Genre: YA Fanatsy
Series: Cursebreakers #1
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 484
Publication Date: January 29, 2019
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
My Rating: 3,5
A Curse So Dark and Lonely is definitely a story that sucks you in; it is a page turner full of twists and turns. Overall, I found this book to be a very enjoyable read but not without some faults.
Let’s begin with all the things I did like, because we are positive people and we must look on the bright side first and foremost! After this completely unecessary and uncalled for pep talk let’s jump right in!
🗡️ Harper. Harper is a very interesting character. I am not going to lie, at first I was unsure of my feelings about her, and I can’t wholeheartedly admit that I even liked her, but as I got to see more of her, she kinda grew on me. I liked the fact that she was strong and independent, that she did not waver from her beliefs. Also, I can’t talk with certainty about the celebral palsy representation in this since I’m not an expert, but I really appreciated the fact that the main character has some form of celebral palsy and it is shown in the text. She shows symptoms and she actively talks about it. She is not ashamed of who she is, and it is right that she shouldn’t.
🗡️ Rhen. As the prince/beast of the story he is both charming and dark. This is what I liked the most about him: he is a character who has been bad, has done wrongs and is aware of it. He does not wait for the princess to save him and make him realise he has been wrong; he already knows. So the whole “bad prince realises he’s been an a****le all along because he fell in love” trope is -thankfully- not present in the story.
🗡️ Originality of retelling. Honestly this is the most original twist of The Beauty and the Beast tale I have ever read. I LOVED the fact that it was set in modern time DC; I found the combination of modern and fairytale to be so unique and captivating. It was the best part of the whole book for me. However beware: if you are looking for a retelling that will have roses, talking furniture and huge libraries, you won’t find them in this story. Here you’ll find something more of the sort of weapons, a bloodthirsty enchantress and politics.
Now, on to the dislikes.
🏹 The pacing. God, I am so conflicted on this part. The pacing threw me off so many times throughout the novel, but at the same time there were many times where it was just right ???? I don’t know what happened there.
🏹 Love triangle. In all honestly, this love triangle may not have been very prominent in the story, but God was it unecessary. Why was it there? It is possible that not every male in the story instantly gets enarmoured by the heroine you know. Shocking but there are some rare instances where it happens.
🏹 Tone. Kemmerer lost me a few times with her tone and I couldn’t connect and the way she presented things seemed to me a little emotionless? I don’t know how to best explain it; there wasn’t much feeling and emotion to back up the writing. I think that I had the same problem with another Kemmerer book I’ve read so maybe that’s a me problem?
I received this e-ARC via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Marianna's Corner 