  | Book Details Title: A Heart So Fierce and Broken (The Cursebreaker Series) |
Book DescriptionReview “This sweeping, romantic epic repeatedly turns the tables on the fantasy tropes that readers might be expecting.” ―Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews“Has everything you’d want in a retelling of a classic fairy tale: a finely-drawn fantasy world, a heroine rarely seen in fiction, and a tortured hero with a secret. I have only one complaint: I wish the sequel were already available!” ―Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of A SPARK OF LIGHT and SMALL GREAT THINGS on A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY“Absolutely spellbinding. A Curse So Dark and Lonely expands on all the beloved themes of Beauty and the Beast to create an intensely original retelling. Full of fierce new characters, wicked magic, and wondrous amounts of heart, Brigid Kemmerer doesn’t just tell a story, she builds an entire world that you will never want to leave.” ―Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of CARAVAL and LEGENDARY on A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY“Heartwarming, thoughtful, and romantic: Brigid Kemmerer took me on a magical journey with this dark fairy tale about growing up, falling in love, and making impossible choices. I can’t wait to see where these characters go next.” ―Jodi Meadows, New York Times bestselling co-author of MY LADY JANE and MY PLAIN JANE on A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY“I couldn’t get this creative, suspenseful take on ‘Beauty and the Beast’ out of my head.” ―Sara Holland, New York Times bestselling author of EVERLESS on A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY“Slow burning, big hearted, magical fun! I loved every minute.” ―New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins on A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY“This enthralling modern fable champions altruism while illustrating intimacy’s relationship with honesty, respect, trust, and consent.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review, on A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY“Beautifully dark, filled with wild adventure and a modern-day heroine every reader will find a bit of themselves in.” ―Alexandra Christo, author of TO KILL A KINGDOM on A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY“A fast-paced, richly detailed feminist epic.” ―Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY“Fans of Cassandra Clare, Marissa Meyer, or Alex Flinn, as well as any reader looking to sink into a top-notch story with great characters, will want to read this book.” ―VOYA, starred review, on A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY“A complex, creative, and compelling reimagining of Beauty and the Beast.” ―School Library Connection, starred review, on A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY“A fresh twist on an old story. . . . Fans of Sarah J. Maas will be eager for this one.” ―Booklist on A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY“A unique world filled with fantasy and menace . . . will leave readers anxious to see what happens next.” ―School Library Journal on A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY“A must-have for any YA collection. Give to teens who enjoyed A Boy Called It by Dave Pelzer or The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.” ―School Library Journal, starred review, on MORE THAN WE CAN TELL“Readers looking for a different sort of coming-of-age story or teen protagonists grappling with complex situations will fall in love with this romance-tinged novel.” ―Booklist, starred review, on MORE THAN WE CAN TELL“Brigid Kemmerer blends magic, romance, and the growing specter of war in…a white-knuckle fantasy begging to be read in one sitting.” ―Foreword Reviews“Political intrigue, swoony romance, and nuanced character development make for a breathless read, and a twist ending guarantees readers will line up for the next installment.” ―BCCB”A Heart So Fierce and Broken is a perfectly paced story that fuses all the best elements of fantasy and contemporary YA, blending romance, magic, adventure and struggles with morality in a way that makes readers care about the characters. And if it wasn’t clear from the first book, A Heart So Fierce and Broken leaves us in no doubt that Brigid Kemmerer can write an epic epilogue that will instantly have you desperate to find out what happens next.” – Natalie Xenos, Culturefly”Action packed, deeply romantic, and . . . keep[s] readers eagerly on the hook for the next installment.” – Booklist Online Read more About the Author Brigid Kemmerer is the New York Times bestselling author of A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Call It What You Want, More Than We Can Tell, Letters to the Lost, and the Elementals series. She was born in Omaha, Nebraska, though her parents quickly moved her all over the United States, from the desert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the lakeside in Cleveland, Ohio, and several stops in between, eventually settling near Annapolis, Maryland.www.brigidkemmerer.com@BrigidKemmerer Read more Customers Review: “Fear makes people act in ways we’d never expect.”The curse is finally broken, but rumors circulate that Prince Rhen is not the true heir and that forbidden magic has been unleashed in Emberfall. Although Rhen has Harper by his side, his guardsman Grey is missing, leaving more questions than answers.Grey may be the heir, but he doesn’t want anyone to know his secret. On the run since he destroyed Lilith, he has no desire to challenge Rhen—until Karis Luran once again threatens to take Emberfall by force. Her own daughter Lia Mara sees the flaws in her mother’s violent plan, but can she convince Grey to stand against Rhen, even for the good of Emberfall?”Ah, yes, the most dangerous person at the party is always the girl sitting alone with a book.”Coming off the high of the first book, A Curse So Dark and Lonely, I was shockingly underwhelmed with this one. Going from a 5-star first book to a 2-star second book doesn’t sit well with me, but here we are.Let’s start with what I loved: the dedication of the book.”Look in the mirror. You’re a cursebreaker. You’re strong. You’re amazing. You are changing the world by just being in it.”The sisters. Lia Mara and Nolla Verin are two completely different people on opposite sides of the spectrum. But instead of breeding hatred, the sisters love each other instead. It’s highly evident and can I just say this was super refreshing and I wanted more of it? We see opposites balancing the other in romantic relationships all the time…bring me more balanced siblings!Jake. Rhen was Harper’s sidekick in the first novel. Now Jake is Grey’s. They actually suit each other really well and this bromance is totally a yes.That was it.Neither Grey, Harper, nor Rhen actually felt like…Grey, Harper or Rhen. I feel like this is some alternative universe that stole their names and completely changed their characters. Grey was no longer the somber and honor-bound guard I fell in love with. I understood his fears but I did not understand why he ran or why he insisted on keeping the secret that he was the heir once captured. He knows Rhen is strategic and smart. He knows Harper wants to preserve life, always, and to be just and fair. After going through so much together why is there suddenly no trust?!Yes, let’s just throw out everything that we tried to accomplish in book one and spit on the ashes, hmmm?Speaking of Rhen…what bloodthirsty, idiotic JERK did Kemmerer replace him with? You can’t tell me that Rhen wouldn’t have figured out the secret anyway based on Grey’s actions because it isn’t like he spent centuries trapped with Grey and would know how he operates. If they had had a single freaking talk, none of this would have happened and they would have figured something out. But no. We have to spend the majority of the time hemming and hawwing that “this is for your own good.” And I understand Rhen’s throne and his people are everything to him but…After spending all of book one not being the villain, why the HECK is he now the villain?????And HARPER. The little spitfire I knew would have reamed Rhen a good one and not allowed him to do some of the heinous things he did. I loved them together because they truly brought the best out of each other. Instead, she’s just a prop on a prince’s arm full of tears and apologies.Regardless of the fact that she understood he was scared and under a lot of pressure, she would not have allowed him to become a monster.And the END. I just…nope. I can’t do it. After being a good sport and making my way to the finish only for THAT to happen…I’m scrubbing this book from memory and considering A Curse So Dark and Lonely as a standalone.Saying it louder for those in the back: turn back all ye who enter here. | |
171 reviews