Review: A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer
“Choices are never easy. There are good and bad options, but the most dangerous is to not make any choice at all.”
The Basics
Title: A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers #2)
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Published: 2020
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA — Bloomsbury
Pages: 445
Format: Hardcover
Genres: Fiction — Fantasy, Romance, High fantasy, Fantasy romance, Young adult, Young adult fantasy
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Book Synopsis
A Heart So Fierce and Broken picks up shortly after the events of A Curse So Dark and Lonely. Rhen’s curse has been broken, and he now rules over Emberfell with Harper at his side. Grey, having learned that he is the true heir to the throne of Emberfell, is in hiding and has no plans to assert his claim to the crown. He just wants to be left alone. Rumors of another heir, however, have begun to circulate throughout the kingdom, and Rhen, keen to destroy any threat to the legitimacy of his rule, is doing everything in his power to track down this heir. Grey cannot remain hidden forever, and he must decide whether to reveal his true identity to Rhen or ally with Emberfall’s long-standing enemy, Karis Luran, who is all too willing to offer safe harbor to Grey if he’ll dethrone Rhen.
My Review & Overall Thoughts
TLDR: A highly disappointing sequel to A Curse So Dark and Lonely.
A Heart So Fierce and Broken feels like the lesser child of A Game of Thrones and A Court of Mist and Fury. It features elements of both, including the vilification of a primary character and a reluctant heir to a crown, but they are incorporated in a far clumsier manner. Kemmerer has tried but failed to transform the story from a young adult retelling of Beauty and the Beast into some sort of fantasy epic.
My main gripe with this book relates to its characters. Harper was my favorite part of A Curse So Dark and Lonely, but she is hardly featured in A Heart So Fierce and Broken, having been swept to the sidelines in favor of Grey and Lia Mara. The few times that she does appear, she is a shell of her former self. Gone is her fierceness; in its place is meekness. She stands by Rhen while he commits atrocities and makes excuses for his abhorrent behavior. While we are on the subject of Rhen, what became of him in this book? He has done a complete 180, transforming from kindhearted to despicable. All of the groundwork that was laid in the first book to show how much he cares about his people has gone out the window in this book. Further, his invention of the kingdom of Disi to protect his people from Syhl Shallow, which was touted as admirable in A Curse So Dark and Lonely, is portrayed as skeevy in this book.
Grey and Lia Mara, by contrast, are held up as righteous, even though they (especially Lia Mara) commit some questionable acts. Speaking of Lia Mara, I cannot stand her. She is a clone – an inferior one at that – of Harper. The relationship between her and Grey feels forced (I feel more chemistry between Grey and Harper). Also, what Lia Mara does to her mother at the end of the book is rather glossed over and made to seem like not that big of a deal (but it definitely is a big deal).
My final critique of this book is that I would have preferred it to have included more than just Grey and Lia Mara’s points of view. Excluding the first and final chapters, the entire book alternates between Grey and Lia Mara’s perspectives, which causes the story to feel lopsided and biased. We are unable to view events through the eyes of Rhen or Harper and have to take Grey and Lia Mara’s descriptions of events at face value.
The good
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.
Overall
Honestly, if I weren't reviewing A Heart So Fierce and Broken, I would have shelved it after the first few chapters. It is such a disappointing follow up to A Curse So Dark and Lonely. I am holding out hope that the next book, A Vow So Bold and Deadly, will redeem the series.
Have you read A Heart So Fierce and Broken? If so, let me know what you thought of it in the comments section below!
