A Curse So Dark and Lonely

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a little upset with everyone for not forcing me to read this book sooner. While I love a good fairly tale adaptation, this one blows the others out of the water. We've got everything flipped in this one.

The prince, Rhen, is only a beast for a time. The "princess", Harper, is chosen more or less by accident to come to help try and save the kingdom after she attacks Rhen's guard Grey as he attempts to kidnap another girl to try and break Rhen's curse.

Harper catches on to the game pretty quickly and attempts an escape. Once she realizes that there is no way home, she resigns to trying to make the best of it. Meanwhile, the kingdom is under attack from outside forces and Rhen makes the choice to try and save his kingdom instead of himself.

I've never read any of this author's novels before but if this is an example as to how good she is, then sign me up for the rest of them.

The world she's build here bridges the real and the fantasy. The dialogue is genuine and precise and funny at times. There are no words used that aren't needed or necessary. Even though we're reading about a couple who you know needs to fall in love by the end of the book, we’re not beaten over the head with the idea throughout as other adaptations have done in the past.

I loved that Harper was both fierce and insecure at times. She felt like a fully formed person instead of a one dimensional damsel in distress.

This was a one sitting book for me. I blew through it and I swear I barely blinked. I'm so excited that there is more to this story to be read in the coming years. It's a fairy tale retelling. You might get a happy ending…but it'll be happy-ish.


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