A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers, #1) by Brigid Kemmerer
Genres: Fantasy (YA), Fairy Tale Retelling
Pages: 484
Goodreads
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.
WHY did this take me so long to get to!? I remember I purchased this right when I came back to the bookstagram community because it was everywhere. Then it sat on my shelf for a while because I was like “eh, I probably won’t like it“. LOL Silly me!
Before I dive into my review, I want to say that reading book two (A Heart So Fierce and Broken) actually changed my opinion of this one a little. I still love it, but…well…you’ll have to read the next review to understand! I can’t spoil anything. Alright, let’s get into it.
The story itself is pretty basic – I mean, it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling. It has all the things you’d expect from that – think the traditional Disney version, it’s got tons of similarities. With that said, there is plenty that the author made unique to her version of it. I liked the method in which Harper shows up at the castle, that the enchantress plays a bigger role, and how Rhen isn’t always in the beast form.
With that said, the curse itself was a little…eh? Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention enough but I was confused as to why Rhen hid himself away in the castle all the time? I get he was ashamed, but he basically abandoned his people altogether and I didn’t understand that. Also, I had such a hard time envisioning exactly what the heck the beast looked like (View Spoiler ») In terms of the curse itself, it was a little disappointing that the reason for it was essentially a woman love-scorned. (Again, I kind of feel like I’m forgetting something or just wasn’t paying attention, so correct me if I’m wrong).
I love Harper. I think she is a great character. She doesn’t simply become infatuated with this princess lifestyle. She fights it and only falls into that role because of her compassion for other people – yet she’s tough, brave, and quick-witted. There needs to be more characters like her in YA. A girl can be both tough and compassionate – and also not fall in love in 2 seconds.
Not gunna lie, though, I am team Grey. Rhen is alright. He’s a little annoying but he checks all the boxes for a YA romantic interest. Grey on the other hand? Oh boy. He’s the best character in the whole book. I felt like he was actually the most complex character. His wants were always hard to figure out because he was so loyal to is duty to the prince. I loved that. I wished he had his own chapters so we could have gotten into his head a bit. Little did I know…book 2 was coming (truly, I had no idea book 2 was centered on him).
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. The characters were interesting, the story was familiar but enough changes were made to make it it’s own, and the writing wasn’t overly fluffy for a fantasy. I definitely recommend this one!
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| Overall: | 4.5 / 5 |
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