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neverlearnedtoread · 5 months

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A Vow So Bold and Deadly

⭐⭐⭐; SHOUTOUT TO LILLITH FOR COMING THRU WITH THE TORTURE!!!! we love a heinous one-dimensional bitch who brings the drama and drives the plot forward with all the force of a charging bull

Oh?? 👌😉😏

cringefail!rhen is back from 2nd book purgatory in full force. ive said it before and i will always say it again: cringefail men are the cornerstone of good romance! the more desperate, hopeless, and despairing the man, the more impact it makes when his lover stands by his side to help him solve the plot, and i will love it every. single. time.

i really liked the scenes where rhen is alone in the castle being held captive by [redacted]. something about the muted horror and rhen's strength as a trauma survivor really gets me

character conflict that i can actually understand and believe in (eventually), without feeling the hand of the author concocting the drama, plus dynamic, interesting action scenes!

No.. ❌🤢🤮

not necessarily a dealbreaker, but the trauma survivor experience of rhen did make me feel like a content warning would have been appreciated (better safe than sorry!). there's also a spicy scene (with fade-to-black) where the characters sort of gloss over how sexual trauma might make things more complicated. there is enthusiastic verbal consent , but i do feel like the whole scene could have been taken as an opportunity to explore that topic at length instead of wriggled around to keep the sexiness going

i speedread all the grey and lia mara pov chapters up until the very very end when all the pov characters are in the same place. they were SO. BLAND. the fairytale of their romance was too boring!! like caricature cutouts of 'morally correct prince and princess who Want to Do the Right Thing and Still Be Monarchs'

Spoilers under the cut - this is the third book of the series!!

Summary: In fair Emberfall, we set the scene: two brothers who don't want to go against each other, reluctantly moving to go against each other and dragging two neighbouring countries into it. It's a whole thing! On one side of the border, Rhen waits for the axe to fall as Grey's ultimatum to give up Emberfall's throne to him as the rightful ruler draws ever closer; on the other side, Grey struggles to garner enough support in a foreign country that's dragging their feet over their new queen's calls for gentle kindness over harsh obedience, and find themselves thoroughly disgusted by the idea of a magesmith king. But the worst part of all this isn't the brewing unrest in both kingdoms, or the threat of brother-on-brother violence - the worst part is that Lillith isn't dead, and she's about to make that everyone else's problem.

Concept: 💭 It was clear to me by the middle of the second book that we were engineering Rhen and Grey to be ~in conflict~, and that was the stage the third book needed to open on. At this point, I was mostly just pulling myself to the finish line to know how the trilogy ended. The disappointment was real and I was ready to skim-read.

Execution: 💥💥💥 For better or worse, I definitely understand what Kemmerer was going for with Grey vs. Rhen, though I don't feel it was well-executed at all, and certainly not enough for me to get invested in it. Rhen and Harper's chemistry while rebuilding their trust and relationship with each other, however! I enjoyed the nuance of them pushing and pulling until they reached an equilibrium; it was heartfelt and well-earned. I also liked the buildup to and the actual action scenes at the climax very, very much - Kemmerer's craft shines best, I feel, when it comes to describing scenes of physical confrontations and building short-term tension.

Personal Enjoyment: ❤❤❤❤ (Harper/Rhen POVs); ❤❤ (Grey/Lia Mara POVs) Like I said Harper+Rhen as a couple (and as individual characters) appealed to me so much more than Grey+Lia Mara, mostly because I found their interactions and character conflicts much more interesting. Giving Grey and Lia Mara no conflict to overcome beyond 'golly gosh its hard to be monarchs', which, neither of them had to figure out anyway in this book, really stalled their development and left them feeling secondary in a book where they were POV characters. Arguably, the most important thing they did was have sex and (major spoilers!!) get pregnant. which, like, good for them! but not enough to hold my attention.

Favourite Moment: because they happen right after each other I'm picking two scenes for this: Harper dicking Rhen down and Lilith immediately showing up post-fade-to-black PISSED TO HIGH HEAVEN. the way she got so heated!! Now, do I think Rhen deserves to suffer traumatic unending torture at the hands of a vicious evil fairy? No. (am i vaguely squicked out over the way he and harper have sexytimes largely for the sake of YA plot over his own character's very understandable aversion to sex? yeah.) But does the plot becomes so much better when Lillith shows up? YOU FUCKING BET!! It perfectly showcased my favourite aspects of both characters - Harper's 'fuck it we ball' energy jumping out in Rhen's defense and Rhen's quick-thinking + selflessness to protect Harper in turn. no matter what else, we have Lillith's jealousy jumping out to thank for that.

Favourite Character: What's this?? It's Harper coming up with a steel chair to steal the top spot in the last round!! This book, to me, really drove the point home on why Harper was the girl to break Rhen's curse, out of all the others; she cuts through the heart of his fear and acts when he freezes in panic. she brings a knife to a fairy fight and gets a hit in! While I appreciate Rhen (my cringefail son) wholeheartedly for engineering those situations where Harper truly shines, she always rises to the occasion with gusto and never lets me down (cough, cough, grey). Honorary mention to Rhen, though: there is truly no romantic lead I appreciate more in fiction than a pathetic guy, and Rhen comes prepackaged already on his knees.

#a vow so bold and deadly #avsbad #brigid kemmerer #books #book review #booklover #bookblr #reading

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jessread-s · 2 years

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✩📃🌷 Series Review: * Enemies-to-lovers * Slow Burn * YA Fantasy * “Beauty and the Beast” Retelling With “Forging Silver into Stars’” release date on the horizon, I finally got around to reading the Cursebreaker trilogy! I am so glad that I did because “A Curse So Dark and Lonely” is one of my favorite reads of 2022 and the absolute best fairytale retelling! Kemmerer’s writing is fantastic. She created characters that I have grown dangerously attached to and sucked me into the world of Emberfall with her beautiful descriptions. I cannot wait to see what she does with Tycho’s story! If you have not yet preordered “Forging Silver into Stars,” be sure to do so! You are not going to want to miss out. ➤ A Curse So Dark and Lonely: 4.5 stars ➤ A Heart So Fierce and Broken: 4.25 stars ➤ A Vow So Bold and Deadly: 4.0 stars ➤ Overall Series Rating: 4.25 stars

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

@brigidkemmererwrites

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princessofdisi · 2 years

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i’d never run for a man but if grey called me “my lady” i might sprint a little

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atlasxavery · 2 years

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Books I’ve read in 2021:

→ A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer

#a vow so bold and deadly #a curse so dark and lonely #Brigid kemmerer #cursebreaker series #acsdal #a heart so fierce and broken #ahsfab #avsbad #booklr #litedit #books #bookworm #litblr #moodboard #bir2021 #39th

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stanthebeardeddragon · 3 years

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Honestly, A Curse So Dark and Lonely instantly became one of my favourite books. It was an absolute delight to read (and I was going through a book slump at the time but was so captivated by this story) but then. Came A Heart So Fierce and Broken. I started really disliking Grey, the reasons to which I will write in another post someday. But then. I read A Vow So Bold and Deadly. Absolute let down. The end was SO unsatisfactory I can’t even begin to describe. The book itself was unsatisfactory. Rhen and Harper’s apparently had a glow down instead of a glow up. Like???? Bridget Kimmerer please write a new 3rd book and cancel AVSBAD.

Anyone relate? hmu I really need someone to talk to about this...

#a curse so dark and lonely #acsdal #prince rhen #harper #grey #ahsfab #avsbad

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minjuiced · 3 years

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In my opinion:

Rhen and Harper deserved better than what they got in canon. Their characters in A Curse So Dark And Lonely were rewritten in the subsequent books to the point I could not recognise them - to top that off we had a rushed finale of a "redemption arc".

It seems to me the author wanted to focus on the two other haracters more and did exactly that in AHSFAB, but realised how much backlash she got because of it. And in the end they got the shorter end of the stick.

There is so much more I'd like to add on my disappointed and dissatisfaction over AVSBAD, but I'll just end it here.

#a curse so dark and lonely #acsdal #a heart so fierce and broken #ahsfab #a vow so bold and deadly #avsbad #rhen #harper #they were done so dirty #and to serve some other plot #the favouritism of certain characters showed #i'm pissed off at the different treatments #but that's a discussion for another day #anyways rhen and harper deserved better

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caitsbooks · 3 years

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JOMP BPC | Day 5: Different POVs

“I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light.” (Brigid Kemmerer, A Curse So Dark and Lonely)

(review, instagram)

#acsdal #avsbad #ahsfab #a curse so dark and lonely #a vow so bold and deadly #brigid kemmerer #arc #jompbpc #book photo challenge #just one more page #books #bookstagram #booklr #book aesthetic #aesthetic #beauty and the beast

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immortal-enemies · 3 years

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I'm glad to inform you all the the only reason I got through this week is because of A Vow So Bold and Deadly coming out next week.

😎

#avsbad #tct #the cursebreakers trilogy #a vow so bold and deadly #a curse so dark and lonely #a heart so fierce and broken #ahsfab

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fierce-ramyun · 4 years

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Lia Mara: how was the honeymoon ?

Harper: Rhen got drunk and tried to burn our marriage certificate.

Harper: He said “ good luck trying to return me without the receipt “

#A Curse So Dark And Lonely #A Heart So Fierce and Broken #A Vow So Bold and Deadly #ACSDAL #AHSFAB #AVSBAD #Harper #Rhen #Lia Mara #Incorrect ACSDAL

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nikitaangeleswrites · 3 years

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#a vow so bold and deadly #avsbad #the cursebreakers trilogy #cursebreaker series

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friendly-neighbourhood-librarian · 3 years

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A Vow So Bold and Deadly - Brigid Kemmerer

The final book in the Cursebreakers series is everything I hoped for!

*Spoilers for the first two books in the series*

The conflict between the kingdoms of Emberfall and Syhl Shallow, between Prince Rhen and Prince Grey, is barrelling toward an all-out war that neither side wants but neither can avoid. The return of the evil enchantress, Lilith, throws another wrench in the works and may just be Rhen’s undoing — unless the two long-lost brothers can find a way to put aside the mistakes of the past and make peace with each other and the twists of fate that brought them to this point.

Although certain characters continued to make some choices that made me want to scream at them, they did eventually learn and grow from them and everything came out alright in the end, which was just so satisfying! I honestly wouldn’t mind another book in the series, or maybe a novella, just to see how things in the kingdoms are progressing. But Brigid Kemmerer has several other books that I haven’t read yet so I will content myself with those instead. :)

Cursebreakers series: A Curse So Dark and Lonely | A Heart So Fierce and Broken | A Vow So Bold and Deadly

#a vow so bold and deadly #brigid kemmerer #cursebreakers series #fiction #fantasy #avsbad #acsdal #bookrecs

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burnwithtears · 4 years

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Hi Cursebreakers!

Me and a couple of friends created a Discord Server to unite all international fans of the Cursebreakers series by Brigid Kemmerer (A Curse so Dark and Lonely, A Heart so Fierce and Broken, A Vow so Bold and Deadly).

Please join our server to gush about this series! Invite your friends who already read it! Here is the permanent link: https://discord.gg/QucwDJz

Also, we are planning to do a reread of the series starting in August, in preparation for the third installment of the series, which comes out in January. If you haven’t read this series but would like to, come join us to discuss it!

#a curse so dark and lonely #acsdal #a heart so fierce and broken #ahsfab #a vow so bold and deadly #avsbad #brigid kemmerer #cursebreakers #cursebreaker series #harper #princess harper #rhen #prince rhen #grey #scary grey #lia mara #emberfall #syhl shallow #disi

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jessread-s · 2 years

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✩🌿☁️ Review:

I really wanted to love the final novel in the cursebreakers trilogy, but it was just not for me. The characters I knew and loved from books 1 & 2 completely changed in “A Vow So Bold and Deadly.” Rhen falls prey to his insecurities and lashes out. Harper lets fear and anger cloud her decision making. Grey truly becomes “scary Grey,” treating Harper so coldly. Lia Mara allows Nolla Verin, her sister, to undermine her, portraying her as a weak ruler. So much of the conflict created between these characters was unnecessary and could have easily been resolved had they communicated with each other. I was most disappointed by the novel’s ending. Two of my favorite characters got the short end of the stick, leaving me feeling upset, confused, and unsatisfied. All that being said, there are many aspects of “A Vow So Bold and Deadly” that I enjoyed. Kemmerer’s writing is just fantastic. As with the previous two books, it did not take long for me to become fully immersed in the world she created. Alternating between Harper, Rhen, Grey, and Lia Mara’s perspectives felt natural and the fighting sequences were not hard to follow. While this novel is not my favorite, I am excited to return to Emberfall in “Forging Silver into Stars!” ➤ 4.0 stars

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

@brigidkemmererwrites

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princessofdisi · 2 years

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Lia Mara: What's the first thing you notice when a guy approaches you?

Nolla Verin: The audacity.

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supersteviegeekout · 3 years

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I'm fast, but as usual, fate doesn't care. - A Vow So Bold and Deadly by @brigidkemmerer ~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~ Happy Monday everyone! It is still cold, so its inside stuff for us as much as possible. Good thing books go everywhere! I've had my copy of A Vow so Bold and Deadly since release week, hoping to start it soon, but I've been caught up in a reading challenge. ☆What are your favorite cold weather activities? Indoor or outdoor?☆ ~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~ #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #bookswelove #bookaholic #booklover #booklife #amazingseries #brigidkemmerer #cursebreaker #acsdal #ahsfab #avsbad #mapmonday https://www.instagram.com/p/CLCvxFvAIfo/?igshid=edsav42hhjet

#readersofinstagram #bookstagram #bookswelove #bookaholic #booklover #booklife #amazingseries #brigidkemmerer #cursebreaker #acsdal #ahsfab #avsbad #mapmonday

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mistwraiths · 3 years

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2 stars

This is the third and final book in the Cursebreaker series. I'm not going to do a quickly summary.

Two stars felt REALLY generous here. I am about to SCREAM.

I felt like I'm in one of those Am I The Asshole? Reddit boards reading this book because it sure felt like EVERYBODY SUCKS HERE.

I will get the good things out of the way first. Brigid's writing is quick and easy enough for me to keep me reading and engaged. And she definitely kills people and I like when there's actual deaths and stakes. That's all Iiked about this book unfortunately.

I'm honestly baffled how this could be a good conclusion to a series because it feels like two characters get more than they deserve for absolutely no reason other than the author likes them maybe?? Also the ending didn't feel resolved? After all this tension and conflict, they're trading jokes in a few weeks?? I'm jumping ahead though.

It's weird to me how this series turned from a really interesting Beauty and the Beast retelling with a great female lead who had cerebral palsy to pretty much Grey is the GREATEST CHARACTER EVER series. I've never been a fan of Grey mostly because he's never had much of a personality for me. I'm told he's kind and loyal, but I have heavy grievances when this guy used to bring women to Rhen forever and sometimes be able to protect him (I let it slide because whatever) and then when he's free and learns something crucial, he flees? But readers, that's second book nonsense that still comes up every few pages.

One of the worst things is that nothing really ever happens in AVSBAD until the end. These guys are just waiting for sixty days to get to war and... THAT'S IT! Pretty much everything that happens in this book is introspection and retrospection, and everyone literally being like: oh I forgot we make mistakes or are forced to do some things and I completely forgot that you who I have known for awhile now are capable of doing good things or have done good things!!!

Folks, I was almost looking forward to Lilith showing up because at least there was some god damn excitement. Almost. I still hate her though.

I absolutely cannot stand how my boy, Rhen, was treated through this book. This man who slept consensually with a woman who then turned him into a monster and TORTURED him relentlessly for an eternity, whose only bad fortune was being cursed and really didn't have the opportunity to be the King properly, who put Emberfall first EVERY SINGLE TIME, who took torture onto himself to spare others from harm, WAS ABLE TO SAVE THE DAY and made ONE (1) bad choice means he should be vilified for most of the entire book and then NOT GET TO HAVE A HAPPY ENDING OR AT LEAST BE KING???

You're telling me that Grey who got the fuck out of dodge and didn't tell anyone through the truth after we're told he's so LOYAL and allows a kid to be whipped with him even though he had LOTS of opportunity to come clean (wow so kind), who ran away and allied up with the people who hate his own brother, who um... is a bastard and by MOST EVERY BOOK/KNOWLEDGE/SHOW INVOLVING ROYALTY MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING bastards don't have a right to the throne and in no way is this cleared up (I would have dropped this easily if it was mentioned!!), who has no training or again loyalty to his people or Emberfall because he literally didn't think about them once lol, gets to be King? UGH. Also why does everyone love him and want him? What has he done for them to do that?? Why isn't other leaders (lords?? Grand Marshals?) vying for the throne instead? That makes more sense.

On top of that, we don't really get much depth of Grey's magic which is sad. His whole these soldiers need to respect me storyline is boring.

I really loved Lia Mara in the second book. I found her unassuming and smart. She knew how to handle herself. What the hell happened? Suddenly, all she does is sit and sigh and worry. She's crippled by her insecurity and inaction. And then we are continually reminded that's she is going to rule with kindness and compassion,and not violence or fear to the point where I felt like that boy being forced to eat cake in Matilda. I get it!! Honestly, she doesn't do much of anything. Except, barf, get pregnant. The part where she did NOTHING when someone spit at her was ridiculous. You can rule without violence or fear and not accept that behavior.

Harper feels sidelined again in this book, and it's honestly tragic that the two main female characters are just THERE. The relationship between her and Rhen felt incredibly fraught with tension and while they had hard conversations, it didn't feel great.

I honestly hated every character's hot takes and opinions about stuff. It always really felt like everyone just thinks the worst of everyone, and then wants to harp about the things done in the past. And of course, focus only on Rhen's bad choice than Grey's betrayal or how awful Syhl Shallow was to Emberfall from before.

The ending just felt slapped together. Rhen is literally floundering and acting morose because he doesn't know what to do or move forward, but Grey has a drink with him, has some jokes, and says oh I need your help reading people and being my advisor. And that's it. Grey and Lia Mara get too GOOD of a happy ending. It feels like Harper and Rhen have to figure out what happens next.

I loved the first book, but I think I could have lived without the other two books.

#steph's book review #steph reads #book review #a vow so bold and deadly #brigid kemmerer

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