*4.5 stars

Ok so I’m actually going to write down my more coherent thoughts now. I first heard about this book way over a year ago, and went out and bought it. Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite fairytale, even coming in before Peter Pan or Rapunzel (and trust me when I say I watched those DVDS till they weren’t playable anymore). Whenever I heard about a Beauty and the Beast retelling I always gravitate towards it, even if we don’t really ever see anything new.


But this, this my Goodreads friends and peers, is truly one of the best I’ve read. Admittedly, I know this book is definitely not for everyone. It’s a very slow book (even though our MC Harper is swept away from Washington D.C. within the first 15 pages), and to be completely honest, not a whole lot happens until the last 150 pages.


But I still loved this a lot, and that was because I love these characters. All of these characters have something so interesting about their dynamics and traits. Rhen is our beast character, but he’s so much more than that. [a: Brigid Kemmerer|4629194|Brigid Kemmerer|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1563651388p2/4629194.jpg] deals with grief and heartbreak and hopelessness in a way I’ve never seen any author do. I’ve dealt with depression since I was 12, and I genuinely felt connected to Rhen as character and I sympathized with his character, even though he hadn’t always done the right thing.


Harper is such an interesting character too. She’s our Belle character, obviously, and on the contrary to what I said in my status update, claiming that she’s not like other girls, I found that that wore off as the novel progressed. She also has cerebral palsy, and I’ve never seen that represented in any book, especially not YA. She’s a strong female main character, whilst also having her downs, and no ‘I’m special, and invincible’ if you know what I mean. She often had to have people save her, but was so head strong, and she could protect herself when the time came.


Grey. Oh Grey. Baby how I love you. Grey had such a cool character dynamic. He was devoted to protecting Rhen, but you could still see he cared very much about him. Their friendship, as it progressed, was genuinely so sweet. And they way he cared about Harper was so so cute. He was always looking out for her, and giving her advice, and teaching her things. He was just such a soft cinnamon roll under all the ✨scary✨


Overall, I just really loved this book. I will make a note though that I’m 95% sure I’m not reading book 2, [b: A Heart So Fierce and Broken|42952728|A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers, #2)|Brigid Kemmerer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1559126810l/42952728._SY75_.jpg|66757917] or 3, [b: A Vow so Bold and Deadly|53138253|A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)|Brigid Kemmerer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594380552l/53138253._SY75_.jpg|71638553]. Everyone says they hate the way that book 2 takes the narrative, and from the reviews I’ve read, I don’t want to read book 2 at all. It seems that it makes Rhen an ass and Harper the villain and I just don’t want to read about that. I’m happy with book 1 and I’m going to imagine everyone ends happily.


* * *


OG Thoughts


First of all, what the fuck was that ending?! Second of all, what the fuck was that ending?! Third and finally, what the fuck was that ending?!