I got an eARC in exchange for an honest review. This doesn’t affect my opinions.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury!
Title: A Curse so Dark and Lonely
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: January 29th, 2019
Pages: 496
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Rating: 4.25 Stars
This is a Beauty and the Beast Retelling and I was so excited to get my hands on this. Doubly so when I saw it was written by Birgid Kemmerer. I’ve heard so many good things about her other books, especially Letters to the Lost.
Although one can definitely see the inspiration from the original tale, the base work of the story, Kemmerer did put her own spin on things and I quite enjoyed myself reading this. In fact, I read 75% of this book in one go because I just couldn’t put it down. So points for Intrigue!
In this story, Harper is from DC and gets (somewhat) accidentally dragged into another world; Emberfall. She doesn’t go willingly nor quietly. I really enjoyed her reactions to this. Her struggling with helping or staying out of things was really relatable. And poor Grey having to deal with her (a little irony, but also .. really)
Which brings me to my first big surprise: how well the two worlds blended together. Normally I’m very cautious of a book where a character from our modern world gets whisked away into a fairy type country. It poses a lot of problems. How well and fast does the character adapt to being essentially thrown back in time for about 100-200 years? How do the people from said other world react to the characters language, customs, clothes etc?
But I shouldn’t have worried because it was beautifully done. Grey, who is the loyal (and only) guard of Prince Rhen gets the power to travel to our world to … well … kidnap/convince a girl to come with him to Emberfall. He’s done this quite a lot lately (327 times to be exact) so he is fairly used to our world.
Harper, on the other hand, is first caught up in the danger of being dragged away and focuses on escaping and manages to ignore or explain away some stuff at first. And while she is awed by the castle and everything her priority is getting away (sensible girl right there!)
I loved the fact that she could get around reasonably well because she did horse riding back when she was younger as a form of therapy for her cerebral palsy. (Loved this because one, as far as I can tell, her cerebral palsy is written very well and carefully, but it also makes it way more plausible for her to be able to ride (not that that can’t be a hobby just because but it didn’t feel as convenient this way for me)).
And the things I liked most about her? She was fierce, yes, brave and a little bit reckless, but she also listened when people told her something was dangerous (well most of the time). She strived in Emberfall. She strived and really came into herself and seeing what she is capable of doing if people just let her.
Rhen was enjoyable to read about. I’m not head over heels in love with him, but he was a solid character and the more I learnt about him the more I actually liked him. I did pity him in all the scenes with Lillith (I’ll talk about her in a sec) and I quite liked the way he handled those situations.
He was a little bit lost, poor boy. And quite defeated but didn’t wallow in self pity which I really appreciated.
And now Lilith. This is one of my only complaints about this book. She is the villain and she was quite flat tbh. I love me a good complex villain. She was not.
She is wicked, no doubt. and some scenes are great and maybe it is because she isn’t in the book that often, is not really the focus, but I did miss a well written villain a bit.
But my fav has to be Grey. As I said, he is Rhen’s guard and he is loyal. Like extremely loyal! And though he is a bit standoffish he has a secret charming site that we get to see from time to time.
The worldbuilding is on point. It’s not overwhelming but you do really get a sense of what Emberfall looks like and what the people have been through.
The ending was relatively predictable and I did get to a point were I was like … really?? But I did still enjoy it and there were some things I did not necessarily see coming.
What I really appreciated about the ending was how the relationship ended and what was being said. You’ll know what I mean when you’ve read the book.
And the last scene? Although predictable it still did make me excited to read the sequel!
All in all I can really recommend this book if you like retellings. I certainly enjoyed my time reading. I flew through it!
Although I do think this is a very in-the-moment type of book … meaning I enjoyed it immensely while reading, but after finishing it and letting my feelings settle a bit I did notice a few things here and there that weren’t my favourites. (Also, I would’ve liked to know more about Harpers life before Emberfall.)
This is my Review of the Month for the review collection on LovelyAudiobooks.info
you got me with your first sentence, beauty and the beast is MY FAVORITE. and i love how there’s just this random guy kidnapping girls into this fantasy world, it’s a funny take to the tale. adding it to my tbr and hopefully looking for it this spring/summer!
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Yay! I hope you’ll love it!! And I agree, such a fun way to merge our world with this fantasy land and quite funny scene! 😀
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This is one honest review. I’ve not heard about the book but your post now makes me want to give it a shot. Loved the para though. There are so many in-the-moment books (especially in YA fantasy genre) I’ve been reading lately makes me wonder- whether my attention span has been thinning due to age or books have lost their “classic” appeal altogether? 😀
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Thank you. That means a lot!
I know what you mean. I had a lot of books I enjoy while reading, quick and easy, but after thinking about it for a while I notice the flaws. I’m trying to branch out a bit. Maybe I just need a little break from YA to really get back to enjoying it more? Maybe I’ve just read so many now that they all kind of merge together in my mind? Or I should get better at finding the ones that do have amazing worldbuilding etc. Because they definitely exist.
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In case you’re searching for “amazing world-building”- would recommend “Winternight Trilogy” by Katherine Arden. To me, that has been a top-notch fantasy series. With you on the necessity of branching out. Keep reading ❤
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Oh thank you for the recommendation. I just looked it up on Goodreads and it’s sounds really intriguing. On my wishlist now! xx
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Great review, and I am glad you liked it! I’ve seen mostly positive reviews and I really enjoy retellings so I am looking forward to this one!
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Thank you! I hope you end up liking it just as much. I quite like retellings, too but I read surprisingly few, so I was excited when I got this 🙂
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Wonderful review! I’ve been longing to read this book for forever, and after reading your review I want it even more badly! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! ❤
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Ah thank you! ❤
I hope you get your hands on a copy soon and that it’ll live up to your expectations! xx
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I am a SUCKER for Beauty and the Beast retellings, so this has been on my TBR for months already. But, I am glad to hear that you liked it because I am even more excited now! In my experience, retellings are the most in-depth books with the most complicated plots/characters, so I don’t mind the simpler villain or a somewhat predictable ending. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when a retelling surprised me by completely changing the story, but I love them so much that I will just read every one that I get my hands on!
Thanks for the review!
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I agree! Beauty and the Beast retellings are amazing! retellings in general … I read them way too seldom. I should definitely change that!
Hope you can read it soon! And yes, I can forgive the somewhat predictable ending, just because it was so much fun reading about Harper and Co! And I don’t think a lot of people will have a problem with the villain. I just love them so much that I end up a little disappointed when they aren’t incredibly complex ^^
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I saw it today at Waterstone’s, picked it up and read the back and was a bit interested from the posts about it through social media, I love your review, and I think I’ll be waiting for a library copy on this one 🙂
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Thanks! Fingers crossed your library will get a copy soon 😉 It’s a really fun read.
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Oh wow i never made the connection of who this author was and her other books. I love the sound of Lillith, thank you for a good review!!
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I didn’t either for the longest time! And I’ve always wanted to read Letters to the Lost. Merphy always raves about it and it sounds really intriguing and when it clicked both books are from the same author it made me wanna pick up A Curse only so much more.
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I need to read this! It looks so good 🙂 I like how you’ve put about books being amazing in the moment, but not necessarily as good once you think back
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Yes yes, you do! 🙂 It was so much fun and a very quick read (although I wouldn’t advise on trying to read this at a stressful time because you will binge read it and not get anything done .. like this girl here 😛 ) but yes, it does have some minor flaws that I noticed afterwards. Doesn’t really take away from the reading experience though ^^
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I got an ARC of this week and I honestly can’t wait to read it! I’m having a Fantasy Feb month so this perfect! Great review!
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Thank you! I hope you love it. And Fantasy Feb sounds perfect! 👌☺️
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I’ve heard quite a lot about this book, and I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it! I love intersections between fantasy worlds and our own, as well as retellings, so although this was already on my TBR I’m even more excited to get my hands on it now 😊
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I’m always so scared when our world and a mythical ones get woven together. It can go wrong so easily. But when it works it’s amazing!!
I hope you love this when you pick it up!! 🙂 xx
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it’s definitely a hit-or-miss setup, and I’m glad to hear this one is a hit! can’t wait to start it!
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Ooh yay! Glad you liked it! I’m waiting for this book to release here, sounds like it’ll be a wonderful read..😍
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You don’t have to wait much longer ☺️
I hope you like it just as much as I did! xx
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Thanks! Hope so too! 🙂🙂
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