A Curse So Dark and Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer
Blessings, curses, magic, cerebral palsy, disabilities, fiction.
Rating 10/10
Rhen is cursed to repeat the winter of his eighteenth birthday, by the end of the season he turns into a monster. Grey, his commander to the prince, goes out to find a woman to break the curse. Harper is a girl who endures cerebral palsy does whatever she can to help her mother who has cancer and help her brother pay off debt to bad people. When she witnesses a man about to take a woman she steps in and gets caught in the mess. She is taken with the man to this other realm. She meets Grey and Rhen and hears of the curse as well as how bad off this kingdom is. The enchantress offers Rhen a deal he cannot refuse, and he accepts his fate. Harper quickly learns to adapt and accept a role to help out as much as she can. When the enchantress comes back to tell her news of her family and she begs to be taken back home. She fixes her life and said her final goodbye to her mother. Grey returns injured and needs her help saving Rhen from the curse and the kingdom. Harper returns in hopes of saving Rhen and his kingdom.
This novel felt like a more bad ass version of Beauty and the Beast but very different though. I love how the author created a character who has cerebral palsy who is strong and determined. I hardly ever find stories that depict different-abled people in a positive light, meaning like its not a pity me story, but a narrative of being a fighter and a strong-willed determination. A way to see different-abled persons in a more positive light than people perceive them. Just because they do not have what society considers functional, they are still functional in other ways and calling them disabled has such a negative connotation. Cerebral palsy effects each individual different than others and each person is capable of being strong willed and resilient. I highly recommend giving this book a read. I really loved this novel a lot. I did not put it down at all. Every time that I did, I found myself becoming sad and wanting to read more.
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