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983 reviews by:
duskangelreads
Why would you do that to us?!?!?!
DCs & Jordan’s story’s we’re fine. We got some background and then you have to go and rip our hearts out AGAIN with Bear’s story!?!?!
DCs & Jordan’s story’s we’re fine. We got some background and then you have to go and rip our hearts out AGAIN with Bear’s story!?!?!
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I’m not formatting this review the same way I usually do purely because I don’t have enough to talk about in all the sections I generally use. So instead I’ll talk about the negatives and the positives.
But first I just want to touch on thoughts that aren’t necessarily positives or negatives. This is the first time I have read an adult Thriller and I really don’t know how to feel about how the book ends. I think this is purely because I generally read YA and I am so used to the typical, everything is resolved in the end, type books. Which this is NOT! Most things were revealed to the reader but then you are thrown a spanner at the end that makes you sit there thinking ‘NO, what, help!’. There is also two major things that are mentioned once at the end and it’s not explained and I want to know why & how!! To some degree I get it and understand that leaving it how the author did makes it thrilling and makes you think. I’m not okay with not really knowing how things would end though!
Negatives:
So I have 2 main things that annoyed me with this book.
First off, the POV, this book is told in third person POV which I always struggle with a bit. It was the same in this book, I couldn’t really connect with the characters. So while I wanted to know what happened because I was curious as hell, I didn’t care who it specifically was because I didn’t have a connection with any of the characters that made me root for one or the other. The POV just meant I was a bit disconnected from the book and it’s characters.
Next is the jumps in the time line of events. Honestly the book was all over the place when it came to the time line of events. Each chapter would swap between who we were following, where the person was & the time line. Things were barely ever revealed simply in order. I appreciated the glimpses into the past sprinkled throughout the book. They were distinguished by a simple ‘1997’ or ‘1998’ at the start of the chapter however they were also no in order and while the ‘1997’ or ‘1998’ made it easy to know that we were in the past but not when specifically in the time line of events.
All this jumping around simply made the book hard to follow. Most chapters were only a couple chapters and some of the time it took most of the chapter figuring out when & where we were currently looking at.
Positives:
This book took a bit of getting used to with the POV & time jumps which took about 100/150 pages but once I got into it I was hooked! I read the last 200ish pages in one day easily!
The chapters are super short which means you feel like you are getting through the book quickly, which I was but it just added to it. Some of the chapters also ended on cliff hangers of sorts and then the next chapter would be completely unrelated to whatever just went down. So you are gripped and speed through the next couple chapters till you find out what just happened after that cliff hanger. This book is very hard to put down in that way. I was literally walking about the house reading it while doing other things because I just wanted to know what happens.
Every character in this book is very fleshed out and interesting. They all have very different views & backgrounds. It was really interesting learning about these characters and figuring out what happened to make them who they are. Granted they aren’t all revealed, but that is just part of the mystery.
Lastly this book is COMPLETELY UNPREDICTABLE!! You think you have a grasp on what went down but then a spanner, no scratch that, the whole fucking toolbox is thrown into the works and your ideas are completely out the door.
But first I just want to touch on thoughts that aren’t necessarily positives or negatives. This is the first time I have read an adult Thriller and I really don’t know how to feel about how the book ends. I think this is purely because I generally read YA and I am so used to the typical, everything is resolved in the end, type books. Which this is NOT! Most things were revealed to the reader but then you are thrown a spanner at the end that makes you sit there thinking ‘NO, what, help!’. There is also two major things that are mentioned once at the end and it’s not explained and I want to know why & how!! To some degree I get it and understand that leaving it how the author did makes it thrilling and makes you think. I’m not okay with not really knowing how things would end though!
Negatives:
So I have 2 main things that annoyed me with this book.
First off, the POV, this book is told in third person POV which I always struggle with a bit. It was the same in this book, I couldn’t really connect with the characters. So while I wanted to know what happened because I was curious as hell, I didn’t care who it specifically was because I didn’t have a connection with any of the characters that made me root for one or the other. The POV just meant I was a bit disconnected from the book and it’s characters.
Next is the jumps in the time line of events. Honestly the book was all over the place when it came to the time line of events. Each chapter would swap between who we were following, where the person was & the time line. Things were barely ever revealed simply in order. I appreciated the glimpses into the past sprinkled throughout the book. They were distinguished by a simple ‘1997’ or ‘1998’ at the start of the chapter however they were also no in order and while the ‘1997’ or ‘1998’ made it easy to know that we were in the past but not when specifically in the time line of events.
All this jumping around simply made the book hard to follow. Most chapters were only a couple chapters and some of the time it took most of the chapter figuring out when & where we were currently looking at.
Positives:
This book took a bit of getting used to with the POV & time jumps which took about 100/150 pages but once I got into it I was hooked! I read the last 200ish pages in one day easily!
The chapters are super short which means you feel like you are getting through the book quickly, which I was but it just added to it. Some of the chapters also ended on cliff hangers of sorts and then the next chapter would be completely unrelated to whatever just went down. So you are gripped and speed through the next couple chapters till you find out what just happened after that cliff hanger. This book is very hard to put down in that way. I was literally walking about the house reading it while doing other things because I just wanted to know what happens.
Every character in this book is very fleshed out and interesting. They all have very different views & backgrounds. It was really interesting learning about these characters and figuring out what happened to make them who they are. Granted they aren’t all revealed, but that is just part of the mystery.
Lastly this book is COMPLETELY UNPREDICTABLE!! You think you have a grasp on what went down but then a spanner, no scratch that, the whole fucking toolbox is thrown into the works and your ideas are completely out the door.
Trigger Warnings: Sexual Assault/Threats, Abelism & Suicide.
Writing:
This was an interesting twist to a classic. I love that this was turned to portal fantasy, which added another layer to the story. The world was well developed and very creative. I really enjoyed being in this world and discovering more about it through the book. I can’t wait to learn more in book 2, A Heart So Fierce and Broken!
This book is multi POV following Rhen & Harper and was done really well. It was very easy to distinguish between the 2 POVs. I’m also glad this book was multi POV rather than just following Harper or Rhen. This book was the best seeing both sides, both characters struggles and the truth from both sides.
“I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light.”
– Freya (A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer)
Plot:
This book is very suspenseful & adventure filled. There are plenty of twists and turns throughout the book which kept the book very interesting. It was hard to put down and was a very easy and quick read.
“My father once said we are all dealt a hand at birth. A good hand can ultimately lose–just as a poor hand can win–but we must all play the cards fate deals. The choices we face may not be the choices we want, but they are choices nonetheless.”
-Rhen (A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Birgid Kemmerer)
As many of you know, I am not a huge romance fan, but as this is a retelling. I knew from the start that there would be a romance & who it would be between so when it came to pass I didn’t mind it. It was well done compared to most YA romances.
Characters:
Our 3 main characters are Rhen, Harper & Grey. My favourite out of the 3 is actually Grey, who while plays a major part is a side character. All the characters are fierce, loyal & determined to do what is right. Grey especially is extremely loyal to those that he trusts. He is also quick witted & brave to a fault.
Also I really enjoyed the disability rep (Cerebral Palsy) in this book! There are very few books I have read that have MCs with disabilities in the physical realm. So it was interesting to see this in the book. It never stopped Harper from braving what needed to be done and she shut anyone down that doubted her ability because of it.
“Failure isn’t absolute. Just because you couldn’t save everyone doesn’t mean you didn’t save anyone.”
-Harper (A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
Writing:
This was an interesting twist to a classic. I love that this was turned to portal fantasy, which added another layer to the story. The world was well developed and very creative. I really enjoyed being in this world and discovering more about it through the book. I can’t wait to learn more in book 2, A Heart So Fierce and Broken!
This book is multi POV following Rhen & Harper and was done really well. It was very easy to distinguish between the 2 POVs. I’m also glad this book was multi POV rather than just following Harper or Rhen. This book was the best seeing both sides, both characters struggles and the truth from both sides.
“I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light.”
– Freya (A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer)
Plot:
This book is very suspenseful & adventure filled. There are plenty of twists and turns throughout the book which kept the book very interesting. It was hard to put down and was a very easy and quick read.
“My father once said we are all dealt a hand at birth. A good hand can ultimately lose–just as a poor hand can win–but we must all play the cards fate deals. The choices we face may not be the choices we want, but they are choices nonetheless.”
-Rhen (A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Birgid Kemmerer)
As many of you know, I am not a huge romance fan, but as this is a retelling. I knew from the start that there would be a romance & who it would be between so when it came to pass I didn’t mind it. It was well done compared to most YA romances.
Characters:
Our 3 main characters are Rhen, Harper & Grey. My favourite out of the 3 is actually Grey, who while plays a major part is a side character. All the characters are fierce, loyal & determined to do what is right. Grey especially is extremely loyal to those that he trusts. He is also quick witted & brave to a fault.
Also I really enjoyed the disability rep (Cerebral Palsy) in this book! There are very few books I have read that have MCs with disabilities in the physical realm. So it was interesting to see this in the book. It never stopped Harper from braving what needed to be done and she shut anyone down that doubted her ability because of it.
“Failure isn’t absolute. Just because you couldn’t save everyone doesn’t mean you didn’t save anyone.”
-Harper (A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
