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477 pages, Hardcover
First published January 29, 2019
"We are all dealt a hand at birth. . . . The choices we face may not be the choices we want, but they are choices nonetheless."
Harper’s life isn’t easy—her father has left her family with all his debts, her brother is working for the same loan sharks they owe, and her mother is in the final stages of cancer. Meanwhile, in the land of Emberfall, Crown Prince Rhen is facing the final season of his curse: if he doesn’t find love within three months, he’ll be left forever in the form of the bloodthirsty beast that overtakes him with each failed courtship. When the prince’s guard kidnaps Harper for one last shot at breaking the spell, will she choose a dying kingdom, or her family?
“You are responsible. You, Rhen. You alone will destroy them all.”
Everything is always the same. Except for the dead. They never come back.
There is blood under my fingernails. I wonder how many of my people I’ve killed this time.
I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light.
There is blood under my fingernails. I wonder how many of my people I’ve killed this time.
We are all dealt a hand at birth. A good hand can ultimately lose—just as a poor hand can win—but we must all play the cards the fate deals. The choices we face may not be the choices we want, but they are choices nonetheless.
I do not understand how she can fill me with such hope and fear simultaneously.
“She attacked you?” My eyebrows rise. “Grey. She is half your size.”
“She makes up for it in temperament. She most assuredly was not my first choice.”
“I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light.”
“We are not always presented with the choices we want, but choices exist nonetheless.”
This review
is an unpopular praise of a teen girl
who has watched Beauty and The Beast (1991) exactly 113 times,
listened to its ending song over 400 times,
spent a fortune on everything Belle,
and then finally read her first complete retelling of a fairy-tale.
TALE AS OLD ASSS TIIMMMEEEEE
TUNE AS OLD AS SOOOOOOONNNNNGGG
BITTER SWEET AND STRANGE
FINDING YOU CAN CHANGE
LEARNING YOU WERE WRROOoooooOOOOONNNnnnGGG
CERTAIN AS THE SUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNN
RISING IN THeeeeeeeee EAAAAASSSSTTT
TALE AS OLD AS TIIIIMME
SONG AS OLD AS RHhhhymEEE
BEAUTYYYYYYYY AND THEEEE BEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeAAAAAAaaaaSSSSSsssssTTTTTT
OoooooOOOOOOOOOHOHHhhhhh AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAA
They believe her limp is the result of a war injury, but Harper is quick to correct them. "I was born this way," she'll snap, "and I'm going to die this way, so teach me to work around it."