Review: A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

A Curse So Dark and Lonely ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Page Count: 477
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Series: Cursebreakers #1

Synopsis: “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.”

Content Warnings

knife and gun violence, attempted murder, death of a loved one, recounted death, attempted suicide, blood and gore description, physical, mental, and sexual assault, kidnapping, attempted kidnapping

This is the best Beauty and the Beast retelling I’ve read. Though I think it’s the only Beauty and the Beast retelling I’ve read. A Curse So Dark and Lonely is a wonderful and thrilling story, with plenty of twists while still staying true to the original fairytale.

I loved the world that Kemmerer created. Emberfall sounds like an amazing place to live and compared to Washington D.C., it’s like two time periods clashed together. Rhen has no idea what a cell phone is and Harper has to get used to a world without electronic devices.

Harper, aka Belle, is a very independent young woman and the fact that she doesn’t let her cerebral palsy define her makes her an even stronger character. She doesn’t let anything get in her way. She’s kind and caring and extremely brave as well. She climbed out the window and went full on free climbing down the castle trellis! And even with everything else going on back home, her family in debt, her mom dying from lung cancer, she’s still strong.

“They believe her limp is the result of a war injury, but Harper is quick to correct them. ‘I was born this way,’ she’ll snap, ‘and I’m going to die this way, so teach me to work around it.’ They love her for it.”

Brigid Kemmerer, A Curse So Dark and Lonely

I liked Rhen. He’s the Beast in this story, and he lost his entire family due to a curse set on him that caused him to basically kill all of them. Horrible, I know. And he doesn’t have any way to undue the curse, unless a girl falls in love with him. Obviously, he’s not have very good luck.

My favorite character by far was Grey, the forever loyal commander. His patience and quiet observations made him such an important, but subtle character. And his knife-throwing skills, wow. I would not want to meet him in battle.

Ugh, and Lilith! She is truly the worst! That evil enchantress is so nasty, I do not like her one bit.

Brigid Kemmerer’s writing is so good! Her descriptions and overall writing style kept me intrigued and interested. Especially with Harper and Rhen’s relationship, which is so complicated and gut-wrenching at the same time.

Oh my gosh, that ending left me so confused and with so many questions. I’m writing this review after I read A Heart So Fierce and Broken, so I know what happens now, but I was very confused back then.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely is a fantastic retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It’s a great fantasy read with romance as a large plot in it as well.

My Rating: 4.5/5 dragons

Have you read A Curse So Dark and Lonely? What did you think of my review?
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