A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers #2): Simply One of The Best Sequel Exists || A Book Review

A Hear So Fierce and Broken (ARC)

Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Expected Publication: January 20th, 2020
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Retelling
Pages: 464
Format: Paperback
Characters: Grey, Lia Mara, Jacob, Noah, Iisak, Rhen, Harper,…

Find the heir, win the crown.
The curse is finally broken, but Prince Rhen of Emberfall faces darker troubles still. Rumors circulate that he is not the true heir and that forbidden magic has been unleashed in Emberfall. Although Rhen has Harper by his side, his guardsman Grey is missing, leaving more questions than answers.

Win the crown, save the kingdom.
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?

The heart-pounding, compulsively readable saga continues as loyalties are tested and new love blooms in a kingdom on the brink of war.

Source: Goodreads

If you know me, you know how much I adore A Curse So Dark and Lonely. Once I heard the ARC of the sequel to the book was out into the wild, my heart stopped a beat but I know the chance of me getting a copy might be very little. But thank you to Pansing for making it possible! They sent me a copy of the gorgeous ARC. I was like, that’s it, I don’t want anything else, my soul has been blessed. So, enough with this trash talk, let’s get into the actual review.

“I remember what it was like to trust someone. I remember what it was like to have a friend. I didn’t realize how much I missed it until it was so freely offered.”
– Brigid Kemmerer, A Heart So Fierce and Broken

First thing first, this is a brilliant sequel. Instead of just giving us more about what is going to happen in Emberfall and how Prince Rhen and Harper’s relationship is going to develop, the author gave us another kingdom and another couple to swoon over. When I read the first chapter, I wasn’t happy at all. I was like, “This is going to be cringey gosh help, please don’t do this to me.” But the second chapter happened and everything just went up and up and up as I read the book. It never went down for me. This is the problem when you read a good book because all I wanna say is this book is GREAT, AWESOME, FANTASTIC, PHENOMENAL and all the other synonyms one could think of.

I am so grateful that this time around we get to listen more to Grey. Grey has grown more charming and lovable in this series. He’s that people person and gosh, I wish he is my book boyfriend. Besides that, we are introduced with some new characters, including Lia Mara, who has fast become one of the main characters in this sequel. Brigid Kemmerer is brilliant. I think she was like, “People is going to be over Rhen and Harper, let’s bring in a new romance.” and that transition to this new couple is freaking awesome. The relationship between Lia and Grey was like this slow burning romance and they communicate a lot. I really like how they make each other better. Their chemistry is so good. I just love them okay.

“Fear makes people act in ways we’d never expect.”
– Brigid Kemmerer, A Heart So Fierce and Broken

Next, I think I didn’t emphasize enough last time, I didn’t like Rhen that much. I feel like his character is a bit meh for me. In this sequel, we hardly get to see him yet we get to learn different sides of him. He is being more vulnerable and his feelings and mental state is more exposed. With that being said, he is still my least favourite character. Then, we have Harper. She was so strong in the first book that I’m a bit upset that she appears to be quite insignificant in this sequel. Her role was being supportive to Rhen and that’s basically it. However, because of the shift made by the author, it’s understandable and besides, we could still see women empowerment through Lia Mara, her mother and her sister.

In Syhl Shallow, women rule. With this being said, A Heart So Fierce and Broken highlights different kind of feminism, like the negative one, which is being too obsessed with the idea women are the greatest and men shouldn’t be taking part in ruling. Of course, we have the positive one as well through Lia Mara who effortlessly showing her strength, wisdom and cleverness again and again in this story. I feel like every female character created by the author is just phenomenal. They are all very iconic and strong in their own way, which is why I love this series.

I think the characters that appeared in this series overall are really promising. They developed very well too. You could actually see their changes in these books. The events that they went through has thoroughly changed these characters and I… *brb, I need to cry*. I love them. Period. Wait, maybe except Rhen.

Moving on, the plot developed really well, the author hit us with great conflicts, climax, and resolution. However, that cliff hanger though, I need to wait till 2021 for the third book. LIKE SERIOUSLY?! The writing style is again very beautifully done. The way Brigid Kemmerer spins her words into this magical fantasy world is just out of the world. Did you say this book started off as a retelling, well it’s not anymore.

“Choices are never easy. There are good and bad options, but the most dangerous is to not make any choice at all.”
– Brigid Kemmerer, A Heart So Fierce and Broken

There is one message that is very prominent in this book, which is family relationship: between sisters, brothers, mother and daughter as well as father and his son. I cried during two of such scenes that included family. There was this one scene with how the father was missing his son so much and willing to sacrifice his freedom to find his only son (Gosh you won’t see that coming from this character (I haven’t mentioned about him yet, I left him out for you to figure it out your own, thank me later *wink*), I’m still crying thinking about it). Apart from that, I adore Lia Mara and Nolla Verin’s sisterhood. It’s one of the most genuine feeling between sisters that I’ve read and felt through books. I just love how supportive they are towards each other and I cried during one of the scene that involves the two of them.

Overall, I like how the author is giving us a new story which takes place in a different setting most of the time yet still tying it with the first book. She makes everything that happened in this sequel connected to the first book. The whys and hows are being answered so damn well in this sequel. With that being said, this book is coming out in January 2020, you still have plenty of time to read the first book in this series and when 2020 comes, you could consider to check it out in the bookstores nearby, just saying.