Review: A Curse So Dark And Lonely

Title: A Curse So Dark And Lonely
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's
Release Date: January 29, 2019

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.

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If you know me, you know that I have many times in the past struggled with Beauty and the Beast retellings. While I love the original source material, many retellings to me have felt rushed, instalovey, and full of stockholme syndrome. They often feel unrealistic to me. And that's fine. Just because I cannot relate to these books does not mean others can't. But it means these books were not written for me.

The difference with A Curse So Dark And Lonely was that this book felt completely real to me. From beginning to end, it felt believable.

Rhen is Crown Prince of Emberfall. He was cursed three hundred and twenty seven seasons ago to repeat autumn over and over and over. Until he finds a girl to fall in love with him. The only catch is that at the end of the season he turns into a monster and ravages his kingdom, killing anyone and anything in his way.

Rhen's loyal guard, Grey, retrieves a girl from our world at the start of every season in the hopes she will break the curse. 

Queue Harper, who is on lookout duty for her brother, Jake. She is not Grey's first choice, but she interfere's and ends up getting taken. 

One of the things that I loved about Harper was that she had Cerebral Palsy and she didn't let it rule her. I wasn't sure how I would feel about this, but she made it a part of her while not letting it overcome her. She was easy to identify with, and I hope others can identify with her as well.

Honestly, this book took me a little while to get into. And it's a long book. But once I got into it, I was hooked. I needed to see where it would lead, how Rhen would handle his people and how his monster would take form, if it would take form, how he would deal with the kingdom threatening to seize his lands. So much was happening, it was difficult to put down.

And then there was Harper, who against every odd and every attempt, she came to care for Rhen. Even though she was kidnapped, she came to see Rhen for the caring man he was. For the kindhearted individual who wouldn't knowingly hurt anyone. 

This book is long, so I could talk for a long time. But I will cut it short here. 

Overall
My thoughts? I really enjoyed it. I know a lot of people didn't like the ending, but I actually thought the ending was one of the strong points driving home how realistic this retelling was. It's unique and bittersweet.

4.5 stars