A Curse so Dark and Lonely

By: Brigid Kemmerer
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Dates Read: November 14 - December 13
Pages: 477
Source: Own it

Why did I read it?
I saw someone on youtube say this was a Beauty and the Beast retelling (and I am a sucker for BATB), so when I saw it for $7 on bookoutlet in the middle of a pandemic, it seemed like a no-brainer.  

A Curse so Dark and Lonely switches back and forth between the two main characters: Harper and Rhen.  Harper is a teen living in Washington DC with a mom at home dying from cancer, a dad on the run from not nice people, and her brother working for those not nice people in hopes to repay some debt.  One night while she is on lookout, she sees a man seemingly trying to kidnap an unconscious girl.  Harper attacks him with a tire iron and suddenly finds herself inside a castle from what seems to be another world (spoiler alert: it is).  Rhen is the prince of this castle and land but it is not as it once was.  Every season a new girl is brought to him in hopes to break the curse that has taken everything from him and his people. The land of Emberfall is not what it once was as it is being attacked by a monster that Rhen cannot protect them from.  It is Rhen's last season and last chance to break the curse, but the kidnapped Harper is more eager to get back home to her family than fall in love with a tortured prince.  

I went into this book thinking I would be able to fairly easily predict what it would hold.  How could a retelling of a story from our childhood be almost 500 pages?  We are going to know exactly what is coming.  Wrong.  The basic premise is Beauty and the Beast: girl is held captive in hopes she will fall in love with the Prince and she doesn't like it.  That's it.  That's all they have in common.  This book goes deeper and darker and realer.  

Harper is smart and independent and does her best to get as far away from the prince as possible.  She also has cerebral palsy which, in all honestly, I don't think I have ever read a book with any character having cerebral palsy, let alone the main character.  It was really interesting to read how she works with it and how she explains it in a land where they literally have no idea what cerebral palsy is.  The two men in the castle assume she is weak or injured but quickly find that she is stronger than they think.  

Harper and Rhen end up working together with different goals in mind.  They agree to save the kingdom, if they can, before the season ends and everything probably goes terribly wrong.  I should maybe mention that the other main character is Grey, Rhen's personal (and only remaining) guard.  Grey teaches Harper how to fight, helps them build their crazy plan, and becomes close to Harper because he's not the one trying really hard to make her love him.  

Honestly, I don't think there is much more that I can say without spoilers.  The beast isn't quite what you expect.  The ending isn't at all what you expect.  I haven't wanted to pick up the second book in a series so bad in a long time.

Rating: 4/5

Recommendation: I don't read a lot of fantasy, but this was really good.  I think most people would enjoy.  It makes a childhood classic more suitable for teens and adults with stabbing and fighting and dancing and the mob!