A Heart So Fierce and Broken: Brigid Kemmerer (The Cursebreaker Series)

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It’s one of the few things I regret leaving behind in Washington, DC, but when darkness has fallen, dinner feels like a distant memory, and Rhen has still not returned to his chambers, I want to know what time it is. I’m no stranger to waiting in the darkness, but when I was on the streets I had my brother’s cell phone, and I’d count every minute. I adored this book so much and I totally agree with you, this sequel was very unexpected. It didn’t follow any of the tropes I’m used to seeing in YA and made it more about trauma than I had anticipated!

A Heart So Fierce and Broken - Goodreads A Heart So Fierce and Broken - Goodreads

Rhen’s curse has finally been lifted, but he’s not out of the deep end yet. His kingdom is turning on him as rumors of a true heir to the throne arise, and Karis Luran threatens war on Emberfall. Grey has fled the castle, being the only one with knowledge of the true heir’s identity. As things threaten to come crashing down around Rhen, Grey wars with himself; the fate of two kingdoms are resting on his shoulders, after all. It was a very bold choice to steer away from Rhen’s POV because witnessing his harsh treatment of Grey and others without the benefit of his internal voice means that an established main character who is loved by readers now appears in a very unflattering light, to put it mildly. Rhen being cast in the position of antagonist is a surprise and makes the story very unpredictable as there’s no telling how far he’ll go while trapped in the depths of paranoia with his PTSD further compounding the issue. Transition and pacing. One of the things I can say that honestly did not disappoint in this book was the pacing. Sometimes fantasy novels fall into the trap of having a lull in the middle of the story up until the end but this kept me engaged when I was reading it...even if I didn't actually like what I was reading. And the transition from book one to book two flowed super well in my opinion. The author does a great job of recapping book one without ever making it boring or redundant. If there is one plus to this book, it is that it allows us to see more of the world beyond Ironrose Castle. The story also moves along at a decent pace, and the book itself is an easy read. OverallThe atmosphere of this series really improved as well! Brigid Kemmerer clearly honed in on expanding and developing the magical aspects to this universe. So much so that I lost myself in this story for hours on end. I'm still reeling from that ending. I CAN'T BELIEVE LILITH IS ALIVE??!!! AND NOW RHEN HAS AGREED TO AN OFFER FROM THAT WITCH??!! AND IT'S TO PROTECT HARPER!!! HE DOESN'T EVEN WANT THE KINGDOM!!! HE DOESN'T CARE IF GREY TAKES IT AWAY BUT LILITH IS THREATENING TO TAKE HARPER AWAY FROM HIM!!! 😭Poor Rhen...😭😭 CURSE YOU LILITH!!!😡😡

Grey | Cursebreakers Wiki | Fandom Grey | Cursebreakers Wiki | Fandom

Grey and Lia Mara are deeply in love. Grey respects her intelligence, compassion and tenacity. At the end of A Vow So Bold and Deadly it is revealed that Lia Mara is pregnant with Grey's child. During Forging Silver into Stars, Grey and Lia Mara become closer than ever, brought together by the death of the death of their second unborn child. Grey may be the heir, but he doesn't want anyone to know his secret. 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? Genres: Fiction — Fantasy, Romance, High fantasy, Fantasy romance, Young adult, Young adult fantasy while ruthlessness may have its place, I believe your brand of strength would garner greater loyalty. That is what makes you dangerous. Not because you would ride in with a blade and take control, but because you could quietly sit in this chair, in the dark, with your book...and you could determine the best way to achieve what needs to be done.”But anyways this review has gone on way too long at this point, thank you for your time, and Happy Reading Folks. 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? I'm not a fan of the discord between Rhen and his brother. Especially not since I believe that Grey's love for Rhen had a whole lot more to do with breaking the curse in ACSDAL than Harper's had at the time. It feels kind of forced. Did so at the beginning, when I found myself wondering if it might not have been better for Grey to be honest. Unlike him, I wasn't so sure of the fate that would have awaited him in that case. And it certainly feels forced now when Karis Luran (boy, was she one dimensional btw. Same as Lilith. Interesting villains they are not .. and I say that as someone who almost always roots for the villain :/) is dead, and ☆.。.:*pacifist queen Lia Mara*・°☆ is ruling Syhl Shallow. Edited to add: Because a few people have told me I would like this book more if I had continued it, I probably should mention that, after choosing to "officially" DNF it where I did, I skimmed forward and read chunks of the rest of the book here and there to see if I might be more intrigued by what was happening. I then also skipped ahead and read the last few chapters (I know, blasphemy, but this is something that has convinced me to continue a boring or disappointing book many times in the past, so I was hopeful). Unfortunately, not only did I find the plot line predictable enough that literally NOTHING about the end surprised me, but I was even more frustrated by the characters by the end that I can safely guarantee nothing that happened between the sections I read would have redeemed AHSFAB for me. :( /end edit

A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer - Waterstones

It's a no wonder this book was named A Heart So Fierce and Broken. I literally feel like my heart has been broken.💔😭 My throat tightens. I turn to look out over the courtyard again, hoping the breeze will drag my tears away. "He was trapped with you for ... ever," I say. "Forever, Rhen. "How could you do that to him?" I loved getting to know Grey, Noah, and Jake a little better. I knew I loved Grey from the first book, but this one really solidified that love. He was just so strong, physically and emotionally, and encouraged others to realize their own strength. We are also able to see progress in Noah and Jake’s relationships with Grey and the other characters. They no longer feel like outsiders infringing in this little group. Though Lia Mara is the firstborn daughter, she is not the princess in line for the throne. Her mother doesn’t value her like her younger sister Nola Verin, whose nature is more like their mother. Lia Mara is not as small and beautiful as her sister and she is intelligent and caring and does not like bloodshed. While Nolla Verin is unfazed by killing others and only to happy to rush into battle. This was a 9.0/10 on CAWPILE so juuuuust got 5 stars, the only reason it wasn't a strong 5 is because of the last chapter. One of my least favourite tropes happened and just overall it wasn't satisfactory for me.Although Lia Mara definitely does envy her sister, Nolla Verin, and knows that her sister can be cruel, we are constantly reminded how much she cares for and loves her sister and vice versa. I really appreciated that. It was refreshing having two sisters who are vastly different NOT hating each other. I loved seeing their love for one another, even if Nolla Verin is a horrible brat for most of the book. Lia Mara, daughter of Queen Karis Luran wishes for peace between Syhl Shallow and Emberfall. Lia Mara is different from her cruel and calculating mother and sister. She is seen as weaker for being compassionate and in her mother's eyes, that weakness is what makes her unfit to be queen. And so the title of heir is handed to her younger sister instead. Grey and Lia Mara made such a cute couple🥰, but I still love Rhen and Harper more despite everything that happened. Those two will always hold a place in my heart. I maybe, maybe, maybe could see that for a person who grew up in the brutality of Emberfall. But please let's not forget that Harper was raised in our society. She has our moral code ingrained in her. Our world might be cruel too, but I don't know a single person with half a decent heart who would watch their SO do something like that and be like "Eh .. that wasn't okay. Still gonna stay though *shrugs*" Rhen: Rhen was such a great character in ACSDAL and I really disliked his arc through this one, he was pretty much unrecognisable.

A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer: A Book Review A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer: A Book Review

While the first book was arguably pretty generic, it was a retelling so I couldn't really fault it. This book though was a mix-mash of every trope in the book while bringing nothing new to the table. Harper was all but eliminated from the sequel, removing the disability rep that was part of what made ACSDAL unique. But boy if I did not also lose my heart especially to the man himself; Grey. His character archetype is my kryptonite. So I was overjoyed when I realized that ACSDAL was in fact not only not a standalone as I initially thought (although I would argue that it can be read as such), but that the follow up novel would actually revolve around my man Grey. So maybe this will help you understand why I feel a little let down now that I've read it. An eternity at Prince Rhen's side, surviving his monster, surviving Lilith, surviving as a guardsman, and I'm going to die in the leaves beside a campfire because I was stupid .” I will never advise anyone to not read a book because that’s just shitty, but I would definitely say if you loved ACSDAL a lot, there is a lot in this that you may not necessarily enjoy.

So I knew he would get a brand new LI in this one before I got into it, and at first I was on board with that idea as well. Then reality happened and it all just fell kind of flat. I can't even pinpoint why exactly it did, but it did.