Kat's books

Restore Me
Ignite Me
Convergent Lines
Unravel Me
Geekerella
Frozen Tides
Gathering Darkness
Rebel Spring
The Cruel Prince
The Winner's Crime
The Winner's Curse
A World Without Princes
Batman: Nightwalker
Just Because of You
Out of the Shadows
The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic
Nearly Found
Nearly Gone
A Strange Hymn
Wonder Woman: Warbringer


Kat's favorite books »

Sunday, February 9, 2020

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.

(Goodreads)  

I waited three months to get this book from the library. And it was definitely worth the wait.
This is a retelling of the beloved tail, Beauty and the Beast. Though the story is familiar to all, this story is anything BUT ordinary. 
The inclusion of disabilities viewed in a positive light was an amazing part of the story. It never held the heroine back from accomplishing her goals and it wasn't this constant thing to pity her for. It was just there. 
I struggled getting into the book at first, I felt like the pacing was a bit off, but then you hit a point that the flip switches and you are just hooked. Once I got to that point I could not put the book down!
Everything about Harper's bravery, the way she viewed each problem was just so... different? I guess you could say? Her decision making keeps you on your toes, and she just so proactive in the best way possible. She really seemed to brighten Rhen when he was just to hopeless.
But what really got me was the ending. The ending was not something I ever would have anticipated. In the original tale of Beauty and the Beast, whether you watch the Disney version, or read the original story. It always end with Beauty saving the Beast with her confession of love. And in Kemmerer's spin of the tale is completely different because no one truly knows who really broke the spell. Was it Grey, the amazingly loyal Guard Commander, Rhen the Prince fighting against the curse, or Harper the supposed Chosen one the beauty to the beast. No one knows, because Harper admits that she's not really in love with Rhen, and that absolutely blew my mind.

A Beauty and the Beast story without the true love??? What?!?! Now Harper, Jacob, AND Noah are stuck in Emberfall because Lilith is dead. Grey is missing, and they are now royalty pledged to help Emberfall with an "army"
And then it ends
what. the. hell.
Can the next one come out already and end my suffering?!?!
Until next time readers <3
Love Kat 

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