This book is like receiving a warm, magical hug…and then getting a little stabbed in your little heart.
Just like a little stabbing. It’s ok. It’ll be fine. I’m only languishing like a flopped rag doll on the floor wishing for book two…(briiiiiing me closer to nEXT JANUARY).
I really adore Brigid Kemmerer’s work, with Letters To The Lost being one of my all time favourites. So I was excited to see her foray into epic fantasy too. And like, pfft, of course it did not disappoint. (I’m also keen to read her Elemental series which I have the first three books of so apparently it is The Year Of Kemmerer and do I look like I am complaining. I am not.)
Thank you to Bloomsbury Australia for the review-copy! This was out February 4, 2019!
➸ this is a beauty and the beast retelling!
I’m a ferocious fan of retellings, but I like them to bring something fresh to the old stories. And this one did. It’s obviously still Beauty and the Beast, but the plot twists were fresh and the characters felt new and I adored how this version has eternally replaying “Seasons” where Rhen tries again and again to break the curse — but he dies. And he reboots. And has to do it all over again. And over the course of the season, he has to make a girl fall in love with him as he slowly turns into a monster.
So basically he is in a Groundshog day of eternally being eighteen, a monster, and everyone hates him. HAve a good life Rhen.
Note: He is not having A Good Life.
➸ the magical castle was my favourite thing
It’s also stuck in time, so it’s this flawless cheerful and permanently lush and opulent castle (or prison) and it just mocks how horrible Rhen’s life is. Sweet music plays. Delicious food appears out of nowhere. It’s beautiful and eternal….and empty. Because his whole family is murdered, his kingdom is falling apart. He’s down to one guard (Grey). And this is the last season before the monster destroys him forever.
➸ but let’s talk about Harper ok?!
She was a fierce bucket of live-wire SPARKS. While Rhen is the Prince of a magical world called Emberfall, Harper hails from good ol’ earth (D.C. to be specific) and has a horrible home life. Her brother is a criminal, her mum is dying, and she gets kidnapped and zapped to a completely different dimension. So to say she is enormously pissed off is an understatement. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ She does NOT sit down and take this quietly. She will stab u. Twice. She also has cerebral palsy which I loved, because seeing badass girls with disabilities in magical settings is something YA needs.
Harper: I want answers!
Rhen: you…want to play cards??
Harper: a n s w e r s
Rhen: do you…want a nice drink?
Harper: aNSWERS OR I WILL STAB YOU
Rhen:
Rhen:
Rhen: do you want a snack”
➸ And shhh shh a moment for my fave: Grey.
I confess he was my absolute favourite of the whole book. He’s a secondary character, but I rotated shipping him with Harper AND Rhen. At least in the beginning, lol lol. He’s Mister Solemn Loyal Soldier Sir (but secretly plays with kids and is soft™) and he’s the mum-friend and the protector. He will BLEED for Rhen and Harper.
THE MUM FRIEND OK.
➸ so let’s talk about the romance…was it Stockholm Syndrome?
Actually no! Obviously Harper is Not Thrilled™ to be kidnapped. But Rhen wasn’t aggressive or domineering either. He was actually…dude, he was depressed. He hide it behind being aloof and princely, but he gets tortured by a witch at night and he knows he turns into this monster that kills people and he’s just…so so done. He’s tired and sad and smol.
Harper is this woman of ACTION (let’s SAVE Emberfall! Let’s FITE the bad guys! Let’s CHANGE things!) and Rhen is this exhausted Slytherin just like…watching her go for it.
Harper: *charges off to save something*
Grey: should go after her
Rhen: nah
Rhen: let’s wait till she’s stabs something and falls over then we’ll help
➸ The ending freaking ruined me also, thanks for that, and how was your day?
I’m just pining for the next book. I was blatantly HIT with emotions and then left with so so many questions. The plot twist? I applaud. The end was full of monstrous action scenes, blood and viscera, aching hearts and shredded hopes.
➸ it was very long.
So the pacing was slow (and they spent a lot of time going back and forth from an inn lol) but this also developed Harper and Rhen’s personalities and relationship so!! There’s that.
A Curse So Dark And Lonely is a vivid retelling that’s full of lush magic, complex charaters and and over whelming feeling of loneliness. It’s about people who think they are alone in their fight…until they’re not. And it’s about wanting and fierce love and getting back up when you’ve been cut down. It is about a girl who brings hope to a boy who is terrified of the monster inside him.
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.
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.
Goodreads | Booktopia | Bloomsbury | Book Depository
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Ahh wonderful review, Cait. I had heard mixed reviews about it so I wasn’t sure about picking it up. But now I absolutely can’t wait. I love reading retellings and The Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite fairy tales. I absolutely can’t wait to dive into this ❤️
I definitely would recommend this one.😍 I’m just a tiny bit in love haha.
I loved this book. I am here for the slowest of burning tropes (also enemies to lovers). Also such amazing CP rep! Harper was fantastic. I loved poor Rhen’s obvious “why am I still doing this, pls kill me” vibes – I just wanted to feed him cookies and give him pats on the head. And Grey *sigh*. (I also equally hated and loved Lillian… she was a good villain!)
Isn’t it just so so good?! 😍 I’m so happy it had disability rep and such an epic slowburn and Harper/Rhen’s personalities clashed in the BEST way.
Ahhh this book looks amazing! I wasn’t approved for an ARC unfortunately but I can’t wait to get it to read for myself. Also Harper sounds like such a Gryffindor… would you agree? XD
Oh oh yes Harper is 10000% Gryffindor. It’s hilarious how she charges into trouble and saves people and Rhen (totally Slytherin) is like sitting back watching her and blinking and like, “where is the plan tho.”
Ahhhhh I love those relationships. They’re so hilarious bc the Slytherin is internally dying while the Gryffindor stumbles around aimlessly. XD
I is EXCITED for this! I feel like I haven’t read many Beauty and the Beast retellings, actually I might subconsciously avoid them because it’s so easy to get wrong (I have not read ACOTAR and I don’t plan to) but THIS looks good.
I think my favorite fairytale retellings are The Lunar Chronicles and Geekerella, not sure if I just enjoy Cinderella retellings or if they’re just the most common >_>
Omg skip ACOTAR and run for the hills lmao. A Curse So Dark is definitely my favourite B&TB retelling because it skips the problematic tropes and adds in much needed diversity and epic character personalities.
Great review! It just convinced me that I NEED to read this. The book sounds so cool!
EXCELLENT. My work here is done.😍
Just picked this one up and can’t wait to give it a read! Great review!
xo | http://www.sarahjuneblog.com
Ahhh I’m so glad you’re going to try it! And it’s super pretty too, right?! 😍
Ugghhhh I have to stop reading these reviewssssss I have too many books to read alreadyyyy
Will I stop?
NO.
I guess another TBR… 😹😹😹
I basically should flash TBR warning signs in front of my blog these days. 😂 I have so many recs ahah.
Oooh, I’m so excited to read this! I love me a good retelling. And stabby characters. Also, I know the warning that the ending will wreck me should slow me down, but I know I’m going to go into this headfirst and regret it later. Oh well.
Nah just read it and suffer with me *flails* It just leaves these doors WIDE OPEN at the end full of questions!!
This review is FANTASTIC CAIT ahhh. You make me want to drop everything and buy this book right away, I wish I could haha. I love Beauty & The Beast and I want, I need to read more retellings and that one sounds fantastic, I’m so glad you found it new and fresh and surprising and yay for main characters with disabilities in young adult fantasies, it’s so important and so good to see that, too!! I have to read that one soon 🙂 Thank you for this review! <3 <3
omg that just makes my day then 😍 I haven’t lost my knack for recommending books haha. And it’s by far my favourite B&TB retelling yet *flails*
OH I AM READING THIS. Thank you VERY much Cait, I am now 110% reading this. *goes in search of the book in libraries and stores*
YOU ARE WELCOME FOR ALL THESE RECS FOR YOUR POOR TBR *throws sprinkles*
ITS OKAY, IF YOU SAY ITS GOOD I TRUST YOU. also sprinkles are pathetic, if you really want to apologise you can share cake. 😈
sprinkles….AND CAKE!??!??!?
I am so excited to read this!!!! I’ve been wanting to write a B&TB retelling for years but just haven’t quite found the perfect idea so I am basically LIVING for this book right now! I’m working through a few too many books at the moment (one, a buddy read and another for a book club next week) so I haven’t gotten the chance to pick this up yet, but HOLY YOUR REVIEW JUST SEALED THE DEAL.
It’s probably my favourite B&TB retelling tbh, because it skips all the awful problematic tropes (like stockholm syndrome ugh) and makes it SUCH a good story afjdkslad. I love.
I CANNOT WAIT to read this one, I am such a Brigid Kemmerer fan (and was super excited when she complimented me on my twitter banner (because I made it myself after she said she had been tweeting about DIY jobs for promotion ohmygosh!!!!! Ha! its the small things in life!!)
I really love her books, especially Letters to the Lost. I have read the first Elementals books and it is very much so a book of its time (clearly during the whole paranormal romance craze) but I actually really really liked it (I can’t tell if it was a guilty pleasure or just a straight out pleasure) and am really looking forward to reading the second one now.
🙂
She is SO lovely and omg she says kind things to me too and it means the world to this awkward green author. The small things make the best impressions for us, right?! I love her so much!! Letters to the Lost is absolutely amazing and I pretty much cried. I’m definitely going to read the Elemental books this year!
I CANNOT wait to read this book. It looks completely awesome. Also you standing on that table… HOW!?
MAGIC. Honestly i’m defying physics with that one because I don’t know how the table didn’t flip over.😂
oh this review convinced me I absolutely need this in my life because BATB is my favourite fairytale and movie. also, i’m already in love with harper. (tell me is she in any way similar to Emma Carstairs????)
I hope you get a chance to read it!! And ooh, I mean I don’t think she has a particularly similar personality to Emma, tbh? Harper is more unforgivingly sharp, while Emma really had a silly side with all her jokes. I love them both though. 😂
Oh wow, I was already desperate for this book but it sounds even better than I thought!
I hope you get a chance to read it! I am all a-flail!
I was surprised how much I really enjoyed this one too smushy, I was expecting a sexless Court of Thorns and Roses which I would have enjoyed but it’s been done before. Grey. I feel as though he was the Chaol we deserved. I still has reservations because he was lady snatching but he won me over. I was shipping him and Harper. I don’t think Rhen was good enough for her I assumed it was a standalone until I got to the end and now I’m even more excited for book two!
omg I’m glad it didn’t resemble ACOTAR haha, that…would’ve been the end of me. 😂 And honestly it was Rhen/Grey I shipped lmao, but we all know why that is a bad idea.😂
CAIT! Oh my god, I LOVED this! It was just so, so good! How it took the original story, but added so much! The Kingdom! The starving people! The potential war! THE ENCHANTRESS WHO WOULDN’T LEAVE RHEN ALONE! (Who reminded me a little of Levania from the Lunar Chronicles!) Aaah, I just loved it! AND GREY! Oh, how I loved Grey! I vote for Grey to have his own book. Ahem. AND THAT ENDING! Oh my god, Cait! Blew my mind! The next book is going to be epic in terms of plot, but it’s going to be heart breaking, too! I can feel it! And I am all for a disabled Beauty! I’m not disabled, but I’m pretty sure that’s huge! Aaah, I loved it! SO MUCH BETTER than The Beast’s Heart, which is a retelling entirely from the Beast’s perspective, where… nothing happens. Except for reading books and playing music. Months of NOTHING! But this? This was fantastic! Great review, Cait!
And my favourite retelling is Drown by Esther Dalseno! A retelling of The Little Mermaid which sticks pretty close to the original, but brings so much more! Mermaids without emotions! Where beauty is their currency (they butcher themselves to buy things)! A prince of colour with a mental illness! An illness that is killing mermaids! IT’S SO GOOD!
Also, The Elemental series is AMAZING! And I love them, and oh my god, Cait, please read them soon so we can chat?! Haha!
Eeep I’m so glad you did! You are like the retelling champion here too! It was just so different yet so recognisable to the original, which is definitely my favourite. Grey just ajfdklsad, was my favourite. Downright. He was so chill but like I think he was internally screaming for 100% of the book.😂 (And I read a B&TB retelling that was really bad once too omg…I mean apart from ACOTAR which I’m trying to pretend never happened. It was a contemporary…Beastly? Yeah not for me haha.)
Oooh I will definitely come fangirl to you when I read the Elemental books!
This seems like such a great read. Pretty bummed it has not released in SA yet :'(
I cannot wait to read this!
Aw no, I hope you get it soon then!
so much love for this book. My favorite is also grey. I mean HE was all kinds of goodness…. I liked him for Harper too but I knew that wasn’t how the story should go and really Rhen is great too.
I actually snorted at “let’s wait till she stabs something and falls over.” Also this came in the mail for me on release day and I STILL haven’t started it…it makes me sad. MUST READ FASTER.
I dont really get the ending though…