloodlines.
I enjoyed the explanations of the uses for different herbs and the procedures used by midwives to help distressed mothers giving birth. I liked the emphasis given to the utility of greenhouses in solving problematic climate conditions. I commend the author for drawing a parallel between the necessity of respect shared by lovers and the importance of controlling magic—harm is avoided in both cases.
I found the courtship before each marriage to be repetitive. The five generations of women pretty much had the same thoughts. Their potential husbands did too—I found this to be monotonous. Additionally, the story would benefit from a round of professional editing—I came across many grammar errors.
For the reasons stated above, I gave this book a rating of 3 out of 5 stars.
******
The Seer's Curse
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon