A Curse So Dark and Lonely

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.