Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan

Narrated by Shane East and Saskia Maarleveld

Standalone, Magical Realism

”Enemies it is,” Clark said, all crisp consonants and barely leashed scorn. “Do your worst.”

Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan was on a lot of people’s Best of 2023 list, and I am working my way through some of the most hyped books of the year, so I figured I’d check this out after enjoying The Intimacy Experiment by the same author.

Do Your Worst was very unique. Riley comes from a long line of curse-breakers and is hired to break the curse on a Scottish castle that has become infamous for its curse. Clarke is an archeologist sent to survey and catalog any artifacts found in the castle. After a professional disgrace, he can’t afford for anything to go wrong in this job—especially not a whack-a-doo “curse-breaker”, even if she is hot.

“She loved curse-breaking, critics be damned. But her calling came at a cost. It meant she was alone. Not just here, so far from home, but in life. Always removed. Othered.”

Despite the instant attraction, Riley and Clarke are complete opposites and try to do anything to sabotage each other to get the other to leave—and the curse just keeps forcing them together. Clarke is a buttoned-up Brit who only believes in things provable by science, and Riley is an American who relies mostly on intuition, though a lot of research and thought goes into breaking these curses.

At first, their dislike seemed forced, like they were trying too hard to hate each other. But when their guards came down a little and they started to work with instead of against each other, Do Your Worst gave me fun Indiana Jones-type vibes.

Likes:

Truly unique story.
Good banter.
Some scenes that really made me giggle.
Riley is instantly likeable.
The buttoned-up Brit is a freak in the sheets.
It doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Dislikes:

They seemed to force the dislike.
3rd person that made it really hard to fully connect with either character.

The Narration:

I think the narration may have made this book better. Both narrators were fantastic and added to my enjoyment. I always like Shane East, but Saskia Maarleveld was new to me and I hope I hear more of her.