The Serpent’s Curse (The Copernicus Legacy, #2)

by Tony Abbott

[KitsuneBae]

Forbidden Stone was amazing. I wish I could say the same thing for The Serpent’s Curse. Though it did not suffer the second book syndrome, I cannot say that it lived up to the stellar performance of its predecessor. True, there are still the globe-trotting adventures, codes to be deciphered, and a parent to be saved; everything was not just the same. The story felt long winded and I just couldn’t establish a connection to the story. Maybe it’s because some of the twists were predictable or that they were revealed in the wrong time or maybe the important reveals didn’t feel that important at all.

Despite my gripes with The Serpent’s Curse, there are still a lot of things that I liked about it. For one, the humor is still present but I hope that there was more because there are parts of the story that became unbearably monotonous. Second, I really appreciated the glimpse on Galina Krause’s past but I wish that it also provided an explanation as to how Galina became what she is at the present. But perhaps, that story will be revealed in thesucceeding books. Third, the fact that Abbott still managed to make the story a family adventure is praiseworthy even if there were moments that I was questioning Roald Kaplan’s capacity as a father. The things that he’d allowed his charges to do, I was surprised that no one from the Social Welfare has called him yet. Tsk. And lastly, Russia. What’s not to love about Russia?

So now that I’ve said it, it’s really the plot—as mentioned earlier—that cursed The Serpent’s Curse to suffer from a story that didn’t manage to thoroughly reel me in. The lack of character development can also be held liable regarding my feelings for this book. I really adored the characters in the first book so I expected more from them while I was reading this. As far as I remember, one of my biggest issues in Forbidden Stone was the multiple POVs which hindered me from getting to know our characters really well. Unfortunately, I still have the same problem with The Serpent’s Curse. I felt like I’m just scratching at the surface and still uncertain whether there will be a chance in getting to know our characters better in the third book.

Overall, The Serpent’s Curse is an adequate sequel to the Forbidden Stone.