A Curse so Dark and Lonely - Cursebreakers #1 - Brigid Kemmerer
Some scenes contain violent contents that may offend sensibilities of readers.
Plot:
Prince Rhen has had it all. A perfect life in a perfect castle. He enjoys being the attention of all the girls in the kingdom. One night, he meets Lilith. She is beautiful. The prince shares a bed with her but when comes morning. he chases her away. Heartbroken and hurt in her pride, she reveals she is a powerful enchantress and as a punishment, she curses the castle and the prince. He will live the autumn of his 18th birthday over and over again. To break the curse, the prince needs to find a woman who loves him for who he is. She grants Commander Grey a small gift: the possibility to cross the veil between their world and our modern world to find suitable women. If the suitors do not fall in love with him, he turns into a hideous beast. And then each season will start all over again until he finds the one.
But after years of trying, Prince Rhen and the enchantress make a pact: this will be the last season...
(...)
But after years of trying, Prince Rhen and the enchantress make a pact: this will be the last season...
(...)
Opinion:
I loved this book. This book was also one of my first books written by Brigid Kemmerer but I think I will have a look on what other books she wrote for I thought this book was really well written.
Words spoken in the dark in the middle of the night always feel so much heavier than they would at any other time.
For the past couple of years, I have been a sucker for retelling stories (A Court of Thorns and Roses, Hunted, The Lunar Chronicles...). As you can guess from the summary, this is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. We all know the story starting by "Once upon a time...". This story though is both unique and recognizable. The storyline remains the same and you identify elements from the fairytale. However it is also unique in a way that Brigid Kemmerer uses a modern world and a parallel world.
For the past couple of years, I have been a sucker for retelling stories (A Court of Thorns and Roses, Hunted, The Lunar Chronicles...). As you can guess from the summary, this is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. We all know the story starting by "Once upon a time...". This story though is both unique and recognizable. The storyline remains the same and you identify elements from the fairytale. However it is also unique in a way that Brigid Kemmerer uses a modern world and a parallel world.
(...)
I liked the characters Brigid Kemmerer created. Using POV helped us understand better what Harper and Rhen are going through. One is new to this world while the other is exhausted by it.
I liked the characters Brigid Kemmerer created. Using POV helped us understand better what Harper and Rhen are going through. One is new to this world while the other is exhausted by it.
We are all dealt a hand at birth. A good hand can ultimately lose - just as a poor hand can win - but we must all play the cards the fate deals. The choices we face may not be the choices we want, but they are choices nonetheless.
Harper is a passionate woman. She is smart, strong, fierce, brave, loyal and caring. She is a bit tomboyish but that only made me like her more. She was not the cliché of the future princess. As soon as she understands how the curse works, she tries her best to help Emberfall in any way she can. However, as soon as some results are seen and she has a true influence on events, she thinks on how she let down her own family. I totally get it. Her family has a situation on its own but it was sometimes getting on my nerves.
She was not born a princess but she carries herself like one. She knows the skills a true leader needs: she is attentive and she can think through any type of situation. Her brother always thought that her disability meant she was not capable enough to help him in repaying their father's debts but I liked that Rhen and Grey never saw her disability as an obstacle.
Harper is a passionate woman. She is smart, strong, fierce, brave, loyal and caring. She is a bit tomboyish but that only made me like her more. She was not the cliché of the future princess. As soon as she understands how the curse works, she tries her best to help Emberfall in any way she can. However, as soon as some results are seen and she has a true influence on events, she thinks on how she let down her own family. I totally get it. Her family has a situation on its own but it was sometimes getting on my nerves.
She was not born a princess but she carries herself like one. She knows the skills a true leader needs: she is attentive and she can think through any type of situation. Her brother always thought that her disability meant she was not capable enough to help him in repaying their father's debts but I liked that Rhen and Grey never saw her disability as an obstacle.
(...)
“She attacked you?” My eyebrows rise. “Grey. She is half your size.”“She makes up for it in temperament. She most assuredly was not my first choice.”
With Harper, Rhen becomes a wonderful prince. He was so focused on the curse that he forgot he also has people counting on him, people who thought they were to fend for themselves. He has been alone with Grey for sometime now, repeating the curse over and over again. He even started doubting himself since no one could fall for him and after seasons of seeing the curse undefeated, he stopped caring for the girls. He tried sacrificing himself so many times to stop the curse. At this point, it feels like the curse broke him and Harper gave him a purpose again.
Lilith is the only character with no real depth. We know for it was said before that she was a woman hurt in her pride and that she comes from a line of powerful enchantresses who were hunted down by the previous king. But I feel like she could have been more than just an empty villain.
(...)
The writing was really easy to go through and the story was so interesting that I read the book in only a few days. There is not a lot of action except at the end but I thought it was okay. It gave the reader time to understand the court, the curse, the characters... There was a bit of political intrigue but not too much. Just enough to set up the scenery and understand how each court work and add a bit of suspense. I was honestly hooked from the first page to the last page. But be warned, it ends on a cliffhanger!
With Harper, Rhen becomes a wonderful prince. He was so focused on the curse that he forgot he also has people counting on him, people who thought they were to fend for themselves. He has been alone with Grey for sometime now, repeating the curse over and over again. He even started doubting himself since no one could fall for him and after seasons of seeing the curse undefeated, he stopped caring for the girls. He tried sacrificing himself so many times to stop the curse. At this point, it feels like the curse broke him and Harper gave him a purpose again.
Lilith is the only character with no real depth. We know for it was said before that she was a woman hurt in her pride and that she comes from a line of powerful enchantresses who were hunted down by the previous king. But I feel like she could have been more than just an empty villain.
(...)
The writing was really easy to go through and the story was so interesting that I read the book in only a few days. There is not a lot of action except at the end but I thought it was okay. It gave the reader time to understand the court, the curse, the characters... There was a bit of political intrigue but not too much. Just enough to set up the scenery and understand how each court work and add a bit of suspense. I was honestly hooked from the first page to the last page. But be warned, it ends on a cliffhanger!
Full article here
0 comments:
Post a Comment