Huzzah for my first read of 2020: A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer! A massive thankyou to my dear friend Olivia aka Stagey Bookish for recommending this one, boy what a ride…

The Kingdom of Emberfall is under threat, Prince Rhen is cursed to relive the autumn of his eighteenth year. Love could break the curse, but the cynical Prince knows better now: he has destroyed his castle, his family, and hope is slowly dwindling.

Growing up in Washington, Harper has proven time and again that she is more than what people expect of her. An absent father, dying mother and overprotective brother Jake have been the touchstones of her world for so long, that when she is spirited away to Emberfall, she doesn’t know what to believe. All this talk of princes and curses and mythical creatures? Surely nonsense.

As Harper and Rhen grow closer, the stakes raise as powerful forces arise and threaten Emberfall, and she discovers that breaking the curse may only be the beginning…

I love a good retelling, and Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite stories, so immediately this book and I were on solid terms. Brigid’s been really clever in her approach here though: we have the basics of the familiar story: Prince, curse, and a heroine who must break it, but she encompasses these with her own original twist and that makes things fresh and exciting! What I wasn’t ready for was the extent that I would fall in love with her sense of originality and fun.

Books are great in light of the relationship we’re able to form with characters. We relate to them and see ourselves reflected in them, and that’s a really potent and powerful thing. I knew I’d like Harper, then I read the sentence:

Cerebral Palsy doesn’t mean my curiosity is broken”.

Harper has my disability. Though it manifests differently for her,I can’t tell you how much that affected me, in the best kind of way; I’m talking a lump in the throat, tear in the eye kind of scenario just a few pages in. I’ve related to female characters before, but never been able to “see myself”. Representation is so important because it shows us that we have value and are worthwhile and from someone with the disability, there’s not nearly enough of that around. To have an author willing to represent the condition in itself was really empowering, but what I especially liked was that Brigid doesn’t make the disability the focus of Harper’s story. She’s sassy, fierce and incredibly resilient, and just happens to have a disability.

The other character I really enjoyed getting to know is Grey, Rhen’s Guard Commander. He initially came across to me as strong and brooding, not much different to many other male characters I’ve read. Then, Brigid would bring him in with Rhen and Harper and through their conversations, you slowly see that Grey is more complex than he appears. He’s fiercely loyal and not afraid to make his voice heard, and particularly with his relationship with Rhen, I love how nuanced that is and can’t wait to see how that develops!

Writing wise, I love how this is paced – chapters are short and the point of view shifts from Rhen to Harper each chapter, it drives the narrative and kept me hooked. I also enjoyed the powerful simplicity; the way she evokes such intense emotion in a single sentence.

“I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light”

As I write this, I’m headlong into the sequel of this series: A Heart So Fierce and Broken. There’s new characters, and lots of twists and turns that I’m loving! The series as a whole is known as the Cursebreaker series, and I’m so happy to have joined the ranks!