…this was fine…

A Heart So Fierce and Broken (The Curse Breaker Series: Book 2) – Brigid Kemmerer

Fairy tales, retellings, fantasy, young adult, fiction.

Ratings 7/10

Grey is on the run with the new information that can get him killed. He is the true heir to Ember Fall. He nearly escaped and murdered the Enchantress who told him the truth of his birth. Karis Luran and her two daughters travel to Ember Fall to try to make a treaty of marriage to solidify the two nations. Lia Mara knows the true intentions of her vicious sister and wants peace between the two-warring kingdoms. Karis Luran meets with Rhen and blackmails him into trying to make a treatise. Rhen doesn’t want any of that. Lia decides into her own hands that led to her to becoming her mother’s pawn. Rhen finds Grey and confronts him about the heir. Grey is the heir but Rhen doesn’t know. The manhunt becomes benevolent. 

I wasn’t fully into the second installment of the trilogy. The writing is amazing, and organization of the different narratives helped build the world in making this world easier to understand. The new characters in this story were interesting and this revealed a lot more than the first book of the magical world. I should say not fully invested as I was with the first book. For those who have read the first book would be into the second book. Someone let me know if the third is good or comment below if I should continue. Convince me in other words without spoiling. I see this series all over TikTok and so many others. For those who are into the first book and are deeply invested in the series then this book is for those who are into it. I just personally am good with having the first book as a standalone because the second book was all over the place for me personally.

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a different type of curse…

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.