One for those that adore re-telling’s, A Curse So Dark & Lonely is the first instalment in the Cursebreaker series which provides a darker, more sinister story arc to the much-loved Beauty and the Beast fairytale.
The Crown Prince of Emberfall, Prince Rhen, has been cursed by the enchantress Lillith to repeat the same season until he finds a person to love him. If he fails, he turns into an everchanging monster that only has a desire for one thing - to kill. Harper, a seventeen-year-old with Cerebral Palsy, was on the look-out for her older brother who has been forced into a life of crime as the family live in poverty. It was on this night, with Harper ready to defend Jamie, that she came across the mysterious Grey - who was in the other world to collect a new woman for that season for the Prince - when he accidentally chooses Harper.
As always, I adore a strong female lead in the books I read - and Harper does not disappoint. She is: determined, strong-willed, caring and willing to do absolutely anything in order to do the right thing. Experiencing the journey of this book through Harper's eyes is not only exciting but truly inspiring, I can't wait to see her develop through the rest of the series.
While Harper develops a lot throughout the book, Prince Rhen is somewhat a different story. It's not a spoiler to state that we join Prince Rhen after many seasons have already passed - and because of this, a good portion of his character arc has already happened. We do, however, join him on his journey to learn how to love - which provides an interesting twist to the usual 'arrogant male lead' characterisation, because he isn't so arrogant anymore. I suspect that there is more to come from his character as the series goes on.
A quick note on the mysterious Grey - I really love him as well. His relationships with both Harper and Rhen are strong, and the pages that surround either of those relationships are some of my favourites. I believe that the main aim of Grey in this book is for the reader to fall in love with him, which they do, because the rest of the series for him is going to be very interesting (as evidenced by the last chapter).
The true masterpiece of this book is definitely the pacing. Harper's short time in Emberfall feels longer than it is, which definitely increases the fantastical element to the story - and somewhat helps separate Emberfall to the other world. That's not to say the book drags or isn't a page turner, because it absolutely is and I would have finished it in one sitting if I could have. This pseudo-slow pace also benefits the love story within the book, I'm not the biggest fan of instant-love, so witnessing the process of Harper learning to trust Rhen and for Rhen to learn what love actually is - is very fulfilling for the reader.
The book did a good job of introducing the series 'villains', I'm going to be as a vague as possible here because I don't want to ruin the plot, but villains are introduced in this book that I think will come into play later on. A Curse So Dark And Lonely, however, has the main villain of 'The Monster'. As the book very much follows a similar premise to Beauty and the Beast, while The Monster does monstrous things - he is still Prince Rhen and therefore not a true villain? But the 'The Monster' is definitely more deadly than 'The Beast' from Beauty and the Beast - so there's that. Of course, there's also Lillith, who is definitely a cruel and malicious villain but she lacks presence in this book. I wouldn't mark the story down overall on this though, the time constraint of the season, and everything that comes with it, very much acts as it's own issue that results in the reader feeling on edge throughout the book.
Overall, A Curse So Dark And Lonely is an accomplished book in itself, but also sets up the rest of the series incredibly well. I'm not too sure where Harper and Rhen will go now character development wise, but with the ending I am intrigued to see where Grey will be going from there. I also want to see more of Harper's brother Jamie.
Thanks for reading
Rhi.
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