A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers #1) by Brigid Kemmerer - Restarting August 14th 2023

[Jude]

You have to start this book on a fixed date? Because if it is like that, then I've missed it..

[Jill]

Mare wrote: "You have to start this book on a fixed date? Because if it is like that, then I've missed it.."

No. You have 2 weeks since the last comment. In this case, you have until Aug 19 to post your first comment

[Ritika]

No, no. You can start as long as the last comment wasn't 7 days before you comment.

[Jude]

Ok, thank you!!

[izzy]

25%
(view spoiler)[ meet harper, the one who stands as a look out for her brother as he tries to do dirty work to pay the debts their father left behind as well as taking care of their ailing mum (hide spoiler)]

[izzy]

50%
(view spoiler)[ harper is pulled into Emberfall by grey
There she learns of prince Rhen, the curse and everything that led to the curse.
It is Rhen last season and for once he truly wants to fall in love (hide spoiler)]

[izzy]

75%
(view spoiler)[ Though Harper is determined not to fall in love with Rhen, his kindness sways her.
Not that she has admitted though. I like the part of the innkeeper and everyone staying in (hide spoiler)]

[izzy]

100%
(view spoiler)[ well, i already felt this was a retelling of beauty and the beast
Though, the part that shows Grey being a prince is..... (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Date changed. Restarting October 27th 2019. Happy Reading ☺

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

[HeatherH]

Completely forgot about this one!

[HeatherH]

25% through, up to ch 15

(view spoiler)[ I'm really enjoying this one! The writing is easy to read and engaging.
Rhen is a decent male lead but something about him really reminds me of Tamlin from ACOTAR so that makes me not trust him yet haha. I adore Grey - he's harsh and loyal and his interactions with Harper so far have been fun to read. Harper herself is tough and I hope she takes a long slow time to soften up and fall for Rhen because so far the author has done a great job of avoiding any hints of insta-love.
Lilith is evil and brutal and I'm really enjoying her as the villian - I hope we get to see more of her as the story progresses.
Favorite moments so far: Grey with the children, Grey/Harper playing cards, Harper finding the 3rd floor room, Rhen sharing the cinnamon dough with Harper. (hide spoiler)]

[Heather]

I will join!

[Claire]

Two Heathers! :D

Chapter 12
(view spoiler)[Hm, ok, I'm definitely entertained so far but I'm not loving it yet. The story is extremely predictable so far (to be fair it is a retelling) and lots of cliches, but I have hope that it'll differentiate itself eventually.

I do however have a problem with the fact that they've kidnapped hundreds of girls and somehow Harper is the ONLY ONE who has reacted like this? That's absolutely absurd! I don't care if until now, they've been nothing kidnapping vain, ditzy party girls, there's just no way that out of hundreds of girls, nobody until Harper has tried to fight them after being kidnapped, I don't care how pretty the castle is or how hot Rhen is, I just can't accept this.

I actually do like the characters though, I expected Harper to stay in the castle after she realised that the dudes weren't going to kill her, but she ran off again which was pretty awesome. Also Rhen is super depressing and I am here for it :D (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

@claire

I'm starting ch 16 and the issue you mentioned is touched on here. Not much, but at least acknowledged.

[Claire]

@Heather (view spoiler)[Oh yeah I'm up to chapter 18 now and I read the bit you're talking about! It does mitigate my complaint a fair bit but still, it feels a bit off to me. (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

Agreed- it almost felt like an afterthought of (view spoiler)[ oh, maybe people won't buy into this idea that no other girl fought so let me put a token line in here about it. (hide spoiler)]

Aside from that and the general predictability of it, I'm still enjoying reading the story.

[Claire]

Same, weird plot stuff aside I am enjoying the characters and the writing :D

[Claire]

Heather wrote: "25% through, up to ch 15
[spoiler removed]."
(view spoiler)[I feel like Tamlin has given an entire generation of readers trust issues 😂

Also, LOL at Harper instantly guessing that she's supposed to fall in love with Rhen, I love a genre savvy protag :D (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

(view spoiler)[ Tamlin for sure messed us all up hah! I mean, I preferred Rhys long before Ferye did but still..

I really like Harper. I think she is spunky, aware, and brave. But I do enjoy her interactions with Grey more than I do Rhen so far. (hide spoiler)]

[Claire]

(view spoiler)[Yes, Grey is so sweet! It's nice that he and Harper are getting along, I imagine that he's spent a loooooong time being mostly ignored by everyone but Rhen, poor baby :< (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

ch 27
(view spoiler)[ Ok, Harper showed her naivety here.. How did she not expect Lilith to be so cruel after seeing the third floor room and hearing Rhen's warnings?! (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

Through ch34
(view spoiler)[ Shit is starting to hit the fan a bit now. I love that Rhen and Harper were able to rally his people and the show of so many coming to fight. Lilith is messing everything up though. They had their sweet moments dancing and then she had to come in and torture Rhen leaving him utterly pathetic for the time being. I really up he sucks it up and gets some fight back in him quickly. (hide spoiler)]

[Claire]

Chapter 35
(view spoiler)[Ugh Lilith is such a creeper, I mean yeah Rhen was an asshole to her but girl, it's way past time to get over it by now.

Them rallying the citizens is really cool but it feels a bit too easy, it's surprising that more people didn't try to revolt like that the people in that town did. (hide spoiler)]

[Claire]

Chapter 38
(view spoiler)[Awwwww that was cute 😭

Another minor complaint about the plot though, Lilith never said that they can only cross worlds once, she said he could do it at his whim? I can't tell if this is intentional or not, like did the author forget to have Lilith say that it's a one time thing, or did the characters just assume wrong? (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

Claire wrote: "Chapter 38
Awwwww that was cute 😭

Another minor complaint about the plot though, Lilith never said that they can only cross worlds once, she said he could do it at his whim? I can't tell if this i..."

(view spoiler)[ I read that part twice and I think it was originally once but she granted him the ability to on a whim at that point just to torture them all more. I think. (hide spoiler)]

[Claire]

(view spoiler)[Wait, I think I'm just being dumb. I was misinterpreting the story, don't mind me :D

I did notice something else kinda weird though, if the monster looks different every season, why do the citizens think that there's one monster? Wouldn't it make more sense for them to think there are multiple monsters? (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

Valid point. I hadn't thought of that - guess that was my turn to be dumb haha

[HeatherH]

I did really love (view spoiler)[ Harper teaching Zo and Grey to fist bump! (hide spoiler)]

[Claire]

(view spoiler)[Yes it's so cute! I really like there was no annoying love triangle scare with Grey. (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

ch 42
(view spoiler)[ So Karis' reveal about a missing heir makes sense with Lilith's earlier claim that she wasn't the last of her kind, that she could feel the magic tied to another.. Curious... (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

ch 50
(view spoiler)[ Harper introducing/explaining Jake and Noah to Emberfall and vice versa is my new favorite thing! hahah (hide spoiler)]

[Claire]

Chapter 39
(view spoiler)[Oh lol I complained a chapter too early, they address exactly what I meant about Grey being able to travel between worlds whenever in this chapter.

But like it still feels a bit off then since she was only planning to say goodbye and then go back right? And this was before she knew about the monster thing, so why did she think she was dooming Emberfall if she was only planning to leave for 24 hours and then could go back? I'm confused now. (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

@Claire (view spoiler)[ Did I miss something then? lol I thought she was planning to return forever but then panicked and changed her mind when they arrived to her apartment.. Its 5 am here and I'm super tired so who knows ha! (hide spoiler)]

[Claire]

Chapter 42
(view spoiler)[Grey is a few years older than Rhen... 👀 (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

Claire wrote: "Chapter 42
[spoilers removed]"

That was my first thought too!

[HeatherH]

finished!!

(view spoiler)[ so yeah, we were both right with that thought about Grey being the true heir. I'm glad he isn't dead or trapped on the other side but hate that he's having to hide from Rhen and Harper. Also, hate that we don't have confirmation that Lilith is dead..

I'm curious if Jake and Noah will find a way home in book two or if they will have to adjust and stay in Emberfall.

This was really good! Definitely a few plot holes but nothing so major that it ruined the reading experience for me. I adored all of the characters and the world building. She created strong relationships between all of the side characters and the mc's. Lilith was a good villain. I'm really looking forward to the next book. (hide spoiler)]

[Claire]

Heather wrote: "@Claire [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[That could be true! It's hard to know for sure but that would make sense :D (hide spoiler)]

[Claire]

Finished!
(view spoiler)[Aha! Called it! And yeah I totally don't believe that Lilith is dead either, this seems way too easy.

I feel the same! Few small gripes aside I absolutely loved the it, the characters especially, they feel much more realistic than the average YA characters, and I think it was a very interesting choice for it to be left ambiguous what really broke the curse. (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

Thanks for the BR! I’ve had it on my shelf since release day so I’m happy I finally got to it. See ya in January for book 2? Lol

[Claire]

Thank you too! Haha sounds good! I'm gonna wait for reviews before I decide to read it or not, but I'm pretty invested in the characters so I reckon there's a good chance that I will :D

[Maddie]

Thanks Luisa for posting that!

I'll also be joining in! Although I'm in the middle of it currently, I'll be finishing it off!

[Lu]

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Date changed. Restarting January 6th 2020. Happy Reading ☺

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

[Lu]

Maddie wrote: "Thanks Luisa for posting that!

I'll also be joining in! Although I'm in the middle of it currently, I'll be finishing it off!"

I had deleted mine too when I saw yours lol.

[Maddie]

Oh sorry! XD

[Sarah A]

Thank you Maddie and Luisa. This will be my first buddy read so I'm not really sure how it all goes.

[Maddie]

Oh how exciting Sarah! You just comment on the book throughout, like your thoughts or emotions or something, but when you comment make sure to post a % or Chapter number, and also use spoiler tags (which you can find in the '(some html is ok)' button at the top right of the reply box

[Vanessa Gayle ⚔️]

I started two days early. =)

16% (view spoiler)[I am loving this so far! The writing really drew me in and I was devouring the pages immediately.

I love Harper so much. She is so strong and relentless and amazingly fierce. I love that she stands up for other people, the girl in the street and then the family that was being attacked. I love that she stands up for herself and is resourceful.

I feel like I need more information about the curse. And I am a little confused about Lilith. Is she the one that cursed Rhen? I felt that it was unclear.

I like Rhen for the most part. It's sad that he has had to endure the curse so many times and lose so much in the process.

I'm not sure what to make of Grey, though I liked the moment when he chuckled at Harper when he was showing her how to hold a dagger. It at least showed that he has some sort of feelings underneath his gruff exterior. (hide spoiler)]

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

I started this today too Vanessa so we can chat away until the others join.

I'm 1% in. Going to try to get to 20% today.

[Heather]

I’ve been meaning to finish this book! I’m definitely joining

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

Heather wrote: "I’ve been meaning to finish this book! I’m definitely joining"

Awesome! ^_^