A Curse so Dark and Lonely - Review

'Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year, Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall, thought he could be saved easily if a girl fell for him. But that was before he turned into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. 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 constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, Harper learned to be tough enough to survive. When she tries to save a stranger on the streets of Washington DC, she's pulled into a magical world.

Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. A prince? A curse? A monster? 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'

A Curse so Dark and Lonely, in short, is an amazing read. I truly couldn't put it down and I easily found myself invested in the stories and characters. I was intrigued throughout about where the plot would go, what would happen to each character and how it would end. I liked that despite the fact that the writing made the reader aware that the days were counting down until Rhen became the beast again, you were still always left guessing about where the plot would go next.

I loved the layout of this book and the way the writing is structured to ensure the reader isn't overwhelmed with information. When you look back at the book once finishing it, you realise just how much happened throughout. The explanation of the curse, the veil between Emberfall and Washington DC, Harper's family, Rhen's past, Grey's past. There was so much to take in but the way the story was written made sure that all of it flowed perfectly as the plot progressed. I feel this may be because nothing seemed to be over-explained, it was all fairly simple and I didn't fins that I was confused at any point. Regarding the fact that Emberfall is literally a different world, it is simply said that it runs parallel to our world and that is that. All in all, the story and plot was easy to follow, but at the same time easy to immerse yourself in.

The characters are what make this book what it is. I loved all three of the main characters for different reasons. I loved that Harper was fierce and brave despite everything she was going through. I loved Grey's personality and his friendship and I always found myself wishing to read more from him. I loved Rhen's mannerisms, loyalty and his friendship with Grey. I think that loving each character was a large contributing factor to how easy I found this book to be. I didn't feel a disconnect from any of them and I was truly invested in each of their plot lines. The dual-perspective added to this largely. It's been a while since a read a book with a dual-perspective, but I found it easy to immerse myself into and being able to see the plot progress from both Harper and Rhen's perspectives gave the story range.

My only criticism for this story would be that there wasn't much backstory for Harper. We learnt about the debt her family was in and her mother's sickness, but I feel liked some more detail or even a flashback would have allowed the reader to feel the urgency she felt to get back home again. Saying this, when she was faced with the choice of requesting to go back home, the writing made it so that the reader truly did feel her dilemma, which I absolutely loved. However, I personally felt as though I was rooting for her to stay purely because I didn't know much about her family and I felt connected to Rhen and Grey.

I fully intend on reading the second book in this series and after the ending to this one, I cannot wait to read it! I'll most likely review that when I read it in comparison to my thoughts and feelings on this one. If you're looking for an easy fantasy read with lovable characters and a great plot, this is definitely the book to read!