Review - A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Published 29th January 2019 by Bloomsbury Children's 

Goodreads Challenge - 25/50 

Star Rating - ****

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Fall in love, break the curse.

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But 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.

My Thoughts

I'd seen this book all over Twitter and I love a good retelling so I was really keen to pick this up. I was excited when I was accepted to review this one via NetGalley. It's taken me a while to get to because in the recent couple of months I have both moved house and had a baby so my reading definitely slowed down (or stopped 🙈) but I'm getting back into the swing of things now and this was just what I needed to get me back into the reading groove.

Here are my thoughts...

What I liked
• It's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and as I've already said I love a good retelling. In my opinion this was a good example of a retelling as there were clear nods to the original story and key plot points but enough individuality to the story to keep it interesting. 

• The representation. The main character has a disability and there were LGBT side characters. Neither of these aspects were handled badly but they could of been done better (I'll explain below). 

• There were several strong characters all of which had strong morals. Harper was a strong, independent female who didn't want to be treated any differently. Grey demonstrated loyalty and showed what it meant to be a good friend. Rhen had quite a complex personality. This developed well over the novel and he definitely grew as a character in a good way. 

• I enjoyed the romance. It was very slow burn and I loved the way both Harper and Rhens feelings developed over the course of the novel. 

What I thought could be better 

• I would of liked a bit more world building. It felt very much just like a medieval version of our current world. Which was fine but there was often mentions of magic and I would of liked this explained a bit more. 

• The representation of Harper's disability, although good and not problematic, could of been done a little bit better. At times it felt like it was an afterthought but that's just my opinion. This could be interpreted as it not being a problem to her, which is obviously a good thing. I think there's a fine line between good rep and bad and I might just be being a bit picky. 

Overall a really enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend picking this one up when it comes out.

Overall Rating