Becoming The Muse

Golden Healer is the second book in The Curse Of Time Series by M.J. Mallon.

Golden Healer: The Curse Of Time Book 2 was published on 23 January 2022. The book is a YA fantasy set in Cambridge, UK featuring a teen protagonist destined to be a Krystallos: a powerful magician of light wielding crystal magic.

The story in Golden Healer continues Amelina Scott’s fantastical journey from where the first book ended. All is not as it seems, and they are not completely free of the curses they thought broken in Bloodstone: The Curse Of Time Book 1. There’s secrets, mysterious creatures and hypnotic sorcerers trying to harness the power of the crystals to plunge the world into unending darkness and shadows…

The Good

The book does great work at catching you up with the happenings from the prequel, so, one does not need to take a refresher or have read Book 1 in The Curse Of Time Series to read and enjoy Golden Healer… Although to best enjoy the series, starting with the first book would be the ideal reading order to get properly acquainted with the main characters.

The plot unfolds in a linear progression of revelations similar to puzzle pieces being arranged until the full picture is complete. Further to that effect, the chapters in the book are labelled as Puzzle Piece 1 through to Puzzle Piece 45 and each Puzzle Piece begins with a snippet of tanka poetry riddle hinting at whats to come.

Puzzle Piece 1

The paparrazi,
They have met their crazy match,
When Tobe barks, they'll know
He's a much-loved crazy dog,
Great at chasing off the pap!
-Golden Healer: The Curse Of Time Book 1

The storytelling employs an interesting device where the first part of the book is told from Amelina’s perspective and the next part from Amelina’s father’s perspective and the last part of the book is narrated in the third person which helps give an appreciation of some the character’s motivations.

The characters have complicated layers like an onion, if you cut them they cry, facing internal and external conflict, no character is simply one thing but instead are complex creations, you will find rainbows and sunflowers in the darkness, while finding compassion and beauty in the monsters and of course a midnight black cat called Shadow, more human than some….

Within the fantasy is a thematically rich body of work that explores some deep issues such as self-harm, anorexia, bullying and handles them with a delicacy that younger readers can handle. I was not familiar with The Butterfly Project which helps deal with self-harm before reading the book.

It might be a fantasy but its setting makes me picture parts of Cambridge, from the Corpus Christi Chronopage clock in Kings Parade which inspired the Curse Of Time to the Clowns Café which features briefly in the novel. If one day, I should find myself there, I have a list of places to look out for.

The Bad

It’s a bit of a hard read and makes you work for the story… Some concentration maybe required, but hey the chapters are labelled as puzzles, if they were easy they wouldn’t be puzzles.

While the poetry snippets lended the book a poetic charm, on the other hand they sort of gave a spoiler for what was to come, which lessened the impact of some the plot reveals… (that is if you figured out the poetry of course)

The Ugly

As noted earlier, the book has some heavy themes, it comes with a warning for triggering content as it mentions self-harm and mental health issues.  It might be a young adult fantasy book but sensitive readers especially younger ones could be potentially triggered.

There is no happy ever after…. Which means the story isn’t over, so you will have to wait for the next instalment in The Curse Of Time Book Series.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed book two of the series,  it felt solid in its own right and didn’t give off that middle book vibe which sometimes happens to books in a series where the middle books feel as if they are simply a convulated way point, to the conclusion of the story.

Book 1 is a lighter more whimsical read while Book 2 is a bit darker with more mature character growth, although it still has its comic relief and lighter moments even amidst the heavy themes….