Book Stats

Stars: 5 Stars( Spoilers You can also read it on my blog)
Start Date : 03/01/2020 Ending Date: 03/10/2020
Genre: YA Fantasy, Beauty and the Beast Retelling
Form: Audiobook and Digital ARC
Page Count: 450
Publishing Date: 2020
Point of View: 1st Person Alternate between Grey and Lia Mara ( with one Chapter a piece with Harper and Rhen)
Setting: Modern Day(Washington, D.C) and Medieval( Ember Fall City, Shyl Shallow)

Received an arc from publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

The Sequel to a Curse so Dark and Lonely which starts a couple month after the ending.

1.Harper, Jake and Noah are still in Emberfall which Jake and Noah are trying to get use to it but want to go home.

2.Rhen is looking for the heir since rumors start to spin about the real heir and him being a.Magesmith just like Lilith( aka Wizard)

3.Karis Lauran is a still a threat with her spilling the tea about the heir in Dark and Lonely .

4.Whispers of Grey being still alive and siding with Lilith but no one can find him.

5.Harper start to make excuses from Rhen as he start to changed for his pursuit of the heir since the nobles are getting restless and postponed his coronation.

6.If the heir is found,Rhen wants him killed since he has magic. ( Yeah totally not a tyrant/dictator move.)

7.Grey is in hiding in a town two days away from Emberfall where he's working in the stables under the name Hawk.

8.The towns are starting to rebel because of the growing rumors of another heir.

That happens in the first 10% of the book.

New Characters

Lia Mara- Oldest Daughter to Karis Luran, has a younger sister who her mom name as heir to the throne. Trying to find ways to gain peace between Emberfall and Shyl Shallow. Is the first one smart enough to actually figure out that Grey is the true heir of Emberfall. Very Smart ,resourceful, brave and loves to red books. Has Red hair and is 18 years old.

Nolla Verin- Youngest Daughter to Karis Luran and chosen to rule. Lia Mara younger sister. Can be as ruthless as her mom at 16 years old but under that exitor is a girl who loves her big sister. Can fight well with the sword.

Tycho- Stable Hand that Grey befriended while he was in hiding. Same age as Nolla Verin

Iisak- A magical creature that helps Grey, Lia Mara, and the rest of the gang on their journey to Shyl Shallow

One thing I like about this book is the pacing which is a HUGE improvement of the first book. This book doesn't feel like a sloggest fest at all even tho I read a lot of reviews said that this one was slow which I disagree. The fact of the matter is that I finish this one off in WAY less time than the first one Also I enjoyed being in Grey and Lia Mara's head cause I don't think I could be in Rhen and Harper's head for this one. Since this one we has more of a journey than in the first one.

Especially Rhen's on how dumb he's been. Like everyone around you is pretty much telling you who the heir is and you still haven't figure out.

How to say that Grey is the heir of Emberfall and Rhen still is not putting two and two together.

Karis Luran:Lilith told me that Grey knows who the real heir is = Grey is the heir of Emberfall.

Lilith: Karis Luran and I had a talk about the heir which I found out that Grey knows who it is = Grey is the Heir of Emberfall

Lia Mara: Since my mom said that Grey knows who the real is and trying so hard to protect the Heir from Rhen and trying to protect Rhen too that means that he must be the heir=Grey is the heir of Emberfall.

Grey: Yes ,Your Highness I know who the heir is but I can't tell you in order to protect you.=I am the heir of Emberfall aka your brother but I don't want it.

Noah: You cause everyone to drop in the courtyard that means you are the magesmith and the Heir to the Throne =Grey is the heir of EmberFall.

Haper: You are the one with Magic. You are Rhen's brother. = Grey is the heir of Emberfall and Rhen's brother.

Rhen: Who the **** the Heir/ Magesmith is Grey? Just tell me or I whip you and an innocent boy that you befriended to death.=All my brain cells was taken away from me once the curse is broken.

Me: Did the curse break make you into a ******* Rhen??

LIKE DUDE!

WHILE YOU ARE TRYING TO BE A TYRANT AND DOING UNETHICAL **** TO FIND OUT WHO THE HEIR IS EVERYONE IS ******* TELLING YOU WHO THE HEIR IS!

DOES GREY HAVE TO TATTOO IT TO HIS FOREHEAD??

While everyone else in the reviews is being like " Omg Rhen Character Development is gone from the first book! He become the villain!" I'm sitting here like " You have become a ******* not a villain."

Because part of me want to give him a pass since he did everything to help Emberfall out after he realized that if he doesn't and just sit there trying to break the curse they was going to get taken over in the first book. Which he did in order for the person who he tried to protect his people from spilling the tea about the his dad being married to a Enchartness and birthing a son aka a the true heir. Which is scares him that the heir can be just like Lilith with magic and try to take over the kingdom. Even try to curse him again.

I understand that completely. He wants to protect his kingdom since he work so hard to do so along with Harper and Grey. It's that fear that magic will take over him again.

My thing is this

The one person who had your damn back for so gotsdamn long, who went missing all of sudden to the point people through he was dead, only to be two days journey away from you under another name, telling you "No I'm not working with Lilith or the heir to dethrone you but I can't tell you who the heir is in order to protect you" and you don't have sense enough to just think about what everyone plus Grey has told you and put two and two together? That you would realized why Grey would rather die than tell you who it is in order to protect you ( not himself) cause once he tell you it's him you are going to kill him anyway? Like wake up!

Also the fact one of the constant things about Rhen that has been said about him is how calculating he is which people seem to forget. So to say his character got destroyed because he's not the cool collected charming with a side of calculating prince he was at the end but the scarred, calculating prince that is doing unethical, tyrant **** out of fear and being a *******..

So that ******** that he should have just told him.. Oh yeah!! Just straight up tell him that he's the heir even if he was dropping codes so harder than bombs even tho Rhen pretty much said that he will kill the heir. You think if he straight up told him he would have kept him alive?? No he wouldn't cause his fear was getting to him. Even if Grey has done so much **** for him.

So yeah It's makes interesting to what the hell is going to happen to his character in the 3rd one. What he did at the ending?? Dude!! Really?? How the hell you are going to get yourself out of this?? Now I do want him to survive but IDK. lol

Harper seem like a shadow of herself which I didn't like at all because to me it make it feels like she couldn't tell Rhen about his ****. Also it just also feel like that she's in love with Grey instead of Rhen which makes the " Is she really in love with Rhen" argument even stronger. But the thing is in my adventures on tumblr I found out that it's a extra chapter in the B&N version that someone posted (which I can't put the link up on here lol) is an extra Harper PoV chapter which she do seem like herself. In that chapter that happens right after Grey and Lia Mara starts their journey to Shyl Sallow ,she does tell about himself and which she also tells Rhen that Grey is his brother which he knows. Which I'm trying to figure out why it's not in the actual book but an extra chapter in a special edition because that chapter could have helped big time...

I like Lia Mara because she's the only one that had sense to put two and two together about Rhen and how her intelligent was used so much in this book but her narrator got on my nerves. She made her sound like a 12 year old girl having her first crush instead of 18 year old having her first crush.

MY BABY GREY!! One of the best things about this book is seeing him come into his own in this one and realized what he have to do even if it's going to be hard. Also learning how to do magic and helping everyone out.

I'm so glad Jake and Noah was in the majority of this because they got more development and become important in Grey's journey. Jake and Grey's relationship tho.. Jake become such a voice of reason for Grey in this. Essentially telling him that Rhen is not his friend..

All and All this book is way better than the first one and it feels more original than the first one. I joked earlier that I was going to call this one " A court so mist and fury but nope. Nothing about this feel like ACOMAF to me. BK has done a great job making a sequel that took certain criticism the first one had and makes it better. Hell it doesn't even feel like a BATB retelling anymore but just an original YA fantasy series. I can't wait the 3rd one.

Because

How the **** this is going to end without bloodshed??

A Vow So Bold and Deadly is going to be a doozy.

Tanya

A Heart So Fierce and Broken - Likewise Book Reviews

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