A Curse so Dark and Lonely - Brigid Kemmerer

Rating: 4/5

I have owned this book for so long and something about it just did not appeal to me. I am not sure whether it was the dark cover, or the fact there was a sticker on the book saying it was a Beauty and the Beast re-telling, but it was not screaming read me in the same way all of my favourites did. I love Beauty and the Beast for the nostalgia and reliving my childhood, but the idea of a re-telling just is not something I would like to read. You can imagine my surprise when I read it and it was both everything I expected and nothing like I expected at the same time.

This discussion is going to be absolutely riddled with spoilers, read ahead at your own peril.

Let us begin with Harper. I love her. She is the embodiment of strength. Within the first five pages of meeting her, we learn that she has cerebral palsy and then she hits someone with a bar in what appears to be a kidnapping. She is my kind of female lead. The girls that are small but will more than happily pick up a sword and join a fight. Throughout the book we see her find her feet, and grow into herself in such a beautiful way, whilst dealing with things no one should ever have to. I love that despite the fact she is surrounded by men who are literally bigger and stronger than her, she stands on her own two feet and refuses to move when pushed. This is a girl that is led by what is in her heart and what she believes is right. She acts according to how her actions will affect other people. Pretty early on in the book Harper puts herself at risk to take food to a family that need it without thinking twice about the danger this holds to her, and her reply to what she was doing ‘I just want to go to the inn. I don’t – I don’t want to play games. I just wanted to help them.’. This is a common theme amongst fantasy books. Most female leads have the same character traits. I am not complaining, but honestly if you have read one of them, you know the general theme of all. And yet, it melts my soul every time I read about it. Sounds about right does not it. A standout for me is definitely the cerebral palsy as I mentioned. And the fact that she acknowledges her weakness, but never defines it as being broken. At one point in the book she boldly says, in the face of danger of course ‘my body is not broken’ and I adore this. She is different, she has her weaknesses, but never does she refer to herself as broken or let anybody treat her like she is. It is shown just how capable she is at holding her own and standing on her two feet. And as someone close to those with disabilities I love seeing this representation in a fictional character.

Rhen, tortured, regal Rhen. Rhen is cursed to become a monster at the start of every season. Whilst he is the monster, he is unaware of his actions, he becomes murderous, attacking those in his path. And the only way to break the curse is to love someone and have someone love him back. When he fails, as he has done so far, the season re-sets, but anyone he killed stays dead. This is where the Beauty and the Beast retelling comes in to play. Rhen is the prince, having murdered his family whilst the beast. He is brought girls every season, and none have yet broken the curse. We watch Rhen grow to care about Harper. We see a prince who stayed in his castle turn to a leader who opens his doors to his people. A man afraid become a protector. I love his character growth. Although I definitely wish that it weren’t brought about solely by a girl, I understand why this is the path the story was pushed down. At the beginning of the story Rhen is very stand offish. We see a change in this character trait when he finds Harper going off to the inn, as mentioned above. He says to her ‘I’m escorting you to the inn, unless you’ve changed your mind.’. He wants to help his people; he just does not know how. And it appears that watching Harper and her small act of kindness drags this out of him and allows him to bring about more than just pain and suffering. In the middle parts of the book he does it more secretly, doing things when Harper is not watching; however this changes to him being very open about being willing to provide whatever help he can. He does not want to bring about pain. ‘Whether the curse breaks or not, you are willing to help my people. I am the Crown Prince of Emberfall. If there is something within my power to give you, all you must do is ask.’ This excerpt alone displays both his growing want to give Harper everything she needs, and the fondness that is growing between them, and how much he wants to be a good Prince despite his own fears. I love the complexity of his character and the very authentic way that his trauma is discussed.

I love love love scary Grey. Commander Grey, sorry. Grey swore his service to the crown and swore to protect them with his own life. This extended to Rhen of course and throughout the curse Grey has kept his word. He has faced every season with Rhen, even bringing the girls to try and break the curse. He is every bit the disciplined soldier you would expect him to be. There are moments though, usually when he is with Harper, that you see his personality come through and that Harper brings out his humanity. ‘So underneath scary Grey there’s a big softie who’s good with kids and animals’. Harper saw more than the soldier he is. More than just the protector of Rhen. Whether this is when he is teaching her more about weapons or whether they are playing cards he provided a sense of friendship after she is thrown into a completely foreign situation. He is loyal, he is caring, and a beautiful character through and through. His loyalty is the key component to his character throughout the entire trilogy. He notes a few times in regard to Rhen ‘my duty is to bleed so he does not’. Given the fact that Rhen regularly turns into a murderous monster, it would be understandable if Grey had left his post and gone to safety, but he did not. He stayed and did everything that he could to help break the curse. I adore the relationship he strikes up with Harper. Unlikely as it seems it should be they naturally build a mutual respect that turns to friendship. It could also be said that he developed more of a friendship with Rhen towards the end of the book too. ‘Prince Rhen released me from my oath. I am sworn to no one’. Whether he stayed out of friendship to the Prince or because of some sense of duty he felt towards his people, his staying at the end of the book when he did not have to speaks volumes to his character. Being along while this entire trio finds their feet and their places with each other is a joy.

The story is Beauty and the Beast. Prince is cursed, needs a girl to break the curse. The main difference is that this story is bloodier. There is a lot more at stake than turning into a candlestick for the rest of your life. But the overarching story is the same. It is redemption, it is finding your strength, the ability to make yourself a new home and to give back to those who need it most. It is love finding you, not when you want it the most, but when you need it the most. Added to blood fighting and all of that stuff that we all love.

I have forever gone on about my love of fantasy books. My favourites usually include anything fae related. This felt a lot like those. Despite the lack of fae it felt so magical, and action packed. I read this on an 8 hour flight and time went by so fast. I was so lost in this new universe that I completely forgot I was on a plane – until the plane started shaking like a leaf, I had a quick cry and got back to my book. While on my trip I managed to devour the full trilogy. So expect ramblings for all three of the books to be posted shortly.

It's safe to say I’m now strongly obsessed with Brigid Kemmerer. While we’re here if anyone has read these but not yet read Defy the Night, run don’t walk, run to your nearest book shop. Me and my sister LOVED it.

Thankyou for once again listening to one of my rambles. Hopefully these will be back to being a little more regular than they have been. As if it’s been nearly a year and a half since I last posted. Apologies for my lack of rambling for those that missed them, and thank you all so much for the emails and DMs checking in. I’m going to try to reply to them all in the next week or so.

J x