A Curse So Dark and Lonely (The Cursebreaker, #1)

by Brigid Kemmerer

Discover the epic, contemporary fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast from Brigid Kemmerer: the first in the spellbinding Cursebreakers series.

'Everything you'd want in a retelling of a classic fairy tale' JODI PICOULT
'Absolutely spellbinding' STEPHANIE GARBER

Fall in love, break the curse.
Break the curse, save the kingdom.

Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall, is cursed. Forced to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he can only be freed by love. But at the end of each autumn he is transformed into a beast hell-bent on destruction, and after so many failed attempts, his kingdom and its people are barely holding on.

Harper's life has never been easy, but she's learned to be tough enough to survive. She won't let anything hold her back, not her cerebral palsy or her mother's deteriorating health. But when she is sucked into Rhen's world, nothing is as it seems. Powerful forces are standing against Emberfalll ... and it will take more than a broken curse to save it from utter ruin.

• ISBN10: 1681195100
• ISBN13: 9781681195100
• Publish Date: 7 January 2020 (first published 29 January 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Imprint: Bloomsbury YA
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 512
• Language: English

Reviews

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Thank you to Bloomsbury for my copy of this via Netgalley. I also got a copy of this in my February Fairyloot box. I ADORE Beauty and the Beast so I was stoked to get a special copy of this from Fairyloot. I flicked between the netgalley copy and the Fairyloot copy.

I was a little scared to read this just in case it was terrible and ruined BATB for-Evermore. However, I had nothing to worry about. This book was AMAZING! It was different, yes but I loved it. The chapters are told from alternating points of view with the characters name after the chapter number to let you know who's POV you are reading.

Harper is a strong character. Despite her cerebral palsy, she is determined not to be a victim. She is brave and confident but also stubborn as hell. She made a great Belle. I loved her chapters so much.

Rhen is 'The Beast'. In this retelling, Rhen isn't a beast all the time. He only turns into a beast near the end of the season. Rhen has done everything he can to protect his people but the kingdom is in real danger. I really loved Rhen from the beginning. He was damn easy to fall for. I so wanted things to work out between Rhen and Harper. I also loved his relationship with Grey. Grey has been there for him since the curse began and he has never given up.

I really loved the ending of this book and I CANNOT wait for the next book

[Kat @ Novels & Waffles]

This book is a freaking masterpiece.

That's it. That's the review.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

A Curse So Dark and Lonely is an enchanting, romantic tale perfect for fans of fairy tale retellings who want a slow-burn, swoonworthy romance combined with a more active, political take on "Beauty and the Beast."  The novel introduces readers to protagonist Harper Lacy, who must fall in love with Crown Prince Rhen of Emberfall in order to break the curse that has consigned him to turning into a violent beast at the end of each season--but it takes readers beyond this classic love story and asks how Harper and Rhen can help the kingdom outside the castle doors, what steps they can take to protect the people of Emberfall, even if the curse is never broke.  The result isn't perfect, as intricate political machinations do not seem to be the novel's strength, but the ambition of making a "Beauty and the Beast" story more than a romance stage in an isolated palace and the the passion and complexity of the characters help make the story shine even through its small flaws.

The romance--and the two characters in it--is really the high point of A Curse So Dark and Lonely. It's been a while since I read a novel where I was so invested in the romance, captivated as I watched the two characters come closer together slowly but surely, hesitant to trust each other but hoping they could--and then that the trust would turn into something more. This is a lovely, slow burn romance that builds over the course of the novel and brings the readers right along with it.

The characters themselves, however, are also wonderful an individuals. Harper is a bit rough around the edges, understandable since her mother has cancer, her father has run out, and her brother is apparently involved with the Mafia.  She's no-nonsense and straightforward, but she is also kind and does what's right even when it's hard and even when it seems foolish. Rhen is equally complex, a man struggling with a curse that has lasted seemingly forever, tired of his fate but also hoping to do what he can for his people.  (A lot of readers prefer the guard commander Grey as the most interesting character; I like him, as well, and he is complex, but I actually think his real time to shine will be in the companion novel Kemmerer has planned.)

I had just a couple small issues with the book. First, the enchantress who has cursed Rhen doesn't seem to have a plausible motivation.  There's an explanation, but it seems flimsy. It doesn't explain her desire to torture Rhen, Grey, and really anyone else any chance she gets or her apparent desire to see Emberfall as a whole burn to the ground. She's a bit flighty and actually reminded me of Lucinda from Ella Enchanted the way she randomly pops in and out of places and causes unasked-for havoc, but inexplicably more sadistic than Lucinda. She makes sense as a plot-mover, not so much as a character, which is a shame considering how complex the rest of the characterization in the book is.

Second, I didn't really understand all the political maneuverings in the novel.  I understand Kemmerer has written contemporary YA before, so maybe "how to run a country" is not her area of expertise, but I was a bit lost when things like "closing the borders and stopping all trade" were presented as "initially wise" moves that "protected the country."  I also was not 100% clear on why all the royal guard was gone, why the prince was no longer communicating with his army or...anyone, etc. I think there are some obvious solutions to their problems that were never taken or addressed.

These questions did not ruin my enjoyment of the book, however.  I loved reading this take on "Beauty and the Beast" and meeting a cast of fantastic characters who all had to find ways to overcome their doubts and past mistakes to do what they could for other people. In many ways, the book isn't so much about romance or even saving a kingdom as it is about personal sacrifice and finding strength in unlikely places. Highly recommended.

[Stephanie]

I KNEW IT. Arggsahfgjdafkhdfka

[Jo]

I received this eProof for free from Bloomsbury YA via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Trigger Warnings: This book features death due to cancer, loan sharks, threats of violence from loan sharks, kidnap, violent death, magical torture, violence, discussion of attempted suicide, threat of child murder and sexual abuse of a child, and a scene of blood, gore and viscera.

I am a huge fan of Brigid Kemmerer, and, as you know, a huge fan of retellings, so when I heard Kemmerer was writing a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I was immediately sold. But I didn't expect A Curse So Dark and Lonely to be as incredible as it was.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely has all the things you would expect from a Beauty and the Beast retelling: a girl held against her will, an enchanted castle, a prince who becomes a monstrous creature, a curse that can only be broken by a girl falling in love with the prince, a way for the girl to magically see her family, the girl returning to her family. But it also has so much more. What most retellings seem to forget is that the beast is a prince, and that princes have kingdoms. In A Curse so Dark and Lonely, we see that kingdom, the kingdom of Emberfall.

We have Prince Rhen, who has been cursed by an enchantress to relive the autumn of his 18th year over and over - and at some point during each season, he turns into a beast and loses all sense of self. He becomes a monster who wants nothing more to kill and destroy. His family are dead. The people who worked in the castle are dead, except for Grey, his Commander. When Rhen first realised what he becomes and the devastation he caused, he shut himself away in his castle, keeping away from his people, not wanting to hurt them. He shut the borders for more protection; with no-one to run the kingdom, there's no telling who might come in or out. He has been through hundreds of seasons, trying to charm women to fall in love with him, only for him to fail, or for him to kill them when he becomes the monster.

Harper is a girl from Washington, DC. Her mother is dying from cancer, father abandoned her family with his debt to violent loan sharks, and her older brother Jake is now working for the loan sharks in order to pay off some of the debt. Life is miserable for her family, living constantly in fear of having their debt called in, and of their mother dying. One night, Harper is keeping watch while Jake is terrorising a family for their debt, when she sees a man trying to lead away a woman who is so drunk she can barely stand. Harper can't just stand there and let this woman be hurt, despite the fact she has cerebral palsy, resulting in a limp that would be a disadvantage in such a situation. Nevertheless, she attacks this man to save the woman, and in doing so, is herself transported with Grey to Emberfall.

The fact that Harper is transported from our world into this high fantasy world is so interesting! She has no idea who Rhen and Grey are, no idea where she is, and she'll be damned if she's going to just sit about waiting for a rescue that isn't going to come. Yes, she's disabled, but that's not going to stop her from climbing out a window, climbing/falling down a trellis, stealing a horse - knowing to ride from physio after the multiple operations on her leg - and trying to get the hell out of here. And it's in trying to escape that she comes across a family whose house is being burned to the ground by soldiers who are intent on hurting them. Again, Harper can't just walk away and tries to help, with the weapons she stole when she stole the horse. Unfortunately, she doesn't know what she is doing, and is almost killed until Rhen and Grey find her and save them all. Now Rhen discovers what's happening in his Kingdom.

The people are poor and starving. With the borders closed, there is no trade. Rhen's people are suffering and they're dying - and now soldiers, claiming to be on orders from the King, are destroying people's homes and stealing the land. Karis Luran, Queen of Syhl Shallow is invading. Emberfall is on the brink of war, with no army to defend its people. This is when the fairy tale retelling becomes more like a high fantasy - quite possibly my favourite genre, and so pleased me no end - and we see Prince Rhen act like a prince and try to figure out, with his commander, how to save the kingdom. Inspired by Harper, who, when more soldiers appear at the inn where Rhen has taken the family who were attacked, on a whim, pretended to be a princess of another kingdom - DC, called Disi by everyone else - whose father is negotiating an alliance with Emberfall, and will help boost Emberfall's ranks with his own army. They take the lie Harper told, and run with it. But now Harper must always be Princess Harper of Disi in public in order to help, while also desperately wanting to get home to her mother and brother.

I absolutely loved Harper. She's no damsel in distress sitting around waiting to be rescued. She's tries to save herself, and more than once she tries to rescue others. She's resourceful, and thinks quick on her feet, and she's so kind and compassionate, brave and courageous. She's also pretty so assertive and will stand up to this prince who has kidnapped her, who sometimes treats her, she believes, like she's a stupid little girl who knows nothing. She is just awesome.

I don't have cerebral palsy, nor am I otherwise physically disabled, so I really recommend you read other reviews from people who are to hear about their thoughts on the representation, but there are few thoughts I'd have that I'd like to share. I think it's also really important to note just how awesome it is that "Beauty" in this retelling is a girl with a disability. I've heard from disabled people in the book community that they are almost invisible to non-disabled people; not seen at all, really. But in A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Harper is "Beauty". She is seen, and she's important - in more ways than just as a girl - one of many over the hundreds of seasons - who could possibly fall in love with Rhen and break the curse. The people of Emberfall are in awe of her, and inspired by her, not in a disabled inspiration porn way, but because of who she is. As far as they're concerned, they have been abandoned by the King, but now here is a girl - who they later believe is a princess - who is putting her own life in danger in order to save them, who stands up for them, who brings them food from the castle because they are starving. She's not a princess, that's a lie, but Harper already has an effect on them before there's any hint that she's a princess. It's her kindness and her bravery that inspire the people, and the fact that she will fight for them. It makes them want to fight right along with her. Harper isn't a "chosen one" character. She's just a girl who is frightened and unsure, but can't turn away from suffering, and agrees to continue the princess charade in order to help these people. She is not kind and brave despite her disability or because of it, but in addition to it, as Kemmerer says herself in her author's note. Her disability effects her in regards to her movement, but it's not who she is, and it's who she is that makes her so important. And Harper is just awesome, and I loved her.

Rhen was pretty awesome, too. He has suffered so much; he has to deal with the knowledge that he has killed his family, that he is a danger to his people. That the only way to break the curse is for a woman to fall in love with him. He has tried to break it by bringing about his own death multiple times, but he just wakes up again on the day of his 18th birthday. He is constantly tormented by Lilith, the enchantress who cursed him, a vicious and sadistic woman who delights in Rhen's physical - as she will cause him great pain, magically, just from a touch - and mental suffering. He no longer knows what to do. He has tried and tried, and he has failed, time and again. Why will Harper be any different. But she is different; she's not so easily charmed as the previous girls, and she stands up to him, and she's smart and kind and brave - not to mention beautiful. Emberfall and it's people are nothing to her - and she's made it quite clear that she wants to leave - and yet time and time again she does so much to help his people, at risk to herself, and he can't help be but admire and appreciate her for that. Rhen is tortured, and he's trying his best, but really, he doesn't see how it will make any difference in the long run. An army is coming, and he has no army to meet them. You can't help but feel sorry for Rhen.

Grey! Oh, how I loved Grey! We don't get the story from his perspective as we do with Harper and Rhen, but we see various sides of him through his relationships with them both. He is fiercely loyal, and will do whatever Rhen commands, but he will make it known through his silences when he thinks Rhen's being an idiot, and when Rhen gives him to say what he thinks, he will tell him so. He's kind and understanding with Harper, but he'll also chastise her when she puts herself in unnecessary danger. Because she isn't a princess, she can't see the consequences of her actions beyond right now and what they'll mean for the kingdom at large. But he is an important adviser to both Rhen and Harper, and he is just the best. He's funny and firm, but also sweet and kind, and I loved him.

The ending! Oh my god, the ending! I absolutely did not see it coming! There were a couple of moments in the space of a few pages where I thought the story was going to end completely differently, and I was practically screaming, "WHAT?! No!" with shock, but then it would twist again, and oooh, the actual ending! Mate. MATE! The sequel, A Heart So Fierce and Broken, is going to be epic! When it comes to story, plot, and politics, at least. But it's also going to be completely heartbreaking when it comes to what the ending means for individual characters. So, so heartbreaking, and oh my god, I just want to give someone the biggest hug, because... why?! Why would Kemmerer do that?! Oh my god, it's going to be as awful as it is epic. And my fears are practically confirmed by the title of book two, and I am an excited but miserable bunny. I can't bear it, but I also absolutely cannot wait! 2020 can't come fast enough!

I adored A Curse So Dark and Lonely, and it is quite possibly my favourite Beauty and the Beast retelling. If you love retellings, or if you love high fantasy, or if you love Kemmerer's previous books, you absolutely cannot miss this!

Thank you to Bloomsbury YA via NetGalley for the eProof.

[jeannamichel]

If I hadn't needed to sleep, I would have finished this in just one sitting. Review to come.

[bestmessever]

This was probably the most interesting take on the beauty and the beast story that I have read yet. Our Main character Harper has cerbel palsey but she doesn't let that define her. She saves a girl who was obviously drugged from being taken by some guy by hitting him with a crow bar. (Yes she really is that b*tch) She ends up being taken instead to the Kingdom of Emberfall where she learns there is a curse done by a enchantress scorned. Harper is desperate to get back home to her brother who she was lookout for when she was taken, their mom is dying of cancer and Harper just really wants to get back to her. Our Prince Rhen is charming, amusing, and a little abrasive at times, he has one loyal guardsmen left Commander Grey who I really came to love throughout the book. His unwavering loyalty in all things is beautiful and inspiring.

I adored this book, it had a lot of diversity and it was very beautifully written. It is beauty and the beast but feminist and darker. It is definitely worth checking out. I gave it a 4.5/5 stars. 

[alisoninbookland]

I’m just going to go ahead and warn you this review will be full of fangirling and spoilers.

A Curse So Dark And Lonely contains everything I love in my YA fantasy books: secret identities, surly guardsman, fairy tale elements, romantic tension, and sass. Everything was done to perfection. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said that Brigid wrote this book just for me.

Let’s star with the basics: the beauty and the beast elements. Rhen is our beast. He’s been cursed to evolve into a beast every season. If he can’t get a girl to fall in love with him over the course of a season, the season resets. Things reset?! Sweet, that doesn’t sound terrible. WRONG. Rhen resets back into a human. Anyone and anything that was destroyed over the course of the season stays destroyed…and dead.

Harper is our beauty and she’s not a typical beauty. I’m particularly fond of the fact that she ‘shouldn’t’ have been in this story or drug into this world. She was minding her own business and saw a man messing with a woman she thinks is drunk or drugged. Instead of turning a blind eye, she attacks the man and gets transported to our fantasy world. This sets the tone for the type of woman that Harper is. She’s the type of heroine that is aware that other people are involved in the “story”. She doesn’t focus on what’s happening to her. She wants to make sure everyone is taken care of. It’s a rare find in the YA books I’ve read. Harper also has Cerebral Palsy but it wasn’t the main focus of the story. She doesn’t let it hold her back and fully intends to do what she wants.

Once we get past the trust issues between Harper and Rhen, I love how they work together to attempt to save the kingdom. I’m always a big fan of court politics so it was fun to see how a city girl and a born prince could use their skills to outsmart neighboring kingdoms and gain the trust of the people.

Kemmerer’s writing is addicting. The book is a rather large fantasy doorstop which can be intimidating. It’s like popcorn where you just keep working at it and can’t stop. I breezed through the story with no trouble.

All in all, A Curse So Dark And Lonely was a great read. I can’t wait for everyone to read it. I can see it being the big book of 2019.

You can find more book reviews and bookish fun here.

[Kelly]

Harper is a formidable character, determined and resourceful. Growing up with cerebral palsy has shaped her into a fierce young woman, capable and never to be underestimated. Since her father left his family with debt they couldn't repay, Harper's brother Jake was forced into a life of thuggery, working as a shakedown man for their local debt collector while their mother battles cancer. Harper is tagging along on Jake's latest job as a lookout when she witnesses a young, unconscious woman being taken from the streets of Washington. Harper intervenes, saving the young woman's life but is taken herself and transported to Emberfall.

Prince Rhen hasn't been seen by the good folk of Emberfall since the curse was placed upon him, most believing the royal family had fled the castle due to the monster roaming the lands. For Rhen, his life is on constant replay each season of his eighteenth birthday. To break the curse, he must find a young woman to fall in love with him. He may be a Prince but the ladies of Emberfall aren't so easily impressed, the ones who've survived the monster, so he's been sending his trusted footman Grey to the earthly plane to find a woman to break the curse. They didn't bargain for the streetwise, ballsy Harper though.

Prince Rhen is dashing and handsome, clearly intended as the love interest for Harper and readers alike. I wasn't shipping it folks. He's nice enough, when not in monster form but he was too busy trying to woo Harper rather than treating her as an intellectual and his equal. It was Grey that realised Harper's potential and because she begun to feel comfortable in his presence, they soon became friends. Apart from stealing Harper from the streets of Washington, Grey is a gentleman. He refers to Harper as my lady and I can imagine the intense hat tipping as a result. He reminded me of Chaol earlier in the Throne of Glass series, with the difference being that Grey is incredibly polite rather than gruff.

I was shipping Grey and Harper. Hard. They shared a chemistry that just wasn't present between Harper and Rhen, whether or not that's due to the pressure of Rhen's curse and Harper feeling overwhelmed or even obligated but I could help but ship the wrong couple. Let me live in ignorant bliss. Being taken and the age old discussion of Stockholm Syndrome will always be raised with kidnapping narratives and rightly so. Often the captor manipulates the person being held captive into believing they need their captor to survive, they're a nice person who's misunderstood and soon enough, feelings are skewed. Harper isn't being manipulated and herein lies the difference, throughout the narrative she isn't forced into a romantic relationship and although she's aware of the curse, she isn't under any obligation to fall in love with Rhen. In fact, he soon releases Harper's independence and tenacity as a strong, independent young woman are the qualities he most admires within her personality.

Harper is a character with a disability. Her cerebral palsy is never romanticised nor seen as a weakness, quite the opposite. Those of Emberfall believe her limp is a result of an injury, something she fiercely defends and embraces. Within the narrative, she mentions the multiple operations she experiences as a child to make her the woman she is today. She realises her limitations but also knows she can work around them. It's wonderful to see a character with a disability simply be and their disability not used as a device to further the storyline.

From the opulent palatial grounds to the humble merchant towns, the Essence of A Curse So Dark and Lonely is a beautiful retelling of a quiet resistance. A modern fairytale, a tenacious young woman and a ship you can sail into the sunset. Cannot wait for the next installment!

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

A Curse So Dark and Lonely is a Beauty and the Beast retelling in a bookish world crammed full of Beauty and the Beast retellings. I was a little hesitant, despite my love of both this fairytale as my favorite and retellings as a genre, but I decided to give it a try when I saw a few people talk about its unique take.

Our Belle in this retelling is Harper, a girl from DC whose family doesn't have it easy - from loan sharks, to her mom's terminal cancer, to Harper's cerebral palsy, she has faced a lot and has been made stronger because of it. When she's kidnapped from the streets of DC and whisked away into an enchanted castle in a fantasy world called Emberfall, ruled by a cursed prince, Harper finds herself questioning where her loyalties lie.

I loved Harper! For me as a reader, there is a fine line between a character being strong and being annoying. I'm glad to say that Harper was on the side of the line that I love to root for! She was tough and inspiring and, although I sometimes found myself frustrated with her hesitation, it was understandable and I never found myself disliking her. I liked that this book showed Harper's cerebral palsy as a part of her and not her defining trait.

Rhen is the cursed prince, and the curse is a bit different in this story than in others you've read. This curse turns Rhen into a beast once per season, while he remains his normal princely self the rest of the time. I wasn't quite sure about him at the beginning, but he grew on me throughout the book and I found myself loving him halfway through. It's always interesting to see how authors try to justify their Beast character kidnapping women to make them break the curse. In some, like Hunted by Meagan Spooner, it just comes off as creepy and not at all romantic. In A Curse So Dark and Lonely, though, Rhen and his curse is written in a way that makes his actions, while not completely morally white, at least understandable and his choices are presented as the lesser evil, the best thing he can do for his people. I loved him and I loved the slow burn romance.

Of course, I have to mention Grey, the Captain of the Royal Guard, and an absolutely fantastic character. He is loyal to a fault and is a wonderfully complex character who I couldn't get enough of. I loved his dynamic with Harper and the little glimpses we got to see of him outside of his strict military persona. I also enjoyed the other female characters, Freya and Zo, and their very different friendships with Harper.

As I've said, this is a very unique take on Beauty and the Beast. It was interesting to see Harper struggle with knowing her family needed her back home, while the people of Emberfall needed her there. I thought that Emberfall was well written and I enjoyed that we got a glimpse into the wider world outside of the castle grounds. While it wasn't always fast-paced, I was never bored and enjoyed the times the characters spent getting to know each other. There were a couple things I did have mixed feelings about, however.

The villain Lilith (honestly, Lilith?) was a bit too cartoon-level evil for my taste. While she was amazingly brutal and I did appreciate how vicious she was, I never felt like there was a good explanation for why she cursed Rhen in the first place. I would have liked to have had a better understanding of who she was and why she hated Rhen so much. My other issue is with the ending. I loved the romance and how it progressed to that point, but the ending really didn't sit well with me. Grey also had an epilogue that I could have done without, which left the series open ended. This book has all the makings of a fantastic standalone, but I have the feeling it's going to get dragged out into a series.

I loved the characters in this book and I loved their journey together! My heart was broken so many times for them both and I love when a story can make me feel emotions like this one did. A Curse So Dark and Lonely did so many things right that I hate to even discuss what it did wrong, but alas. This isn't a perfect book, with its over the top villain and not-quite-satisfying ending, but I still loved it and would definitely recommend it to other fantasy lovers!

Actual rating: 4.5 stars