A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 496 

Publisher: Bloomsbury 

Released: 29th of January 2019 

Fall in love, break the curse. 

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she's instead somehow sucked into Rhen's cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom. 

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

What I Have to Say 

Until I read this book, I thought that I was fed up of Beauty and the Beast retellings. I mean there are some amazing ones out there, but in the last few years, we've had rather a lot quite close together. But A Curse So Dark and Lonely is a Beauty and the Beast retelling like no other. It was a beautifully unique take on the story while also keeping the heart of the story strong and powerful. 

Obviously I have to comment on Harper's cerebral palsy. This is the first character I've seen in a fantasy story with a disability like this and I felt it was handled beautifully. I'd love to see a review from some with cerebral palsy myself as I can't say anything about the accuracy of the writing, but Kemmerer made sure that it was a part of who she was and while also making sure not to see her only as her cerebral palsy. Harper was beautiful, strong, capable and determined. She wanted to learn how to do everything and refused to let her disability hold her back, except when it came to dancing (because who isn't going to be put off by passed experiences?) It felt so real and I loved her so much. 

The fact that Rhen went through most of the story not as a physical beast was so interesting. I had my doubts about it at first, but it worked so well. Because at the start of the story? Rhen was a bit of a beast personality-wise. It was interesting to see how much the curse had made him close himself off, how the very fact that he was turning into a monster at the end of every season and killing everyone he cared about was shutting him off and making it pretty impossible for him to find the love that would break the curse. Until Harper of course. Watching him and Harper move around each other and slowly open up to each other was also just perfect. 

I think this is the retelling of Beauty and the Beast that has felt the most real to me. Because the love was so real that it hurt. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 368

Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books 

Released: 1st of July 2018 

Everyone knows what happens in the end.

A mermaid, a prince, a true love’s kiss.

But before that young siren’s tale, there were three friends.

One feared, one royal, and one already dead.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ever since her best friend, Anna, drowned, Evie has been an outcast in her small fishing town. A freak. A curse. A witch. 

A girl with an uncanny resemblance to Anna appears offshore and, though the girl denies it, Evie is convinced that her best friend actually survived. That her own magic wasn’t so powerless after all. And, as the two girls catch the eyes—and hearts—of two charming princes, Evie believes that she might finally have a chance at her own happily ever after.

But her new friend has secrets of her own. She can’t stay in Havnestad, or on two legs, unless Evie finds a way to help her. Now Evie will do anything to save her friend’s humanity, along with her prince’s heart—harnessing the power of her magic, her ocean, and her love until she discovers, too late, the truth of her bargain. 

What I Have to Say 

This was a lovely story with a really great ending that tied so beautifully into the original fairytale, but I found it very hard to get into. I think it's because this is the third retelling of the Little Mermaid that I've read this year. It's funny how trends happen like that, but I can't deny that it effected the way I took to the book. Still, by the end of the book, I was immersed in the world and relishing in the way it concluded, so it all worked out for the best. 

I loved the Nordic society that Henning built. The way she pulled so much culture into the story by setting it everything in the big festival that celebrated the goddess and the food styles they ate and everything important in society. It conveyed the setting in a way that gave so much life and information into it all without just dumping a load of boring information into the readers lap. It made for a lively story and showed the relationships forming between the characters really well. 

But as I said, I think there is a point where you can't find interest in another retelling of the same story. It's a shame, as I think I would have really liked this book a lot more if I'd read it at a different time. It may be one to reread in a couple of years 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Harper Collins for providing me with this copy for review.