A luxuriously magical retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in seventeenth-century France–and told from the point of view of the Beast himself.
I am neither monster nor man—yet I am both.
I am the Beast.
He is a broken, wild thing, his heart’s nature exposed by his beastly form. Long ago cursed with a wretched existence, the Beast prowls the dusty hallways of his ruined château with only magical, unseen servants to keep him company—until a weary traveler disturbs his isolation.
Bewitched by the man’s dreams of his beautiful daughter, the Beast devises a plan to lure her to the château. There, Isabeau courageously exchanges her father’s life for her own and agrees to remain with the Beast for a year. But even as their time together weaves its own spell, the Beast finds winning Isabeau’s love is only the first impossible step in breaking free from the curse . . . (Goodreads)
I loved this retelling from the Beast’s perspective.
I really enjoyed this book. It was funny and light-hearted. The characters were lovely. I love Beauty and the Beast re-tellings, and based on the number of them out there, I am not the only one. Some are definitely better than others, and A Curse so Dark and Lonely was one of those. I liked the elements of the story were similar but not exactly the same. I also enjoyed that the beast, Rhen, wasn’t in beast form the whole time. I always thought that part of the original fairy tale was a bit overboard.
I really enjoyed Harper, she was smart, inventive, and didn’t take any crap. I also liked Rhen, though even though half the story was told from his point of view I never really connected with him. I also didn’t really believe the love story part. This seemed more like hate to friendship then hate to love.
My favorite character, however, was probably Grey. He is stoic and mysterious and by far the most interesting character. I sincerely hope that the next book about him!
Overall: 4
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