A Curse So Dark and Lonely | By Brigid Kemmerer | Book Review
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Title- A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers #1)
Author- Brigid Kemmerer
Publisher- Bloomsbury Publishing
Genre- Fantasy / Fairytale retelling
Links- Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads
My Rating- ★★★★★
Contents
Book Blurb
My Review
About the Author
Book Blurb
Fall in love, break the curse.
Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year, Prince Rhen, the heir of Emberfall, thought he could be saved easily if a girl fell for him. But that was before he turned into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. Before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.
Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, Harper learned to be tough enough to survive. When she tries to save a stranger on the streets of Washington, DC, she's pulled into a magical world.
Break the curse, save the kingdom.
Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. A prince? A curse? A monster? As she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.
“I shift on the windowsill and keep my eyes off the ground. This is the most reckless thing I’ve ever done. Wait. No. The most reckless thing I’ve ever done was attack a guy on the street with a tire iron. So I guess this is fine.”
A Curse So Dark and Lonely Book Review. Instagram jennys.world.of.fiction
My Review
This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and a real page turner! I read it all in one day and loved it. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite fairy tales, so I was thrilled to come across this. It is full of action, adventure, great characters and the same magical feeling as Beauty and the Beast, but with several twists and a lot more depth. I loved that it was set in both modern times and a parallel fantasy world.
Plot
Harper has enough of her own problems in Washington DC without the added drama of being sucked into a fantasy land with a cursed prince.
Prince Rhen's life is a repeating curse, and he's nearly given up on breaking it.
Trapped in an enchanted land with the Kingdom under threat, Harper can help Prince Rhen. But working together and keeping up an elaborate charade is not so easy. And there's still the matter of a curse to break.
I really enjoyed the plot. It was unpredictable and went well beyond the classic Beauty and the Beast story by incorporating a wider world and elements from the modern world with classic fairytale vibes. Every scene had something new going on, so it was easy to just keep reading and not want to stop.
Characters
I’m not usually a fan of reading first person POV when there is more than one character perspective, but the characters’ voices were so clear and distinct that it was really enjoyable. Harper is from the modern day world and Rhen is from a magical fantasy Kingdom, this led to fun clashing characters. But I actually felt the dynamic between Harper and Grey was much more interesting.
I liked that Harper wasn’t just a damsel to be rescued. She wasn’t one to put up with kidnapping or being locked up, instead she was proactive in everything she did and didn’t think twice about trying to escape.
Rhen was a great character, he was clearly dealing with a lot of internal conflict and guilt about pretty much everything in his past. So this made nice and broody, and gave a lot of opportunity for character growth.
Special mention to Grey, the commander of the royal guard. He was my favourite character by far. He was so loyal to Rhen and stuck by his side through so much. He’s brave, noble, and showed genuine kindness and understanding toward Harper. I look forward to reading more about him in the next book!
Not much to say about Lilith, the evil antagonist. She is very much the cliche fairytale bad guy. There was no real explanation on why she was so evil and just came across as being evil for the sake of it. Or she was just a bitch. Either way, I wasn’t a fan. She made me feel sick, and I just wanted Rhen to punch her in the face.
Setting and magic
A magical land, a fairytale castle and mysterious beasts, I love all these things. Plus the added fun of contrasting it with modern day. This made for a pleasant mix of urban fantasy and classic fantasy, something I haven’t seem a lot of.
Summary
I’d recommend this to anyone who loves Beauty and the Beast. I know there are a lot of retellings out there, but I feel like this one is a must read. I’ve seen this compared to A Court of Thorns and Roses but I feel like they aren’t even in the same genres. This is more urban fantasy/ fairytale fantasy. ACOTAR is more Fae Fantasy/ Romance.
In any case, I’d pick this A Curse So Dark and Lonely over ACOTAR.
A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
“‘You have an unusual definition of luck.’
She stiffens. ‘Spoken like someone who lives in a castle with an endless supply of food and wine, but calls himself cursed.’”
About the Author- Brigid Kemmerer
Author of A Curse So Dark and Lonely Brigid Kemmerer
Brigid Kemmerer is the New York Times bestselling author of dark and alluring Young Adult novels like A Curse So Dark and Lonely, More Than We Can Tell, and Letters to the Lost (Bloomsbury), as well as paranormal YA stories like The Elemental Series and Thicker Than Water (Kensington).
A full time writer, Brigid lives in the Baltimore area with her husband, her boys, her dog, and her cat. When she’s not writing or being a mommy, you can usually find her with her hands wrapped around a barbell.
Check out Brigid Kemmerer’s website
Buy A Curse so dark and lonely
About the reviewer- Jenny sandiford
Hi I’m Jenny. I am passionate about promoting new authors and sharing any amazing books I find with the world. I am a book blogger, bookstagrammer, YA fantasy writer and travel writer.
I’m also a lover of nature, hiking, Harry Potter, cats, fantasy lands and quiet places.
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