A Curse So Dark & Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer | BOOK REVIEW

TITLE: A Curse So Dark And Lonely NAME OF SERIES : Cursebreaker Series AUTHOR: Brigid Kemmerer GENRE: Young Adult Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retelling PAGE COUNT: 477 PUBLICATION YEAR: 2019 FORMAT: Paperback BUY ONLINE: amazon

                                                         

 Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer is one of the very few Contemporary novels that I enjoyed. Romance/Contemporary genre is not my cup of tea, but that was one novel that pleasantly surprised me. So when I found out that her latest novel A Curse So Dark And Lonely  is actually a fantasy , I set up my mind that I am going to read this one irrespective of the polarizing reviews .

It is a Young Adult fantasy –  Beauty and the Beast retelling with a twist. My knowledge of the Fairy tale  Beauty and the Beast is limited to the Emma Watson’s Disney movie . I am not gonna lie , that movie failed to impress me . Despite that, I was still looking  forward to this book as every one in the book community has been talking about something called “  Angsty novels”  and since this one is believed to have that angst trope in abundance , I thought why not give it a go. Now after reading the story,  if this is what angst feels like , then I am totally up for more. Please recommend me more such stories preferably  in the fantasy genre in the comment section.

Before moving to my thoughts/review of the book, I would like to  take a moment to appreciate the beautifully mystical looking Front cover- Dark Blue cover with Silver writings. The cover itself gives us an idea of what to expect from the story.

SYNOPSIS- This Beauty and the Beast retelling is a YA fantasy following two different angles- Rhen and Harper. Rhen is a prince from the Emberfall kingdom who is cursed by an enchantress Lilith . As part of this curse, he has to relive his eighteenth year over and over until a girl truly falls for him. In the modern world A girl from Washington,DC named Harper  is accidentally sucked into Rhen’s world by his commander Grey. Does Harper fall in love with Rhen and eventually break the curse?

That is the basic gist of it .

With The above synopsis , I have barely scratched the surface of what the story is about. It is much more complex than that.

What I Liked?

1.        I can't believe myself saying this but I loved the romance in the story. Considering I hate reading romance with all my heart and soul , it is indeed too surprising . I liked how slow burn the romance felt throughout the book. A subplot involving a Love Triangle was also hinted at which I absolutely loved. I kept guessing which pair is going to end up falling in love .

2.       The main female lead Harper was an absolute bad-ass. She was fierce, feisty and full of spunk.  I enjoyed her perspective more than Rhen’s. She also had Cerebral Palsy which was represented in the story in a good sensitive  way , not in a sensational kinda way which writers often do .

3.       I loved the humor as well and found some sections in the story unintentionally funny. I say this because I am not sure if the author intended to invoke laughter from the readers at those points . But I found myself laughing at the sheer absurdity of some subplots. It felt almost comical which made me LOL.

4.       The supporting character Grey is undoubtedly my favorite and I kept wishing we could get his perspective.

5.       The elegantly detailed writing style and  the overall suspense helped in maintaining a steady pace .

6.       The ending /climax was packed with action and drama . That cliffhanger in the epilogue section- I didn't see it coming . I would say that the last 100 pages packed the maximum punch and prompted me to give this book a higher rating .

What I didn't Like?

1.       Some parts definitely felt a bit boring and predictable. But since it is a retelling , predictability was kind of a given. As far as boring bits go, there were very few and I was pulled back into the story in no time.

2.       The other issue also isn't that significant but still if I have to point out then I would say that Rhen was extremely  annoying as a character. But again, may be that was intended because the other characters in the story felt the same way about him. So I guess that was the motive.

So overall I enjoyed this one and definitely going to pick up the next book A Heart So Fierce & Broken in the series. Not to forget that mind blowing cliffhanger in the epilogue which has me all excited. Also, I just learnt that the next book has Grey as one of the POVs, so now I am doubly excited to read it.

RATING – 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌖 (4.75/5)