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 eighteenth 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 Lacy. 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.
Oh boy. This book has had so much hype surrounding it since it came out. I was going to wait for the series to be over with until starting, but I decided that I needed to see what the hubbub was all about. I ended up liking this book, but I didn't love it. Even though I still liked it, because of this hype I find myself disappointed. So fair warning, there is going to be some disappointment in this review because when I think of this book instead of thinking about what I enjoyed, all I can think about is how it did not reach the level of hype.
Harper's mother is dying and her brother is resorting to shifty means in order to keep their family afloat. One day when Harper is assigned lookout for her brother, she sees a man dragging a woman. Worried that the woman is being trafficked, Harper steps up to stop the man. Except, she ends up being taken to the fantasy world of Emberfall. For years, the prince of Emberfall has been cursed to repeat the same autumn until he finds love. Worse, each autumn ends with him turning into a beast, killing his own people and even his own family. The girl Harper saved was meant to be the prince's next suitor but now Haper seems to have taken her place. But all Harper wants is to go back home.
Harper and I started off on the wrong foot. I am wary of tough girls in books because almost always the "tough girl" is against anything girly. Honestly, I think you can still kick butt in a dress. Harper is a tough girl, and she started off seeming to be against anything girly, but there ended up to be a lot more to her character. I never fully felt like I understood her history, which made her character feel flat at first. As the book progressed, I did grow into liking Harper's character. She was very impulsive, but she only wanted to do what she thought would help others, or help her family. She does end up having a very strong character arc in the book, and that's not even about the romance, but just her overall bravery. Harper does have cerebral palsy, and while I can't speak about how well represented it was, it is the first time I have seen an MC in a YA novel with cerebral palsy, and the book never focused specifically on it.
While Harper ended up not falling into the "I'm not like other girls" trope, the other characters (namely the guy characters) couldn't stop mentioning how different Harper is. Harper read like a modern girl and one we see often in YA novels, in terms of her bravery, impulsiveness, and loyalty to her family. I found it hard to believe that in all the years, Rhen and Grey never found a girl who talked back to them, tried to run, as well as tried to help their people.
This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and that story has its fair share of plotholes. The book does follow the story very well, so it is a fairly decent retelling. There are of course more modern elements (like Harper's character). I found the way the beast was handled in a very interesting way and while we don't get to see Emberfall fully, I did find the relationship between the castle and the rest of the kingdom interesting. Time runs differently in the two areas, so it helps explain why the kingdom doesn't know about the curse but know about the beast. The kingdom does think the prince (and the king, who the kingdom does not know has died) have abandoned them, so we get an extra political layer. So in some cases, the book does try to address some plotholes in the original tale.
As for romance, I didn't love it but I didn't hate it. I think the romance was just expected in this book.
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I think I expected to be wowed by this book, but it was just the usual retelling. While this had some pretty unique takes to the tale, it had the expected plot elements. The book does go in intriguing and dark directions, but the romance felt kind of light throughout most of the book (it does get dark toward the end). I did end up liking this book and I kind of wonder how I would feel about this book if it weren't for the hype surrounding it.
I hereby give this book
3.5 Stars
Meaning: I liked it, but it wasn't quite amazing.
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