A Curse So Dark and Lonely
Ratings163
Average rating3.9
the beginning and middle of the book was kinda meh.. i almost dropped it, but then is picked up and when i noticed it was over, i really like the last 30ish % of the story.
2.5 Stars
i'm not sure what to say. i feel so, so conflicted right now.
so. i thought the opening ten chapters or so were fine. then, until about page ~350 i thought that this was one of the most slow, boring books i'd ever read, and that it would be competing with The Wren In the Holly Library for my least favorite read of the year. then it finally started to pick up and i kind of liked how it ended. all of this to say, i've given this a very tentative 3 stars for now but i may reduce it to 2.5 or 2 when i have more time to think on it i have reduced my rating to 2.5.
i liked Harper and i found that i could relate to her; we both have disabilities and have experienced what it's like to have a mother diagnosed with cancer. Rhen, though, i didn't start liking him til the very end. i found him to be very confusing, like he'd say he cared about this or that but i could find nothing to support that, or otherwise was just bland in general. Grey was fine i guess.
the plot was super interesting, but it was hindered by some very slow pacing and sloppy writing, especially in the middle. the scenes changed so fast sometimes that i couldn't tell where the characters were or what was going on. sometimes, i wasn't even able to tell who's point-of-view i was reading, and i would have to flip back through the pages to check which was super annoying. one of my biggest bookish pet peeves is when an author writes multiple povs but doesn't do much to distinguish between the characters in them.
the romance though was subtle and not in the way i usually like. it was subtle as in i couldn't even tell it existed until like the last 50 pages, so i hope to see some development there in the future. also, i had no idea Grey was supposed to be a part of a love triangle between him, Harper, and Rhen until i read someone's review that pointed it out. for me, it didn't read that way at all. idk, that was just really odd.
anyways. i though this was fine overall. i'll give the next books a try too, even though i haven't heard as great things about them compared to this one. i liked the cliffhanger though, and i think i fugured out who Grey is...
As a fan of Beauty and the Beast, this book was the such a fun and awesome retelling of this classic tale...Prince Rhen is definitely a new book boyfriend for me...
I give up on the book series for now, even though I know what happens. I have to say I'm disappointed with Brigid after knowing that she can make beautiful contemporary fiction books. But maybe that is her forte and not sci-fi/fantasy.
3 stars.
re-read update 2022: still one of my favourite retellings. I kinda wish it was a standalone.
Non-Spoiler Review:
This book is perhaps the best ‘Beauty and The Beast' retelling I've read yet. Brigid Kemmerer has managed to modernise the fairytale for current readers without losing the magic that made ‘Beauty and The Beast' so appealing to readers in the first place. The characters are realistic and loveable and the villain is fun.
Harper, our main protagonist, is a great YA female heroine. She's headstrong and brave, but she also has her own doubts and isn't scared to explore her vulnerabilities or weaknesses. She also has cerebal palsy and whilst she doesn't let it stop her from doing anything, Kemmerer doesn't allow her to ‘overpower' it either, or appear to forget her character has it - as some authors do with their YA characters and their disorders or disabilities.
Rhen is also an interesting character, he's a complex YA love interest and your feelings for him as a reader aren't constant - they're shifting the more you learn about him which is nice. Kemmere also doesn't ignore the blatant mental health issues Rhen suffers from, and whilst she never diagnoses them it is clear she doesn't brush it under the rug.
Grey, our other protagonist, is probably the one we know least about - but also perhaps more loveable than the main love interest. He's a fun character to read and he probably will be your favourite after Harper.
The romance was not an instant love story either, which I'm very thankful for. It does build slowly and it is an interesting one where Kemmerer addresses a lot of concepts and ideas ‘Beauty and The Beast' never touched on.
I think the only reason this can't have five stars is because of the plot. This is very much a character driven novel and so the plot does suffer a little for that, but it's still interesting enough to grab your attention because the characters are that engaging.
Overall, a solid YA fantasy and one I would recommend to readers.
Spoiler Review:
This was one of my favourite reads of March because it was an engaging read with characters I couldn't help but love.
Harper is one of my favourite female YA protagonist in a long time - how could she not be after she basically jumped out of a window??? Not only is she a brave character but she's obviously kind and cares a lot for people, and I really enjoyed seeing how her behaviour changed Grey and Rhen's and helped both of them grow as people. She also learnt from both of them and wasn't scared to, and it was an interesting dynamic the three of them had.
Rhen was interesting, because he comes off as such an asshole for a lot of the book, but like Harper, as I learnt more about him the more I understood him - does that mean I excuse everything he did? No. But it's also nice to have a YA male love interest who isn't ‘perfect'. I also like the fact he was aware of how awful he could be and he was trying to be better. I appreciated how his strengths complimented not only Harper's but Grey's strengths too, and made their whole team feel very real and strong.
Grey was probably my second favourite character however. Even though he has a hard exterior, underneath it all you could see he had a kind personality and could be a good friend - he certainly was to Harper. I wish there had been more of him in this book, but I'm sure I'll see more of him later on in the series so I don't mind too much.
The romance in this was interesting, because it wasn't an insta-love nor were we really sure when the book ended if Harper and Rhen really loved each other or not. It felt very fragile and as if it could change, which is kind of refreshing in a YA series that two people don't fall in love instantly and then have a very strong relationship - it's clearly a slow burner. However, at the moment I'm more for Harper and Grey, I think they have a much better and healthier dynamic and are better suited to each other, I'm kinda mad at myself for wanting a ‘love-triangle'.
I wish we had seen more of Jake and Noah in this book because at the moment they come off as dicks, and I'm hoping they're not and it's more the shock of what happened to them. Also, I would have loved to have seen more female friendships between Harper and the other women in this because it's clear there could have been more there and it just wasn't explored fully.
The plot was a little predictable but I enjoyed it regardless, and the ending set up the sequel really well.
God, it's brutal out here. Yes, another unpopular opinion, I'm on a roll! :')
These characters were so boring. Such one dimensional characters imo. I liked the Monster's POV the most, oops. AND THE ROMANCE?! What in the world was that? I never felt like the characters had ANY chemistry with each other ... And yet the MC's seem to be in a poorly (imo) executed ‘love triangle' of some sort.
The last like 40 pages were decent, twist wasn't that shocking though.
I need to learn how to DNF books when I'm not enjoying them. D:
[8/10 RATING] [Spoiler-free review]
This was a great book to read! The plot was interesting, and it kept me wanting to know more. I thought that it was interesting having a protagonist with cerebral palsy as well. I do remember being slightly confused at the development of Rhen's personality though. The romance could be a little more developed, but overall this was a really good read! Despite not liking the ending that much (epilogue), I still enjoyed the novel alot. It was written beautifully, and I'm glad I picked it up. No regrets reading this one– I'm on the 2nd book now !
OVERALL: Do try this series if you'd like an original retelling of Beauty and the Beast, with cool things like characters travelling across to the modern world with technology straight from the fairytale world. I thought it was really good!
2.5/5 stars
Did I read a different book then everyone else? I am seeing a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews and I'm so confused.
The same thing happened with [b:Defy the Night|50022883|Defy the Night (Defy the Night, #1)|Brigid Kemmerer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1620924420l/50022883.SY75.jpg|71638471] so maybe Brigid Kemmerer just isn't for me.
Honestly, I know this book is YA, but it felt so juvenile for me. Like it would have been better as a middle grade series, the characters aged down a few years. the entire thing where Harper convinced an entire coutry she was a princess from a different country they never heard of??? What even??? How stupid are the citizens of Emberfall to believe that??? I can't. My eyes hurt from rolling so much.
Everything that happened in the book was just sooo convinent tbh. Her brother dating a doctor? Meeting into a man that used to be in the army and having him join the guard? The entire county of Emberfall not doubting their obviously ridiculous lies? Lol. There was no problem solving skills found anywhere in this book.
Anyways, I'm still gonna binge the rest of this series bc I'm trash for buying books and already own books #2 and #3.
i thought i would enjoy this book, but i was mostly just bored and disappointed. i think i would have liked it more if i didn't read tons of fantasy books, this book just doesn't compare to others i've read
the only thing i liked about it was that the main character (and author) have cerebral palsy, and i liked how that was included in the story. definitely read the authors note if you ever pick this up
rather than that everything else felt very ok, i actually enjoyed the 100 pages tho those were exiting
I'm DNFing at the 42% mark. I just don't care about what's going on, I gave it a bit but it never grabbed me and at this point I would rather try to find a book I'll enjoy than push through a book that I'm not interested in.
It felt like it was trying to be a new ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses' to me, and I enjoyed that way more, right from the start. Not for me; not terrible but I did find it a bit boring. Maybe I'll give it another try in the future.
I put off reading this book for so long and I don't even know why because I knew I was going to love it. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie. I've never read the original book but I have loved pretty much every Beauty and the Beast retelling I have read and this of course was no exception. First I need to point out that this book has disability rep. The heroine has Cerebral Palsy. I can't comment on the accuracy of the representation because I don't have any personal experience but I feel like it was done well. I liked how it was portrayed in the book. It's my understanding that it's not the same for everyone so maybe Harpers experience with CP won't be accurate for everybody. I loved how despite having CP Harper didn't let it hold her back and she definitely didn't let anybody make her feel less than capable. I loved how while yes this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling there was a darker spin on it. Honestly I just loved everything about this book. I did see the reveal coming in the end but that didn't take away from my enjoyment. I'm of 2 minds about reading the next books. Yes I absolutely want to continue with the series but everything I've heard about the remaining books hasn't been the greatest so I'm scared but I want more of Harper and Rhen.
Light read, I loved the retelling, the pacing was good and didn't felt dragged. I love Grey so much. Also Harper! Already on half of book two!
Leía muy buenas opiniones del libro y por eso no abandoné en 40%. Pero no me ha gustado nada nada. Demasiado predecible y forzado. Definitivamente no es el tipo de historia que me gusta
I rarely give two star ratings but unfortunately i was pretty disappointed in this read. It was a slow moving start. it didn't pick up till about 200 pages in. I was bored and though i can appreciate the main female not being a picture perfect “princess” that is the only thing I can like about this character. Rhen was interesting and thats all i can say about him. It felt repetitive between the two perspectives example of this is that we get rhen's perspective and thought process and then rewind now its harpers turn talking through the scene and thought process. I feel a dual perspective story line is fine but when scenes are repeated or feel repeated after just reading through in the other person i get bored. I have a feeling I'm an outlier in how I feel about it as booktube really hyped this book series up but I'm glad I powered through read it and its done. Sadly i went in thinking this was going to be an amazing beauty and the beast retelling but it really fell short for me.
I went in thinking I'd love it, then three chapters in I thought I was going to hate it. In the end, I felt as I do with some YA: so impressed that an author was able to fill a book with such a depth of complexity of individuals and character relationships in a short amount of pages. And what an imaginative reinvention of a story I thought I knew. I thought it is brilliant for what it is.
This book follows Prince Rhen, whose castle has been cursed to reset after every season, when a monster comes and terrorizes his lands. To break the curse, he must get a woman to fall in love with him. Every season, his guard, Grey, goes to the “other side” (modern day D.C.) to convince a girl to come back. On one of these attempts, he ends up bringing back Harper. This story follows them trying to save the kingdom.
I LOVED this book. It was such an interesting beauty and the beast retelling. Harper was an incredible heroine, and Grey and Rhen were so supportive of her. The romance was not overdone or insta-love. It was slow and full of challenges. The chapters from the monsters point of view shattered me every time. I mourned are the end for everything lost. And the twist ending had me squealing. I highly recommend this book to people who enjoy dark fairy tale retellings.
4.5 stars
This is such a beautiful book. I was expecting it to be a cliché, to be honest. But IT WASN'T.
This book has a lot of amazing things in it, starting with the fact that the main character, Harper, is suffering from cerebral palsy. For those of you who didn't know:
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of permanent movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time. Often, symptoms include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensation, vision, hearing, swallowing, and speaking. - Wikipedia
Harper is among the “lucky” ones, she has a limp which makes it harder for her to walk. But that didn't stop from becoming a badass princess. I love how she overcame her disability and how she becomes a warrior. I admire her so much for everything that she's done, for not giving up on her family just because she met a gorgeous prince from Fairyland (or Emberfall, haha).
At first I really thought that she was going to fall in love with Grey. I wasn't even sure what to expect from this book, but it was a really good retelling of “The Beauty and The Beast” (except it didn't have the huge, gorgeous library the Beast had :( sad reacts only).
Rhen is an arrogant prince who thought that he was entitled to anything and who thought that anyone should bow to him just because he was a prince. That was before Harper arrived in Emberfall and before she made him see things so differently. I loved their relationship throughout the book and how they started to trust each other.
I won't say anything else and I will keep it spoiler free, but if you want a great retelling, be sure to check this book out! I can't wait to read the next one and see what happens, because this one left me with SO MANY unanswered questions.
This book was a lot of fun to read. I really enjoyed this Beauty and the Beast retelling. Out of all the characters, Gray was my favorite! This was such a great read that I ordered the sequel.
4/5 stars
“We are all dealt a hand at birth. A good hand can ultimately lose - just as a poor hand can win - but we must all play the cards the fate deals. The choices we face may not be the choices we want, but they are choices nonetheless.”
A Curse So Dark and Lonely was an absolute delight to read! This novel is a wonder Beauty and the Beast retelling that follows Harper who lives in Washinton D.C. and has cerebral palsy. Her family has been dealing with some issues including her mom having cancer and living on deaths door and her brother having to deal with the aftermath of their dad's dealings. While she is dealing all of this Harper is stole by a man named Grey when she sees him trying to take a girl. Grey then takes her instead and teleports them into a fantasy like world. Grey is a guard for a prince named Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Rhen is cursed by a enchantress to keep repeating the autumn of his 18th year until her curse is broken. This curse also turns him into a monster at the end of each season causing him to destroy his kingdom and even kill his own family. The only way to break the curse is to have a girl fall in love with him which is why Grey takes girls from our world. Harper is then thrust into a world of poltics and war strategies as the prince attempts to sway her into loving him.
I loved the characters in this novel so much. Rhen was honestly such a cute little bean and Harper was badass. Harper really defied the stereotypical role of women especially those who are disabled. I believe the cerebral palsy representation in this was accurate from what I've heard from people with the condition and it didn't define her which I really liked.She stood up for herself against people of power and did what she felt was morally right even if it risked her. There is also a guard named Grey who I also really liked. He was very complex and that developed over the course of the novel.
The atmosphere of this book is quite strong. There is explanation on how travel is able to occur between our world and Rhen's world. I think this really makes sense when adding in the fact this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I really was able to see how this book had similar ideas to the original story but it wasn't glaringly too similar.
The plot progressed quite well and I felt the pacing was very consistent all the way through. The last chapter really had me shook a little bit and there is a plot twist at the end that leads well into the next book while not leaving an unsatisfying cliff hanger. The romance is also there but not overwhelming. Also there is a slight hint at a love triangle but it's very subtle.
The writing was quite basic but not in a negative way. I feel like the writing made it feel like Harper was telling the story which made sense since it was 1st person. It wasn't super descriptive and was more like an average person talking. This really was contrasted in the dialogue specifically with Rhen since he spoke much more formal due to his prince status. The difference in their speech really showed how different Harper is then the world she was brought into.
Overall this book was really fun! I'm excited to read the sequel and see what happens to these characters.
I started this last year, and then put it aside for a bit. I do that. It's rarely a slight against the book, more just I like to skip around and have a variety. I loved the story, the characters, and that the heroine wouldn't be considered by many to be “perfect,” while being perfect for that moment, that situation. I adored Harper's friendships with the people she met, and her brave, empathetic heart. What took the rating down to the 3 – 3 1/2 – zone was that too much was left unfinished. I am fine with a few loose ends in order to set up the next book in a series. A thriller I just read [b:Stillhouse Lake 33128934 Stillhouse Lake (Stillhouse Lake, #1) Rachel Caine https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495714483l/33128934.SY75.jpg 53802245] did that. I get it, I even admire it when done well, and that book did it well. This time, though, I felt that too much was unsettled, and so I felt I didn't get enough satisfaction or bang for my buck. “Fall in love, break the curse” didn't get honored ... or maybe it did? We are set up to not know that in order to, presumably, pick up the next one. The next one that already promised a lot of good stuff without this left dangling. I predict the author was going for a triangle, and I'm not here – there? – for it, to be honest. I'd prefer incredible friendships to be more the norm instead of the exhausting will they/won't they of it all. Eh, maybe I'm wrong about the trajectory.
Een Belle en het Beest hervertelling! Ik was er van overtuigd dat ik dit boek fantastisch ging vinden.
Helaas, tot mijn ontgoocheling vond ik dit boek niet zo geweldig.
Het idee begon nochtans eens verfrissend nieuw, met het vermengen van de fantasiewereld met onze alledaagse wereld en met een hoofdpersonage met een handicap. Maar uiteindelijk vond ik het verhaal een beetje saai en generisch. Ik heb mij ook mateloos geërgerd aan het gedrag en de uitspraken van het hoofdpersonage. Uiteindelijk vond ik het wel leuk en las het vlot weg, maar een echte impact heeft het niet gemaakt. Ik ga misschien wel het vervolg lezen, maar ik heb geen gevoel van dringendheid om verder te lezen, wat eigenlijk alles zegt over mijn lauwwarm gevoel bij dit verhaal.
This is a beauty and the beast retelling with parallel worlds.
I loved this! Not quite enough for 5 stars, but I still really enjoyed it. I loved Rhen's world. I didn't care much about Harper's world. I enjoyed the characters, Grey is my favorite.
The ending killed me! I immediately ordered the next one.