Amber and I are BACK this August for a fun new readalong! We're about to start our monthly discussion for our July YA book, Garden Of The Cursed by Katy Rose Pool!
As a reminder, from now on, our monthly discussions will be both here on the OwlCrate blog AND on The Nest! Go check out Amber's discussion that will be full of fun extras like bookish charades, shelf scavenger hunts and coloring pages!
On each day we'll read a section of Garden Of The Cursed both on the blog and in The Nest's group, and then discuss in the comments our theories and predictions. This means there will be spoilers for each section! Beware!
Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER discussion for chapters 16-18 of Garden Of The Cursed, so make sure you read or are finished this section before continuing.
I'm a bit late this evening but that's because I read ahead in Garden Of The Cursed...shh...
Chapter Sixteen:
Marlow tells Swift about her run-in with the Black Orchid. Swift doesn't believe that Marlow's mother sold a Falcrest spellbook to the Copperheads. Marlow isn't convinced and tells Swift that she needs to know, either way.
Marlow theorizes that the Copperhead gang must have Ilario's Grimoire and that they know what happened to her mother. Swift is distraught and tells Marlow why she shouldn't anger the Copperheads by investigating them.
Marlow tells Swift about Adrius's compulsion spell and Swift tells her that he cannot be involved, so Marlow tells him she'll go herself. She goes back to the Blind Tiger bar and is surprised to find Silvan Vale. She's now convinced that she has been the one to curse Adrius.
Marlow sees Leonidas, head of the Copperheads, with a 12 foot crocodile pet approaching Silvan. Silvan does not know him. Leonidas strings him up and threatens him with a snake.She makes her way through the crowd, prepping her cards and uses a hex on a lackey. They try to get away but are pinned by the Copperheads and Leonidas corners her with a curse. 
Chapter Seventeen:
Suddenly Swift shows up and offers himself up as a Copperhead to Leonidas. Leonidas pushes him to agree and instead Swift pulls out Orsella's gun, Josephine, and shoots Leonidas and Bane. Swift tosses the gun and Marlow catches it, cocks it and fires a round into an assailant.
She reloads Josephine as Swift and Silvan are introduced. They all pile on Orsella's also-borrowed motorbike and speed away.
As they stop outside Swift's flat, Marlow points the gun at Swift and asks him why he went to the Blind Tiger while telling him that she believes Silvan cursed Adrius.
Silvan defends himself and they go into Swift's flat. Silvan learns that Adrius has been cursed and tells Marlow that he was following her, which is why he was in Copperhead territory.
Marlow tells Silvan to stay with Swift. She and Swift argue about her safety but she takes the gun and tracks down Bane anyway. Marlow presses Bane for answers and offers him a deal for information, using a hex as a guarantee.
Marlow tells Bane she's going to ask him ten questions. She learns that the Copperheads saw her mother the night of her disappearance, that the grimoire disappeared along with her, that Montagne made the curse that Swift was under and that he stole the grimoire for Marlow's mother.
He tells her that her mother was a grifter, selling spell materials and curses.
Suddenly Marlow shoots Josephine into his face and a curse hits Bane. Worms fall out of his mouth and Marlow walks away, dry heaving in the street. 
Chapter Eighteen:
Marlow returns home to see Swift and Silvan. Marlow tells Silvan he can go home to Evergarden if he stays quiet.
Marlow walks him to the cable car station and Silvan asks her if she will be attending the Starling's Midsummer Costume Ball that evening. Marlow groans, remembering that it's that evening.Silvan asks Marlow to tell him when she finds out who cursed Adrius so that he can make them pay.
Marlow meets Adrius in an opulent staging area at the ball. Marlow tells Adrius that she doesn't believe Silvan cursed him and Adrius tells her that is obvious to him.Marlow spots Gemma and they compliment each other. Silvan shows up behind them and Gemma mentions that they are about to start the Lovers Cotillion where all the couples dance.
Adrius asks Marlow to dance which convinces his friend circle that they are happily back together but Marlow is upset by Adrius's spin on the truth of their romance.She confronts Adrius about how his rejection of her before she left Evergarden made her feel and Adrius tells her that he had lost interest.
Marlow leaves him and in the light of the ballroom, she sees Caito, remembering what Armant said about cutting and piercing she stares at Caito's red markings of the Zanne Rose which look like bloodred fangs. 
Onward to day seven!
Questions:
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🤯 That's quite the information that Marlow gets about her mother, do you think this will change Marlow's quest? -
💖 Do you think Adrius is falling for Marlow or that he is keeping with the ruse? -
💭Why do you think Adrius was so awful to Marlowe? What is the truth?Never miss a box! Subscribe to OwlCrate today with code OCBLOG15 to save 15% on a new subscription!
