Review: A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

“not all scars can be seen, my lady.”

brigid kemmerer

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Goodreads Summary: 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.

Rating:

Thoughts:

I fell so deeply and completely in love with this book. It’s one of those types that I wish I could erase from my memory just so I could experience it for the first time all over again. And I’m annoyed with myself that I didn’t pick it up sooner. Even if you’re tired of Beauty and the Beast retellings, you should still give this book a chance. It has the spirit of Beauty and the Beast while being entirely its own creature as well. In fact, if you went into this book blindly, I think you’d likely entirely miss that it is a retelling because it’s so subtle.

I LOVED the characters. Harper (Belle) is brave, determined, giving, and likeable. And she brings something we rarely see in books: disability representation; and, perhaps even rarer in books, that’s not the entire focus of her character. Harper has cerebral palsy. And while the book hits on her struggles and difficulties she experiences because of it, Harper shows she is so much more than just her disability over and over again. I also loved the way the book contrasted how Harper’s family treats her versus the way Rhen and Grey treat her. Rhen and Grey respect her and treat her as if she can do anything she puts her mind to. They learn very quickly not to underestimate her. Harper’s family still treats her as if she is breakable, something only meant to be protected. And it brings another level of relatability when it’s difficult for her brother to adjust his mindset towards her. It can take a lot of effort to change your knee-jerk perception of someone, especially if you are close. In addition, being able to see Harper flourish in her new circumstances was so exciting and I had so much fun living vicariously through her as she learned how to throw knives and shoot arrows. And her increasing conflicting emotions as she found a love for the people of Emberfall and grew closer to Rhen and Grey paired with her concern for her family’s situation back home weighed on my heart the further I read.

Rhen was such a fun, unique representation of the Beast. He’s regal and diplomatic. Level-headed yet sometimes blinded by his emotions. Stubborn and bumbling when it comes to his personal relationships. Although he’s a little off-putting in the beginning, the more I got to know him, the more I came to love him. His longing to save his people, his careful calculations to protect all those around him, the way he never quite knows the right thing to say to Harper–he was just so endearing to me. And he never did quite what I thought he would do. Just when I thought he would be unyielding, he’d take a side-step for the sake of the ones he cares about. When I thought he’d give in, he’d stand his ground. He was such an interesting character to read about.

Grey, Rhen’s final personal guard left, was amazing. I’m not quite sure who he would represent in the original fairy tale, but he’s by far one of my favorite characters ever written. The subtlety of his character was my favorite part. He drew me in and made me want to pay close attention so I could decipher his true thoughts beneath his duty-bound responses. His relationship with Harper was so sweet and I found myself longing for more interactions between the pair. The book truly wouldn’t have been the same without him and I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed it nearly as much if he’d been omitted.

Although the book is long, it’s easy to fly through its pages. Along with the amazing characters, the plot is paced so well that it kept me engaged the entire time. I’ve never had so much fun just reading about characters playing a card game before. Watching the team plan how to defeat the invaders of Emberfall while also endeavoring to break the curse gives so much intrigue. And the looming threat of the Monster adds even more color to its pages. There was the perfect amount of action without being redundant and the addition of multiple points of view had me racing to get to what the next character thought about their current situation.

I loved the way the romance played out and the constant tension between the characters. The way it was always on the cusp of being a love triangle without ever crossing the line was so unique as well. Although cliffhangers can be super frustrating, the open ending regarding the romance has only made me hungry for more.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book. It gave me so many feelings of happiness and had me giggling in spots. And that ending! It was a twist I never saw coming. This book has gone on my all-time-favorites list and I cannot wait to dig into the second book to find out what happens next.

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