Uptown Oracle Reads… A Curse so Dark and Lonely

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A Curse so Dark and Lonely
Brigid Kemmerer

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.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely is a Beauty and the Beast retelling with a unique twist. The curse is enacted much differently with the beast not being a ‘beast’ all the time – but with much higher stakes when he is the beast. The beauty ‘Harper’ also finds her way free of the ‘damsel in distress’ trope and is a strong character that whilst having cerebral palsy does not let her situation get the better of her.

Speaking of Harper – I know this is a retelling so there is a bit of a set format, but she’s from our world?? With technology and phones and proper medicine… and she seems to accept this new land and magic a little bit too easily. I mean, If this was me, I would be freaking out as I find instruments playing themselves. And I’d want to see more and more magic, but I would also probably have a meltdown without technology. I don’t know, I think this is an issue with many books that transport you to a different world, that the characters accept it easily.

We also get a different POV with Rhyn, which is how we explore the curse and exactly how the curse has affected him. We see ups and downs, and that Rhyn feels like giving up because of how the curse affects him and those around him. I found that this gave a bit of depth that you don’t get in the Disney version. The ‘beast’ isn’t just angry and sulking because of the curse, he’s actively tried to break it over and over again, which is slowly breaking him. Another unique-ness that I could get on board with.

The world is great though. In the original, we’re trapped in a castle, but the unique twist of the curse means Harper and co are able to leave the castle. This means we get to explore Emberfall and meet different characters. Seeing the people and the political tensions as this country is straining under the Prince’s curse, without fully knowing what is going on was interesting. It was a bit of added information which you forget about in the original tale! Because of course the ruling family being cursed would affect their country.

Whilst we do see more characters in A Curse So Dark and Lonely, there’s some which I think we could have had seen more of. I think the Enchantress could have been a larger part of the story, and she captured attention in every scene she was in. I also found that Harper’s brother could have been a bigger part of the book (but I don’t know if that’s just me?).  I loved the addition of Grey and his dynamic with both our POVs. He’s also a great way to introduce how this curse has affected not just the beast, but his subjects too.

Overall I enjoyed the book, and found that there were a few twists and turns that are different to the original. I also found out that there will be a second book which continues this tale! There’s a slight cliffhanger, but not one that’s too frustrating.

Positives

• Original Retelling
• Interesting world

Negatives

•  Some characters could have been used more?

I received A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer from the publisher via Netgalley. This is an unbiased and honest review

As seen in my January releases list as one of my anticipated releases!