In the sequel to New York Times bestselling A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Brigid Kemmerer returns to the world of Emberfall in a lush fantasy where friends become foes and love blooms in the darkest of places. Find the heir, win the crown. The curse is finally broken, but Prince Rhen of Emberfall faces darker troubles still. Rumors circulate that he is not the true heir and that forbidden magic has been unleashed in Emberfall. Although Rhen has Harper by his side, his guardsman Grey is missing, leaving more questions than answers. Win the crown, save the kingdom. Rumored to be the heir, Grey has been on the run since he destroyed Lilith. He has no desire to challenge Rhen--until Karis Luran once again threatens to take Emberfall by force. Her own daughter Lia Mara sees the flaws in her mother’s violent plan, but can she convince Grey to stand against Rhen, even for the good of Emberfall? The heart-pounding, compulsively readable saga continues as loyalties are tested and new love blooms in a kingdom on the brink of war. (From the book blurb) My thoughts: If you like fairy-tale retellings and are a fan of YA fantasy genre, by now you must have read A Curse So Dark and Lonely, which is a fantastic retelling of Beauty and the Beast. If you haven't, I'm going to put a page break here (Read More) because this review is going to be full of spoilers. So the curse put my the evil enchantress has been broken, but Prince Rhen's country Emberfall is in ruin and now there are rumours that the King had another son born from his first marriage to a woman of magic. This boy is the real heir, if only he can be found.
Prince Rhen knows that Lilith was not the last person in his kingdom able to wield magic, so he is aware of the danger to his crown his unknown half-brother is. Commander Grey won readers' hearts by his awesome loyalty and courage in the first book. Quite a few of us were hoping the sequel would focus on his story ...and this is exactly what happens in A Heart So Fierce and Broken. Unfortunately, we do not get to see that much of Harper, and Rhen...He just about managed to convince the readers that he can be tender and sincere, and noble in setting Grey free of his oath. There was still bit of ambiguity about whether Harper had fallen in love with him and broken the curse or if it was Grey killing Lilith. Well, we get our answer here, as Harper stands by Rhen, however unhero-like his attutudes and behaviours become in this sequel. We get his POV only in the last chapter, which is a huge cliff-hanger. There are new characters as we focus on the Kingdom of Syhl Shallow and its bloodthirsty Queen Karis Luran. She has two daughters and has just named the younger one her heir. The older sister, kind and book-loving Lia Mara would like to negotiate a trade treaty and prevent an impending war with Emberfall. She is intelligent (her mother made her study strategy, so that she could become a valuable advisor to the future queen, her sister Nolla Verin) and caring, so when she becomes Grey's love interest, it makes sense. Brigid Kemmerer's writing style is as entertaining and compelling as in the first book. There is never a dull moment and everything serves to either move the story forward or build the characters. The first part was understandably constrained by the fairy tale arc it was re-telling, but here the author is free to explore the magic world she has created. Looking forward to the third instalment. Honestly, I have no idea where Brigid Kemmerer's imagination and creativity are going to take us and how the characters are going to develop. All I know, it is going to be a fabulous journey. A Heart So Fierce and Broken is out on January 7th, 2020. Comments are closed.
|
Archives
April 2024
Categories
All
|