by Brigid Kemmerer
A YA Beauty and the Beast retelling that mashes up urban fantasy and high fantasy, all within a time loop that resets each time the prince fails to break the curse and turns into a monster… yeah that sounds fun. Will the curse be broken? Let’s find out?
Read if you like: YA fantasy, fairy tale retellings, enemies to lovers, slow burn romance, unlikely pairs, ‘running out of time’ trope, ‘I somehow got forced into a fantasy world’ trope, evil sorceresses, stoic guards, overly confident princes, and perfectly human leading ladies.
Prince Rhen feels hopeless. He has been trying to break the curse for so long, everything he knows has slowly been destroyed. Only his unfailingly loyal guard, Grey, remains. But he doesn’t have long to feel sorry for himself or the state of his kingdom. The curse is about to reset and a new season is about to begin.
Harper’s life is on the brink of falling apart. Her dad left… and left behind his debt. Her brother is being forced to work for the loan sharks. Her mother is sick and dying. Harper always gets pushed aside because of her cerebral palsy. But one choice changes everything as she finds herself in a fantasy castle that’s not enchanted… but cursed.
A Curse So Dark and Lonely is the first book in the Cursebreakers trilogy. It is a delightful YA fantasy. If you are looking for a complex read where everything is new and different or pushes the story into new concepts and social discourse, then either change your expectations or skip it. Because what you get is a fun adventure with enough of the original fairy tale to keep you grounded with fun twists to keep it interesting. It has a lot of the familiar tropes and themes that we all know and love. It’s classic and updated at the same time. What more could you ask for in a retelling?
Is the prince a jerk? Yup. Is the girl “different than the rest?” Yup. It’s not trying to be something that it’s not and I LOVED it. I LOVED IT!!! I asked myself several times, “Why do I love this book so much?!” I still don’t know. I think because it didn’t try too hard. It just told a fun story with fun characters that brings ‘fresh nostalgia.’ It was utterly charming and bingeable. I think I have a new, fun comfort read for when I’m tired of slogging through lore and twists and riddles… not everything has to be complicated. Let’s all go have some fun in a fantasy castle.
Oh, and the ending… I’m so glad this is a completed series. Off to read A Heart So Fierce and Broken!
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