2.5 Stars

i'm not sure what to say. i feel so, so conflicted right now.

so. i thought the opening ten chapters or so were fine. then, until about page ~350 i thought that this was one of the most slow, boring books i'd ever read, and that it would be competing with The Wren In the Holly Library for my least favorite read of the year. then it finally started to pick up and i kind of liked how it ended. all of this to say, i've given this a very tentative 3 stars for now but i may reduce it to 2.5 or 2 when i have more time to think on it i have reduced my rating to 2.5.

i liked Harper and i found that i could relate to her; we both have disabilities and have experienced what it's like to have a mother diagnosed with cancer. Rhen, though, i didn't start liking him til the very end. i found him to be very confusing, like he'd say he cared about this or that but i could find nothing to support that, or otherwise was just bland in general. Grey was fine i guess.

the plot was super interesting, but it was hindered by some very slow pacing and sloppy writing, especially in the middle. the scenes changed so fast sometimes that i couldn't tell where the characters were or what was going on. sometimes, i wasn't even able to tell who's point-of-view i was reading, and i would have to flip back through the pages to check which was super annoying. one of my biggest bookish pet peeves is when an author writes multiple povs but doesn't do much to distinguish between the characters in them.

the romance though was subtle and not in the way i usually like. it was subtle as in i couldn't even tell it existed until like the last 50 pages, so i hope to see some development there in the future. also, i had no idea Grey was supposed to be a part of a love triangle between him, Harper, and Rhen until i read someone's review that pointed it out. for me, it didn't read that way at all. idk, that was just really odd.

anyways. i though this was fine overall. i'll give the next books a try too, even though i haven't heard as great things about them compared to this one. i liked the cliffhanger though, and i think i fugured out who Grey is... ( )

3.75 ( )

Could not put it down! I love a FMC who starts weak and grows into a powerhouse. And a villain you love to hate. Some fun and unique elements that keep the action happening and your mind turning to figure out solutions. Even though it's a slow burn with hardly any steam, it was still a pleasure to read and I am immediately starting the next in the series because I'm just as invested in the supporting characters. ( )

A Curse So Dark and Lonely was pretty good. The writing flowed well and the story was fairly interesting. I wasn't sure where the story was going around the middle of the book, but it got much more absorbing towards the end.

Grey is my favorite character in the book and I wish that his character was explored a little more. It looks like Grey has a bigger part in the next book, hopefully he is still as awesome. Harper and Rhen were alright, maybe a little flat. There wasn't much chemistry between the characters, but there were a few sparks here and there.

Some of this book was annoying. Like how Rhen thinks that Harper is so super special and "not like other girls". (Harper doesn't like to dance? So special. Harper actually fights back? Even more special.) And if Rhen just shows normal human decency, Harper thinks that he is super special, too. I'd excuse it as puppy love, but it doesn't really feel like that in the book.

I'll probably read the sequel, just to see where this story is going. ( )

This is one of my favorite books, of course I am a sucker for retellings, no matter I always recommend this book when anyone asks for recommendation that has to do with retellings, beauty and the beast trop, Fantasy and a damsel in distress that is not your typical weak damsel in distress. I have all 3 books in the series and I enjoyed them all. ( )