Review for A Curse So Dark And Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

A Curse So Dark And Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Series: The Cursebreaker Series, Book 1
Publication: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: Jan 07, 2020
Format: Paperback
Price: $6.64
Pages: 512
Amazon Link: Click Here

My heart was beating wildly, but for some reason, I didn’t feel to stop. As a child, I wasn't an amateur when it comes to riding horses, yet this felt different. I kept saying to myself: we did it. We got away. It began to snow heavily. It was so sudden, but I didn’t stop. I didn’t look back. As I moved ahead, I noticed a bright blazing light then I heard a scream. It was a house, and it was perishing. I noticed a woman, on her knees, clutching a warm bundle on her chest —  it was a wailing baby, and a little girl clung onto the woman’s arm, she was not more that a 7-year-old. There were four men with swords, threatening. I raced my saddle toward them and bombarded a man who stumbled upon the ground. Good! As I aimed at the next, I was pulled off from the horse then… WHAM! 

~*~

I wonder what path the curse would have taken if we had arrived a minute later and found her dead. I was so furious that I was tempting to nock another arrow and find out. As I climbed down, I hooked the bow on my saddle. My insides still ached, and the hard riding to chase after her didn't help the situation. The pain was doing nothing to improve my mood, either. I couldn’t help notice the way she glared at me as if I caused all of this to happen. As I moved closer, the woman cradling the toddler tugged at her with a whisper, “He's the crown prince. You must kneel.” Then she defiantly looked straight at me, “He's not my prince!”

***

I’m sure most of you will acknowledge the idea of Brigid Kemmerer being a lucid, eloquent writer articulate in the matter of expressing human emotions well. If you seek for a read that talks straight to your heart, a read that casually leaf through the pages supporting your palatable, vivid imaginations then the first installment of The Cursebreaker Series is the book for you.

Enlightening her readers with a Map illustrating of Emberfall, A Curse So Dark And Lonely consists of 59 chapters voice from the first-person perspective. Clocking in as a 477-pager, critics will certainly applaud this read as a modern-day tale of the beauty and the beast. 

Entertaining the Young-Adult genre, Kemmerer uses a fuelling fusion of fantasy, romance, and suspense to quench your thirst. The structure goes by twofold from Prince Rhen and Harper's perspective, and each chapter is etch to voice the protagonist's mind and view, thoughts, likes and dislikes. The storyline is smooth and fast-pace, unwinding like a movie, leading your curiosity to know what’s next. You may notice a juggle between the past and present tense, hence, it needs another round of editing. This plot makes you think and creates a lot of conflict in the mind generation presumptions and guesses, questioning its prosaic nature. You may experience vexation and teeth grinding moments as you engage through the storyline. 

Kemmerer's punchy style and dexterity are evident through her characters' heavy motions that gear attention. Presenting a strong feminist with a flair, she carves her complex, multidimensional characters center on unflinching loyalty, trepidation, and love. Harper, our star, has cerebral palsy and is much like any individual with fault. You can notice her reactions to situations are very much alive, making her a round character. Prince Rhen, her hero, is more of a stand-offish and abhorrent at sight, but in reality, he's warm-hearted and emotionally lost. He’s the perfect illustration in the ideology, don’t judge a book by its cover. The epilogue concludes the story on a cliffhanger giving a special identity to Grey, as the star character, hinting the impending change in its upcoming installment, A Heart So Fierce And Broken. 

As a character-driven read, a noticeable trait of Kemmerer is that she explores the depth of relationship and love in a vivacious manner fill with ecstasy and quirky characters. In this installment, most of you may compare Harper and Rhen's relationship with Harper and Grey’s relationship. Some of you might claim that Harper and Grey had more chemistry, and if encountered in the right direction, it would lead to a fascinating relationship; while Harper and Rhen are more on a cold and misunderstanding state with a lack of clear foundation for love to bloom in it. It may be so, yet the complex nature of these characters makes them so dynamic that they move away from being a typical round character to a fully fledge, stand-alone character. This gives them a unique identity that we can look forward too, hence, Brigid Kemmerer’s A Curse So Dark And Lonely goes beyond the idea of happily ever after.