Book 1: A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY
The Cursebreaker series by ‘Brigid Kemmerer’ is based on the beauty and beast theme. This may seem like the standard theme used in a lot of stories but this one is just so fantastic better than the original actually. The plot, the writing, the world-building, and the characters are so well written. I was so drawn in, that 480 pages seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. I just couldn’t help devour every word of this book.
Prince Rhen, the heir of Emberfall is cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth birthday. He can break his curse only when a girl falls in love with him. But before the end of each season, he turns into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. He destroyed his family and his castle. The only person who stood beside him was his guard commander Grey who at the start of each season goes to Washington DC to bring a girl back to Emberfall to break the curse and it’s been over 300 hundred seasons yet they never succeeded. Rhen is feeling hopeless over their efforts to break this curse, he becomes depressed and doesn’t believe that he is going to be freed.
Everything starts to go horribly wrong as a new season begins and grey is trying to snatch a girl of the street and instead gets attacked by another girl because Harper (the main character) is like “excuse me, you are not kidnapping anybody on my watch!” and instead gets herself kidnapped. I love any character that is flawed in some way it makes them more real. Harper has cerebral palsy that affected her left leg but despite the disease, she has a heart of a lioness and is a true fighter. 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. Her character is so well written a girl who is stubborn, fierce, and resilient and when she is sucked into Emberfall she couldn’t believe anything. A prince? Curse? Monster?
She doesn’t care if Rhen is a prince all she knows is, it is wrong to kidnap someone and tries a lot of ways to scram from the castle. Here I really loved how she never thinks of her cerebral palsy as an impediment and does what she wants to do even when she was escaping or when helping someone it is so amazingly portrayed that nothing can come between if our heart and mind was on it.
After the attempts, she gets to know that she can’t go home and gets angry at Rhen and Grey for doing this to her. As she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. The three bonds over and slowly trust starts blooming in their relationship. In midst of breaking the curse, they face another horrible situation where the Queen of Shyl Shallow – Karis Luran sends her men to clear the people from Emberfall and to capture the throne. Rhen is now in a situation to save his people from the danger to which Harper and Grey help him.
Then there is the hateful villain of the story, enchantress Lady Lilith who tortures Rhen as much as she can. Everyone hates the villain but it’s them who makes the story complete. With some twists in-between Kemmerer knocked it out of the park. She made this a unique story in its own right, while still staying true to the spirit of the original fairy-tale. The ending was both happy and sad for me the sudden turn of events makes me want to rejoice and at the same time cry. I felt every emotion while reading this book. This story swept me away. It grabbed me from the very first moment, and I was instantly smitten. It has so much going for it. The curse is hopelessly cruel and dark.
The characters are flawed, but nonetheless strong and courageous. They are deserving of our sympathy, and it was so much fun to cheer them on in their quest. And the world-building feels natural and intuitive, seamlessly fitting into the real world. When our heroine crossed over into Emberfall, I felt like I did too. I also particularly enjoyed the love story here. A lot of them rush through this part, making it feel superficial and instant. But this story really takes its time. The two main characters are both cautious, having been hurt and disappointed many times before. It’s satisfying and joyful to see their partnership slowly develop before it turns into something more.
I really enjoyed how it explores more than just romantic love; like love for self, love for family, love for country. My favorite character in this book is grey the commander his loyalty, his understanding of both Rhen and Harper. Just the way he was portrayed was overwhelming and beautiful.
“I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light.” Such a beautiful quote that captured my heart. There are so many positive things to learn from this book. Overall, I really loved it! Can’t wait to start the second book.