The Cursed Horde King by Zoey Draven officially launched on December 9^th 2025, and I have to say, this book has been worth the way.

If anyone knows me, they know I am a Zoey Draven fan, and I have read every book she has published and would happily live in her brain if she would allow me.  She announced this book a few months ago, and if I am honest, the wait for this book has been ABSOLUTELY agonizing!  Thankfully, I was incredibly lucky to get an ARC copy of this book, and I DEVOURED it in under two days.

The story of Amaia and Alaryk is not a kind one if I am honest.  Amaia is sent to spy on not only Alaryk but all of Grym, and report back to her King across the sea, and if she doesn’t her family is threatened.  Alaryk has a dark power to be able to twist minds, thoughts, and actions, and immediately knows that Amaia has something to hide.

Regardless of her secret mission in Grym, Amaia’s day to day goal is to help hatch baby elthika (dragons) and watch them grow to ensure they are growing properly and healthily.  Because Amaia’s secret, one she has been carefully guarding her entire life, is that she has the ability to heal, not only people, but creatures as well. 

One of my favorite things about this book, is how disliked Amaia and her people are when they arrive in Grym.  The people all, for the most part look the same, and they are the same.  Their bloodlines might be different, their day to day way of life might be different, but inherently they are just people.  To watch these characters navigate through the hate and disgust and mistrust was so interesting, especially when you got to see Amaia’s friends react to the insults. 

I also have to be completely honest, BABY DRAGONS!  I was so incredibly excited for the baby dragons, and to watch them grow was AMAZING.  I was thoroughly upset (minor spoiler ahead) that Amaia didn’t bond with Kyr.  I really desperately wanted to, and thought that would be such an interesting and sweet full circle moment.  I didn’t not like him going into the mountains to be raised by elder dragons, but I so very much wanted him to come back and bond with Amaia.  He was the first dragon she took care of, and the first thing she fell in love with in this strange new land.  It would have been such a beautiful moment.

One thing I did not really like about this book, is that because they are called both elthika and dragons, Zoey ends up using those words interchangeably all through the novel.  Normally this would not be a bad thing BUT it does get confusing at times. This also isn’t only done with the names for the dragons, but names for the people and their races/ancestry as well.  There are moments where I had to do a double take while reading to make sure I understood what was happening.

My favorite thing that happened in this book was the consequences for the main villains.  That might seem like silly thing to adore, but I thought the way they were handled were so fitting.  I don’t want to go into more details over this in general, because I don’t want to spoil anything, but please be aware there are mild spoilers ahead.  For the Villain that came with Amaia to Grym, he though he was this huge important person, and his consequences really knocked him down a peg.  For the other villain, I loved that he was adamant what he was doing would bring him glory and instead it brought him something FAR different.

And if you are getting sick of books that have dragons in them, but no real insight into their hatching or upbringing, THIS BOOK DOES.  I loved learning about how the baby dragons hatched and needed to be handled!  And I loved seeing the work that went into taking care of them!

Overall – I loved this book, and if you like sci-fi fantasy stories about a slightly insane male main character, and a healer female main character, this book is for you.  I do HIGHLY recommend reading the first book in this series however, as it will give you some important backstory.

The Cursed Horde King by Zoey Draven 
Cost* – eBook is $4.99.  This book is included with kindle unlimited.

 
*Cost is based upon what the book cost when book review is published