Book Review | A Curse so Dark and Lonely

A Curse so Dark and Lonely
Brigid Kemmerer
477 Pages
5/5 Stars

Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall, is cursed. Forced to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he can only be freed if a girl truly falls for him, and after so many failures his kingdom and people are barely holding on. 

Harper's life has never been easy, but she's learned to be tough enough to survive the streets of Washington, DC. When she is sucked into Rhen's world, nothing is as it seems. Powerful forces are standing against Emberfall... and it will take more than a broken curse to save it from utter ruin. 

"I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light."

A Curse so Dark and Lonely sets itself up as a classic Beauty and the Beast retelling, but once you get stuck in, you'll realise it's so much more. This take on the classic fairy tale is told from both Rhen and Harper's point of view (first person) and only jumps to Grey's point of view for the epilogue. It has considerably darker themes to it than the Disney version that is so well loved; Rhen openly admits to previously killing people (including his own family) and it is stated in the first chapter that Grey has kidnapped almost four hundred young women and brought them to Emberfall in a bid to break the curse. 

There are other notable differences to the classic tale; the furniture and objects within the castle are only enchanted - they do not sing or talk, the library has been left out, there is no 'Gaston' waiting in the wings to swoop Harper off of her feet and plot points such as the threat of war, the mysterious 'true' heir to the throne and Harper's home life have been added to drive the story forward. I think these losses/additions make the story all the better and provides a fresh and unique experience of a well known plot.  

As the book switches back and forth between Rhen and Harper's point of view, it's really nice to see the tentative friendship and eventual romance build slowly from both sides. I also really liked that the romance wasn't fully fledged by the end of the novel, which is usually quite common in young adult fantasy books. Overall, the plot of A Curse so Dark and Lonely was amazing. It's fast paced, flows well from one scene to another and I was fully invested throughout the whole plot. 

Harper is a brilliant character. She's had a hard life; her mother is dying of cancer, her father is gone and her brother has turned to crime in order to pay back the debts their father left. In spite of this, Harper is unfailingly kind, determined, brave and caring. Harper also has Cerebral Palsy, a lifelong condition that affects movement and co-ordination and so is often underestimated by her brother and other characters in Emberfall. While I personally do not have any experience with Cerebral Palsy, I thought that the way Kemmerer addressed this was very well done. 

I think that Rhen is the hardest character in A Curse so Dark and Lonely to like, especially in the beginning. He starts the story as an isolated, lonely figure and by end has grown into a more mature, trusting and kinder person. Like Harper, Rhen has his own demons - he's cursed to turn into a beast at the end of every autumn, he's killed people close to him and he's not a very good leader of Emberfall at first. However, I think Rhen is the kind of character that grows on you; watching his journey and seeing him build trust, friendships and loyalty brought me genuine joy. 

"We are not always presented with the choices we want, but choices exist nonetheless."

Overall, I think that A Curse so Dark and Lonely is a well written, underrated, quality piece of young adult literature. Before reading this, I was stuck in a year long book slump. This book fired the reader in me up again and it had me hooked from the beginning with its great characters and strong plot. I really enjoyed reading it and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a Beauty and the Beast retelling.

Have you read A Curse so Dark and Lonely? Tell me what you thought of Rhen and Harper's story in the comments below. Thanks for reading my first review of 2020, and I'll see you in the next post.