Before I go any further, I want to say quickly that I went through really bad audiobook slump before I settled on this [I started then DNF/put on the back burner several audiobooks, including audiobooks I was hugely excited to listen to [yes, Barack Obama. I’m talking about you]. I think I burnt myself out due to last year and global events (hence my decision to be more gentle with reading/blogging this year). So, this might effect my review/reaction to this. So, keep that in mind before you read this and judge me too harshly. 

In this reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, we follow Harper, a girl from our world and Rhen, a prince and heir of Emberfall who, yep, you guessed it, is cursed. He’s cursed to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, only to be freed by love. If he isn’t freed, he is transformed into a monster, hell-bent of destruction and death, throwing his kingdom into fear and enemy kingdoms are waiting for the perfect time to invade. And now, the stakes are higher as this season will be his last… 

Harper’s life hasn’t been easy. Her mother’s health is deteriorating due to terminal cancer, her father has got the family into huge debt and ran off, leaving her and her brother to pick up the pieces, doing jobs from the loan sharks their dad (now their family) is indebted to (and some of these jobs are violent) and having people see her as a victim or broken due to her cerebral palsy. So when she stops a man kidnapped a drugged girl, she takes that girl’s place and is taken to Emberfall. Prince Rhen and his sole guards man, Grey, assume Harper is going to be like the other girls - how wrong they are as Harper is stubborn, reckless and will fight tooth and nail to return home… 

In theory, this should be right up my street. A Beauty and the Beast fantasy retelling, well-written and well excuted enemies to lovers arc, interesting and complex characters, diversity. Everything about this book is good. I completely get why you all love this. This, in theory, should have been catnip for me! 

And yet… 

Maybe it’s because am in a bit of slump after 2020 put us all through the ringer. Maybe it’s because I felt like I’ve read several of the twists before in other fantasy novels (this is the first in a series and there was one twist that was revealed in the last 2 hours of the audiobook that I guessed within the first few chapters. That’s right, I saw that twist coming from the very beginning of the book and yet, it wasn’t revealed till the very end). Maybe I had my expectations of this book too high (blaming the hype train on that). Maybe the plot was drawn out a little too much for my tastes. Maybe due to the narrators of audiobooks, I struggled to listen to anything longer than two hours (and even then, I had to do it in doses with music and podcasts to break it up). 

For whatever reason, I just didn’t gel with it in the way I hoped. 

I do think this might be because was in bit on a slump so I am considering relistening to the audiobook later this year and seeing if I still have the same feels to it. It might just be “wrong time for this read”. Hopefully, in a few months when/if I reread this, I will be more on board with it. 

But, at this moment in time, it was an ok read. I just wanted something more…

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I've had an eARC since last year I think.

This book follows Harper as she unwittingly is thrown into a world where the prince is doomed to become a monster and has to fall in love to stop the curse.

I loved the world this was set in. I found it to be so unique. Normally, even though there are two different worlds in the book, neither of them are like our world. But in this, Harper is from Earth as we know it. She lives in America and not another made up world. I don't know why but I was happy with that.

I love Harper as a character. She doesn't back down and doesn't see herself as weak just because she has cerebral palsy. She knows how to take care of herself and I love her and how fierce she is. I really liked Gray and how he stays by Rhen's side no matter what. Rhen was such an interesting character and loved his character development.

I like that we get to see both Harper and Rhys points of view as we got an insight into how both were feeling.

I loved the romance in this. I think that has to be one of my favourite aspects from this. It is very slow burn and it's done so well. They don't fall in love straight away, which would make the book end very quickly 😂.

I loved the plot and pacing. It doesn't solely focus on the curse and there's other aspect of the world and politics that are explored. It focuses on everything from the citizens to how Harper feels being transported to a foreign world.

All in all, I loved this book and highly recommend this book if you love retellings. I can't wait to read the next book

5/5

I am a sucker for a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Unfortunately A Curse So Dark and Lovely did not hit the spot. I tried to get into several times to no avail. I've heard it to the A Court of Thorns and Roses series which despite all its issues I did love but ACSDAL did not compare. I liked the fact that the heroine, Harper, had a disability but I didn't like the hero, Rhen or the concept. I find myself with less and less tolerance of authors who try to make their heroines seem different and interesting by denigrating other female characters. It's lazy and insulting. I think it was for this reason I couldn't get into despite multiple attempts over the past year.

Absolutely damn incredible book! 5 stars. It sure did take me a long while to read, but my god this book <3 I'm so happy I have #2 on hand so I can jump in soon!
I loved the setting, I loved Kemmerer's ability to change tone of voice while swapping between Rhen and Harper, I loved how the romance was good, but it wasn't shoved in my face too much, it was gradual and gentle. And just the camaraderie between her and Grey, how it didn't feel like too much between them, it was perfect.
I'm so glad that Harper told Grey that one thing I was thinking forever, I'd be mad if she didn't suggest it!
I need to know about Lilith though!

I was really looking forward to another Beauty and the Beast retelling as I love the original story, however, unfortunately this book was not for me. I can see its merits for other readers, but for me it just fell flat.

I was really hoping to love it but there wasn't any connection to the characters and I didn't care about them, nor did I want to pick the book back up when I put it down.

I always love a good retelling and I can't believe I took so long to read this one.
I loved how it mixed our world with a fantasy world, it's always amazing to see new takes on a retelling to shake it up a bit and this was done brilliantly.
The characters were written beautifully and I love that we saw an MC with a disability that she made sure didn't make her any less amazing, Harper is definitely the kind of MC I like to see and I can't wait to see where this series goes.

No wonder people kept urging me to read this book! ACSDAL is the ultimate Beauty and the Beast retelling. It even features a main character with a disability which is incredible. Rhen, Harper, and Grey have become some of my favourite characters!

I received a copy from Netgalley.

I’m a black sheep with this one. All the bloggers I follow and Goodreads reviewers seem to absolutely love this book. I’ve read the author before and I have loved everything I’ve read by her, but I didn’t love this one. I did get a Netgalley kindle copy I tried reading before the book came out, but the formatting was terrible so I decided to wait until I got a physical copy.

It was book of the month in one of my Fairyloot subscription boxes so I got a nice shiny hardback. I sort of waited until the hype died down a bit, but then the sequel came out – which I did get (another Fairyloot exclusive) just in case I loved the first and had to have the second one. 

And turned out I was just sort of meh about the whole thing really. It was an interesting parallel for the Beauty and the Beast retelling, but frankly, the beast character Prince Rhen irritated the hell out of me. I found him completely unsympathetic, annoying, selfish and whiny. I did however, really like the female character Harper. She was what made the book come alive for me. She was strong, sassy, level headed, and smart. Not blown over by the opulence of the fantasy world she suddenly finds herself thrust into.  The other character I really liked was Rhen’s loyal guard, Grey who was much more likeable – a bit of a stick in the mud at times, but with a sense of honour and loyalty. I was routing for him and Harper to hook up – they had a love/hate relationship turned into friendship and mutual respect. 

However, given it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling, it’s obvious where the romance was going to happen. I found the plot predictable, and tedious at times, for long stretches nothing seemed to happen other than Rhen whining about his curse and Harper trying to figure out how to escape and get back to her home, the normal human world. They would dance around just forming a connection and something would happen sending them back to square one of distrust and frustration. I found it repetitive and annoying. 

Two thirds of the novel was prepping for one huge battle when the beast finally appeared. And when it did it was almost like everything happened in a rush. Which of course ended on a cliff hanger. There were a few twists hinted at throughout (and again, completely predictable) If I hadn’t already bought the second book before I read this one I wouldn’t have bothered, but as I have and quite liked Grey’s character, I’m curious to see where his story goes. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing PLC for approving my request to view the title.

I love this book!! 
"A Curse So Dark and Lonely" surprised me positively cause I didn´t know what to expect from it. It was a unique retelling of the classic from "the Beauty and the beast". With Harper, the Reader got a tough and strong female character who lead through the Story. 
I strongly hope that it will also be translated into German cause I have so many friends I want to recommend the book but they don't read English.

I really enjoyed this! I don’t have much experience with this author’s books, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I do wish the disability rep was a little  more present. There’s a bad habit of authors giving a character a disability, then it only being mentioned a few times in passing and it having almost no impact on that character’s life, which is better than no rep at all but not how a disability works. 

I did really like how resourceful and determined Harper was, and I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel. The ending was great!

I got an e-ARC of A Curse so Dark & Lonely through Netgalley before it came out in 2019. I read it right away and I remember enjoying it a whole lot. It was a super busy time in my life and I never got around to writing the review. I recently decided to pick up the audiobook and I fell in love all over again. I decided it was time to write this way overdue review! (Also, receiving this e-ARC from the publisher does not influence my opinion of this book!)

I just had to double check if it’s actually a Beauty & the Beast retelling, simply because it’s such an original take on a fairytale. I guess the basics are the same; there’s a monster, and a girl, who’s whisked away to this magical land and trapped there. That’s where the similarities end, though. Harper, one of the main characters, is a fierce, force-to-be-reckoned with kind of girl. I loved her (sometimes hilarious) attempts at escape and eventually her growth into this incredibly complex, beautiful character.

Rhen is our other main character, the ‘beast’ of the story. Oh my goodness, I’m in LOVE with him. I think of him as a typical crown prince, except better? (vague, I know!) And I just love how he cares for Harper, and he’s like ‘I don’t expect you to fall in love with me’, which makes me so, so sad. And obviously he’s the cursed one so like… My poor, poor boy. Anyway, I absolutely love his development in the story. I really feels like Harper makes him a better character as well, although his growth 100% comes from within himself.

I love how A Curse so Dark & Lonely is a contemporary fantasy set in a high fantasy world. It starts out in our own world and then we find ourselves in the beautiful world of Emberfall. It’s such an interesting setting with its own story. We didn’t get to see much of it (yet, I hope) but there was enough world building to see there’s a solid foundation there. I already cannot wait to read more about it in the sequel!

As for the audiobook, I think it made the experience of reading/listening to the story so much better. Each of the main characters had their own narrator and they were perfect for their roles. Their narration made the funny parts all the more hilarious and the monster chapters were absolutely terrifying in the best way! I definitely do not regret spending my Audible credit on it. It’s definitely worth the listen if you’re into audiobooks.

I adored A Curse so Dark and Lonely! Brigid has given readers a fresh take on Beauty and the Beast retellings and I'm honestly living for it. The characters, world and plot are incredibly well written, I couldn't put it down. A full review will go up on my blog soon.

Oh wow I did not expect that ending.

This is not your conventional girl meets boy and falls in love tale. This is real, true. What you can be sure of is that the characters won't fall in love easily, or that may not even happen at all. It's a complete original retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

The beast here is not gentle and kind like depicted in the real fairytale, this is a true slaughtering, terrifying and dangerous beast. The amount of terror and death it causes surprised me. It's definitely not your aw but the beast is so cute story.

Harper has cerebral palsy. And I love how it is not seen as a weakness for her, but as something that's part of her. And oh wow did the author write a strong female character! I hadn't read of such fierce female empowering in a while. Nothing can stop Harper.

And the commander was a very intelligent twist to the story. His friendship with Harper raises questions and we as readers become confused with the possibility.

There are only 2 reason I do not give it 5 stars:
1) the evil enchantress seems more to me like a mad woman instead of a evil being with a reason to be Evil, I like villains you can relate to (for example Maven from red queen, the darkling from shadow and bone). This woman worked on who knows what that drives her. Made no sense to me.
2) I like some more romance, more chemistry and spicyness . This was very very slow burned and dry for my tastes. But this is a rather personal opinion. (less)

I absolutely loved the book, definitely reading the following books in the series. The writer is one of my favorite ya, fantasy writers I know i can rely on having a qualitative content read I will enjoy.

With the release of book two I decided it was high time I got round to this Beauty and the Beast retelling.
This time round our Beast is Prince Rhen, cursed to relive his eighteenth year time and time again. The only thing that will save him is to have someone fall in love with him. Unfortunately, over the three hundred plus seasons Rhen has tried this it has failed. When he turns into a monster Rhen has killed his family and is, slowly, destroying his people.
Our Beauty is Harper, a young girl from DC. We first meet her as she’s looking out for her brother, desperately hoping they can do what is needed to pay off their father’s debts and keep their mother safe. When Harper sees a man attack a young girl in the street she pursues him...and before we know it Harper is spirited away to Emberfall.
Not off to a good start the two characters are prickly towards each other from the start. Each has their own situation to try and resolve, and in our minds there’s a focus on the curse. However, their characters certainly play a huge part in the choices they make and how this impacts on them.
Rhen’s commander, Grey, is a great character from the start. Spirited but strangely loyal, he also develops a close friendship with Harper. At one point I wondered if this would be a cliched love triangle, but the role Grey plays is a much more interesting one.
Over the course of the book we see Harper and Rhen develop their relationship, but also develop as individual characters. We have the manipulative Lilith, the enchantress who has cursed Rhen, and political machinations as those around Rhen try to take advantage of the circumstances.
While the latter stages of the story are, in some ways, quite predictable I was struck by the developments around certain characters that suggest where this might go. I’m looking forward to reading book two soon.

5 Words: Family, survival, strength, power, love.

When you're reading a retelling you pretty much know what you're in for - you know where the story is going to go. Or so I thought, before I read A Curse So Dark And Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer. Because this book was full of unexpected takes on the traditional tale. And I loved it.

I loved the back and forth between the worlds, how it brought the differences into even starker contrast. I loved the difference in danger, the meaning of words and actions.

I think one of my favourite things about this book was Harper. She's a delight to read. I loved her tenacity, her drive, the way she worked towards her purpose but was still so unselfish. She is generous and kind and such a Hufflepuff, I loved her. Harper has cerebral palsy, but it doesn't define her, and I loved how she called out anyone who assumed she was weak because of her disability. YES, YOU GO GIRL. It definitely does not define her.

A Curse So Dark And Lonely is beautifully written. I picked out so many quotes while I was reading, and I pretty much want all of them as prints. I loved the pace, the slow release of secrets, the slow burn romance building in the background, the intense ending. But this book isn't just romance - it's political intrigue and magic and danger. And it's an addictive read, I couldn't put it down.

I'd recommend A Curse So Dark And Lonely to anyone who enjoys fantasy books, and I can't wait to read more of Brigid Kemmerer's books, and to read on in this fantasy series.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely is, without a doubt, one of the best fairytale retellings I have ever read.
The opening line “There is blood under my fingernails. I wonder how many of my people I’ve killed this time.” immediately drew me into the story, and I absolutely devoured this book.

A fascinating take on Beauty and the Beast, this book was intriguing and enthralling, keeping me hooked right until the very end. I loved that despite being a 'love story', this book explored different kinds of love - love for family, self love, love for one's country - and made it clear that they were just as, if not more, important as the main characters' romantic love for each other. Being able to see the situation from both of the main characters' point of view gave an additional dimension to the story, and both characters were well rounded and likeable - no annoying Mary Sues here! Overall I really hope Kemmerer continues this series because I can't wait to read more!

➽ <b>The main characters all felt very authentic</b> I also liked seeing their dynamics together, even if only Harper and Rhen got main POV's. Apart from the romance, I also liked seeing Harper and Grey become friends, their interactions definitely were among my favorites! But I also liked the complicated relationship between Grey and Rhen, because he's the only guard left and has a lot of responsibility. I found it interesting that Grey is loyal, but mainly out of duty to his prince and even 300+ seasons together have still kept a distance between them. They were toeing the line between professional and a friendly relationship (I REALLY want them to become friends, not sure how realistic that is in the sequel, but they need to hug). In the beginning, I was thinking this would become a love triangle situation, but in the end,  it didn’t turn out to be this way and I see Harper and Grey more as best buddies!

<b>Harper</b> is a fierce girl from DC who has cerebral palsy. She's been through a lot in her life, as her mother has cancer and her brother got in trouble with some debt collectors, ever since their father went off. Harper never had it easy, so she is a born fighter and not ready to give in. She's very determined, but also empathetic, as she genuinely cares for helping people. She's definitely a new force in the kingdom and tries to help Rhen's subjects even though this isn't her world. In the end, she grows a lot more confident, as she's out from under her brother's constant protection and has to fight back alone.

<b>Prince Rhen</b> is the cursed prince and I felt really sorry for him. You can tell that he used to be arrogant and downright mean but 300+ seasons of punishment, grief and blood have worn him down and left him resigned. He's not as bad as he appears in the beginning and I liked seeing his struggles with taking back his kingdom, after abandoning it and trying to prevent a war. He's still not perfect, but a much better person than he seemed to be before! I do have a soft spot for him, especially as he genuinely cares.

<b>Grey</b> is my favorite character and Rhen's only remaining guard. He can be very stoic and come across very distanced, as he is strongly bound to duty and obeying orders. However, he has a good heart and a lot of softness beneath his armor. He could be a great friend, because Grey is very loyal and only has everyone's best interests at heart. Obviously, I was immediately taken by him, because you see a lot of vulnerability beneath his role as a loyal guard and how he played with Freya's kids was plain adorable.

➽ <b>I liked the original aspects of the retelling.</b> There are a lot of Beauty and the Beast retellings out there already, so I thought that A Curse so Dark and Lonely provided some great original twists on the plotline, while still staying faithful to the source material. I liked that the romance storyline didn't overtake the entire story and instead was more subtle, yet still a theme, as the curse haunts Rhen. We also see the consequences of the curse and Rhen's self-imposed isolation. Harper is helping Rhen in trying to get the kingdom back in order as it's threatening to collapse under an impeding war and poverty as he's been absent for such a long time. I liked that the book focused on Rhen owing up to how his situation has influenced his kingdom and Harper's dedication in helping people that technically aren't even her own. Furthermore, I liked the idea of the different seasons of Rhen trying to break the curse, only for them to be reset and Grey having to take a girl from the real world every time. This makes it a little bit of a portal Fantasy, as Grey can cross over worlds in order to take the girls to break the curse.

➽ <b>I appreciated that the romance wasn't insta-love</b>. I feel like that's always a risk when it comes to a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but A Curse so Dark and Lonely managed to critically discuss the kidnapping part that always starts off the story. Harper isn't thrilled to be abducted into a completely new world by dubious strangers, so she's on guard and calling out Rhen, as she knows more girls were taken before her. I liked the way their relationship progressed, as Harper isn't ready to blindly trust Rhen and instead demands answers from him, as what got her into this was trying to protect another girl. The romance develops slowly over time and is more of a slow burn, a trope that I always like. Through working together and getting to understand each other better, Rhen and Harper grow closer together and challenge each other's views. They definitely had great chemistry and banter, so I enjoyed reading about their romance, especially as it was so well handled. <spoiler>I also liked that in the end their love isn't what broke the curse, or rather it's likely that Grey killing Lilith is what stopped it. That <b>makes the end of the retelling less of a cliché in my opinion and doesn't fall into portraying love as the ultimate solution</n> to everything. It also made sense, as Harper says she'd like to slowly get to know what it would be like to be with Rhen.</spoiler>

➽ <b>The secondary characters really shone.</b> I was happy to see that Harper developed such a great friendship with Freya and the new female guard, because I was definitely missing some female friendships. I especially liked Freya, she was such a kind woman - caring for her sister's family - and kind of become a little bit of a mother figure for Harper as well! I also loved Harper's brother's boyfriend Noah, he's got medical experience and is a super soft and loyal person, that immediately grew on me! As for Harper's brother Jake, I didn't like him, because he was very patronizing and refused to let see her as a more independent and stronger version instead of the little sister he has to protect. It got a bit better at the end, but still his attitude was a bit aggravating.

➽ <b>I did find Lilith as the villain to be pretty stereotypical.</b> While the rest of the retelling manages to take an original twist, Lilith stays the 'scorned lover who's sadistic and evil'. I hate that trope in general and here it was employed full force. I just didn't see any complexity in her as the villain, Lilith seemed more like a plot device than a fully fleshed out antagonist, so her scenes were my least favorite part to read about.

When i first got accepted for this book i was ridiculously excited. I adore beauty and the beast, it’s always been a favourite story for me, and I’ve read many adaptions recently. However, this one certainly stands out form all the rest! The storyline is far from what I expected, there are many surprises along the way and the characters are multilayered. 

This is by far my favourite adaption story ever! If you love the original stories, the disney, or even  if you weren’t previously keen, you will LOVE this!

This was a brilliant book! Beauty and the beast retelling are always hit and miss for me but this was definitely a hit! I loved the way there was a perfect mixture of modern day DC mixed in with olden day Emberfall. The constant back and forth between Harper, Rhen and Grey was so much fun to read and you really felt Rhen’s pain about his transformation. I am so excited for the second book in the series.