*Spoiler free*
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. 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.
I don’t know really how to start off but by saying this book made me all ajhs;dkrsgsldkg. It started off amazing, it continued to be amazing, and it ended amazingly. The whole books was just one solid block of awesomeness.
This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but it is so fantastically unique. It is completely it’s own story, but still has the key elements that make it a retelling. This is what I want when I want to read books about kingdoms and castles and princes and princesses.
This is described as a slow-burn book and I agree. But, things so not drag on. There is never a dull moment and something is always going down. The plot and the characters and the world are all slowly built up, so you get this mix of spectacular storytelling along with characters who you grow and learn with. You discover this world and these challenges along with them.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a character like Harper. She was so incredibly fierce and passionate, while also being soft and quite. It was the perfect mixture and I love her. She has cerebral palsy, while I cannot say if the rep was accurate, it certainly does not hold her back. She is fiercesome.
My favorite part would probably have to be the realism of this story. The situations are not glamorized in any way. They are what they are. Rhen and Harper and Grey all have to make choices and sometimes they are wrong, sometimes they are right, and sometimes they are neither. But they make the one they feel is right. Choices are not made to be heroic, choices are made by what is needed to be done and what their hearts are telling them they need to do. This is very vague, but I do not want to give anything away. The situations are complicated and messy and there is no right answer most of the time. They discover they must choose and live with that choice and fight for what they think it right.
I personally thought this was going to be a stand alone. I was so happy because it was so good and it looked it I wouldn’t have to wait for another book! But, I think it is going to be a series. I do not know 100% because I cannot find any information on it. It looks like I’m going to getting more of my kind of kingdom books.
A Curse So Dark And Lonely comes out Janruary 29, 2019!
Pre-order link if you would also like to be showered in amazingness: https://www.amazon.com/Curse-So-Dark-Lonely/dp/1681195089
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