I bet you guys thought I'd never finish my review of A Curse So Dark and Lonely. Surprise! I did a thing! Yay, Jessica!



Fall in love, break the curse.

Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year, Prince Rhen, the heir of Emberfall, thought he could be saved easily if a girl fell for him. But that was before he turned into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. 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 constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, Harper learned to be tough enough to survive. When she tries to save a stranger on the streets of Washington, DC, she's pulled into a magical world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. A prince? A curse? A monster? 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.

“Failure isn't absolute, just because you couldn't save everyone doesn't mean you didn't save anyone.”

Feel free to drag me for being SO LATE to reviewing this one. Honestly, can you blame me? That's just how good A Curse So Dark and Lonely is. My feelings for it are similar to my feelings for Holly Black's The Wicked King in the sense that I couldn't possibly write a coherent review after I'd read it. I'd heard nothing but great things about A Curse So Dark and Lonely during its stages as an ARC and was pleasantly (un)surprised to find that I, too, adored Brigid Kemmerer's fantastical Beauty and the Beast retelling.

Admittedly, there was a part of me that was super nervous to read A Curse So Dark and Lonely. I've had my fill of Beauty and the Beast retellings. Moreover, I was a little nervous of it being the same old same. Fortunately, Kemmerer proves not only her versatility as an author she brings out a side to the general story and breathes new life into it. A Curse So Dark and Lonely is a balancing act of familiar and unfamiliar, ushering readers into a vividly new take on a story we know quite well.

There's this atmospheric quality to it that draws worlds together and paints an incredibly stunning picture for all to see. A Curse So Dark and Lonely ties archetypes and tropes together in a way that comes out sparkling with new lie. It reminds me exactly why I read urban fantasy/fantasy so frequently. Kemmerer's writing is as steep and thorny and darkly woven as I'd hoped for. She managed to craft everything I want from the genre into one book--a sprinkle of representation, characters with real complexities, fantasy and tantalizing angst all tied into one package.

Without a doubt, this might be tied with A Court of Thorns and Roses as my absolute (!!!) favourite Beauty and the Beast retelling. I adored Harper, above all else, and loved how Kemmerer worked all the plotlines together. Further, I genuinely felt a lot for the rest of the characters, too.

Good and bad, Kemmerer had me feeling intensely about it all and I was unable to put A Curse So Dark and Lonely down. This book caused me to soar through its pages just as easily as it offered that dull aching quality of a good book. While I adored it, there are some bits and pieces to A Curse So Dark and Lonely that won't be or everybody.

Given the fact that it is re-imagining of a story that ignites love or hate, this is probably obvious to you, but is still worth noting. If you aren't a fan of Beauty and the Beast there is a decent chance you won't be fond of this one and that you should proceed with caution. Ultimately, I can't tell you guy what to read or not--but I can say that I enjoyed this one with every inch of my heart.