The Cursebreaker trilogy is a beautiful Beauty and the Beast retelling that uses political intrigue, well rounded characters, complex world building, and of course, a touch of magic to create a story that is captivating from the start.
Prince Rhen bears the marks of a curse placed upon him by the enchantress Lilith. He must repeat the autumn after his 18th birthday until he finds someone to love. The curse turns him into a horrific beast that kills everyone in his path. Only his guardsman, Grey, can survive being with him. Grey helps Prince Rhen by traveling to another world (known as Washington DC) to bring back girls who may fall in love with Rhen. The process repeats itself over and over until one day, a girl by the name of Harper, sees Grey with another girl. It appears to Harper that he is trying to take advantage of her and in the process of trying to save her, Harper ends up transported to the Kingdom of Emberfall. Harper isn’t complacent like other girls and will set into effect a series of events that will either lead to saving the Kingdom or destroying everything they have each ever known.
A Curse So Dark and Lonely
The first book in the series was captivating from the beginning. Harper was a wonderful character and the added complexity of how she was raised and her background made her strong and likable. When she was born, she was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. This, paired with her difficult life growing up, made her feel like a real, well rounded person. Even though she was dealing with a magical world and a monster in a castle, something that most of us have no experience with, she also had problems and traumas that formed her character. Prince Rhen and Grey are also heavily influenced by their pasts and it was a joy to watch their dynamic with each other and Harper change as they get closer and closer to the end of the season. Lilith is an absolutely terrifying villain that made me root for our heroes even more. She was the perfect counter to Harper’s goodness.
A Curse So Dark and Lonely starts the world building process that will be continued in the following books. Readers get the chance to learn more about Emberfall and a small bit about the surrounding kingdoms. It left me wanting more by the time I got to the end.
A Heart So Fierce and Broken
This is one of those books where I went OHHHHH when I figured out the title. It took me longer than I would have hoped. It was also my least favorite of the trilogy.
The story focuses on Grey and how his own discoveries at the end of book one change the way he sees the world. It was nice to see more of Grey, despite the fact that I was bored for most of this book. Although beautifully written, there was a great deal of traveling that just never captured my attention. There was more world building than in the previous book, as readers get to see the neighboring kingdom of Syhl Shallow. While I enjoyed the characters, I never fully connected with any of them. It wasn’t til the end, when the action finally picked up, that I was invested enough to be interested in continuing with the series. I wish I had more to write about this book, but honestly, I don’t remember half of it because it took me so long to read.
A Vow So Bold and Deadly
After having a hard time with A Heart So Fierce and Broken, I was worried about this book. I ended up being bored for the first half of the book and absolutely enthralled by the second half. The world building is set aside in this book and focuses mostly on political intrigue. Again, it was well done and well written, but the political nature of this book took away from the enjoyment of the characters in the first book. The details were necessary as it brought upon the conclusion of the book, but it wasn’t overly enjoyable for someone who isn’t interested in politics. It was nice to come back to Harper and Rhen and see what kind of growth their characters had during the time when Grey was not a part of their day to day life. They both developed so much from the beginning of the series.
The action at the end of this book was incredible and had me on the edge of my seat for the entire end of the book. It was very violent, so be warned if that is a potential trigger. I wasn’t quite expecting the details to be as graphic as they were. Usually, this takes away from a novel for me, but in this case, it was well done.
Overall, this series is a wonderful adaptation of the Beauty and the Beast story. It adds complexity and a different view of the original. I would definitely read the first book again!
A Curse So Dark and Lonely- 5/5
A Heart So Fierce and Broken- ⅗
A Vow So Bold and Deadly- ⅘
The Novel Llama 