‘Our Cursed Love’ review: Julie Abe’s new novel takes us to a magical version of Tokyo

If soulmates, magical tea readings, and trips to Tokyo are all on your vision board, Our Cursed Love by Julie Abe might be the perfect book for you. Unfortunately, I found the romance to be a little lacking.

Is a soulmate too much to ask?

Remy Kobata has just landed in Tokyo for the trip of a lifetime with her best friend, Cam Yasuda. She’s about to interview for a spot at her dream school, the magical university in Tokyo. But she can’t even focus on that because all she can think about is finding the right moment to tell Cam how she feels. 

Before she can work up the nerve, they stumble on the Good Luck Cafe, where she is selected for a magical tea leaf reading. She asks the one question burning inside of her: who is her soulmate? When the man reveals that Remy has no soulmate, her heart is shattered. 

Unknown to Remy, Cam has feelings for her too, but his family trauma holds him back. Instead, he tells himself that he just wants Remy to be happy, even if that means letting her go to school halfway across the world.

Next, the two stumble across a magical apothecary, where they are offered a soulmate elixir, made before love potions were banned. They each take it, but disastrous results immediately follow. Cam suddenly can’t remember who Remy is. They rush him to a magical expert, who tells them that they have six days to restore Cam’s memories before he’s gone to Remy forever. Now they have to travel around Tokyo, trying to recreate all of Cam’s best memories in order to bring him back to her.

A charming magical world

In this story, our world runs parallel to a world run by magic. Magical shops and cafes are nestled in between regular stores, invisible to the ordinary human eye. The entrance to Tokyo Magical University can be found by placing a spell on a specific book in a specific bookstore. Cam creates potions that will lighten Remy’s mood or help her focus.

I loved all of the intricate little details that made this magical world come alive. It made me desperate to visit a magical tea shop where the owner could tell me my future! In fact, I loved the magical world so much that the romance paled in comparison.

A lackluster love story

Unfortunately, Remy and Cam are not the ship for me. I felt that their relationship lacked both tension and depth. While I rooted for them, I didn’t find them that exciting. 

Since we read the story from both points of view, we knew from the beginning that they each had feelings for the other. Remy had no true reason not to tell him how she felt. Cam has a reason, but it’s not revealed until almost the very end. In fact, I would’ve preferred to take some time away from the romance in order to see more of Cam’s backstory, which was full of underexplored trauma. Instead, we’re forced to watch these two agonize over their feelings for no reason! 

While it might not be my cup of tea, it may be yours! If you are looking for a sweet, magical, soulmate story, look no further, and pick up a copy of Our Cursed Love!

Our Cursed Love was published on December 12, 2023.

Featured image courtesy of Wednesday Books.