A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers, #1)

by Brigid Kemmerer

My left leg is clumsy and about to give way, but I mentally threaten to cut it off if it doesn’t get me out of here. It listens.

This is the line that made me realize I was hooked.

Half a dozen compliments leap to my tongue, but she’s not the type to swoon for pretty lies.

I had to reread this line a few times. It was so sad to me to think of a compliment as a pretty lie. I think this one sentence says so much about Rhen's character.

“Harper.” Ah. Of course. No Annabeth or Isabella for this one. A name with edges.

I’m plotting an escape. It’s not going well.

The trellis is six inches out of my reach. I can jump six inches. My heart pounds and says I can not jump six inches. It says that falling thirty feet to the ground will hurt. It says I am an idiot for even considering this.

This book feels so real. These would be the exact thoughts going through my own head if I was in Harper's position.

I escaped two armed men and a cursed castle, and I’m going to die of exposure.

He’s so arrogant. I ignore his hand and slide my leg over the buckskin’s rump. I do it too fast, just to spite him. I spite myself. My left knee buckles when I hit the ground.

“King’s Ransom. Match the suit or the face. Queens and princes are wild. First person to finish with only kings in their hand is the winner—but if you play a prince card, you can steal one of your opponent’s kings.”

“Exactly how old are you?” “Exactly? That, I cannot say. The curse began on the first day of autumn in my twentieth year, and lasts one season. When it is not broken, the season begins anew.” “So you’ve been twenty for like … ever?” “Longer than most, it would seem.”

“I don’t think I can keep hating you.” “Such sweet words of affection, my lady.” I play a ten of hearts. “You honor me.”

Seeing him in the sun with bare forearms and sweat on his brow makes my eyes want to linger.

“When my sister died,” Freya says quietly, “it was very sudden. I had no time to say goodbye. But she knew I loved her. I knew she loved me. It is not the moment of passing that is most important. It is all the moments that come before.”

I want to go home. Or at least back to the castle. I’m screwed on either count. Rhen says we can’t leave. He doesn’t want to give the impression that we’re easily cowed. I am, though. I’m cowed.

Harper finally looks at me. “I wish you’d told me.” “Look at where we stand, my lady. You know now. If you’d known earlier, would your choice now be different?”