A Curse So Dark and Lonely

By: Brigid Kemmerer

Narrated by: Kate Handford, Davis Brooks, Matt Reeves

Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Bloomsbury presents A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer, read by Kate Handford, Davis Brooks and Matt Reeves.

A New York Times best seller!

In a lush, contemporary fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Brigid Kemmerer gives listeners another romance perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer.

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 18th 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. 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.

©2020 Brigid Kemmerer (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

"Has everything you'd want in a retelling of a classic fairy tale." (Jodi Picoult, New York Times best-selling author of A Spark of Light and Small Great Things)

"I couldn't get this creative, suspenseful take on 'Beauty and the Beast' out of my head." (Sara Holland, New York Times best-selling author of Everless)

"Absolutely spellbinding." (Stephanie Garber, number one New York Times best-selling author of Caraval and Legendary)

Solid Story

Pretty good book. It did get boring at times. Too much politics not enough action. Predictable (I know it's a retelling) but not in a bad way. The intended twists and turns aren't novel or surprising. Narration was excellent. Overall a decent book but I'll be skipping the sequel.

For the Good of Emberfall!

If you're a hopeless fantasy romantic like I am, then you're going to love this.

An amazing story

Sort of like Beauty and the Beast but with lots of different spins. Entertaining, easy to listen to. The plot is complex enough to keep my attention but not so deep that I lose track. Starting the second book as soon as I finish typing!

Loved this!!

One of my favourite YA books I've read in a long while. Got me hooked from the first page and I honestly couldn't stop as I had to know if the main characters would be okay... the end had me wanting more!

wonderful unexpected retelling

I went into this book having not read the description. I love the heroine isn't a gorgeous perfect creature. The twists and turns of the book are unexpected. I mean you know at the end of the day... but you're like how are we going to get there from here the whole way. love love love

The breathing at the end was very annoying.

I just could t stand the chapters where the “beast” spike. Made me cringe and not want to listen. Very annoying.

Other than that it was a good book.

great story

loved it! it was a really get retelling of beauty and the beast ! !

fun read

I liked this book a lot. fun read with a. nice twist at the end. hope there is a.sequel

Awwwwsome!!

Was on edge of my seat til the end🤩
I could not stop listening. Excited about the 2nd book 📚

The female lead?

The female lead ruins the book for me. I’ve just started it, several chapters in… but the female lead is extremely aggravating. She is teleported from DC to basically a castle. Most people would think there dreaming, maybe dead… she demands to know what happened. I get that, but also… how the fudge do you explain that to someone who doesn’t know magic exists? Instead this whole thing is just brushed over and she spends more time trying to get away from Grey and Ren? than realizing this is an entirely different place and where the hell is she going to go if this obviously isn’t America anymore. She takes a horse and basically goes out into the snow ( which magically happens, btw, but she doesn’t linger on that and keeps going ) with no plan whatsoever. WHERE IS SHE GOING TO GO??? I’m honestly so confused because there’s so little logical planning from her showing up to her trying to escape.

Then you have the male lead who keeps commenting about how all the other girls they’ve kidnapped before never would’ve fought him, and instead of running away, they would’ve been awed by the pretty, shiny things. Like Harper is ‘not like other girls’ sort of situation.

I like girls who can take care of themselves. But I’d much rather have a weak girl who is smart and has common sense than someone like Harper who just doesn’t think at all — literally, there is no thinking on her end other than a few commentary moments where she happens to notice that yeah, this is flipping weird.

It’s going to be a struggle to finish: