I was soooo excited to read A Vow So Bold and Deadly, the conclusion to the Cursebreaker series, a Beauty and the Beast retelling and so much more!
A Vow So Bold and Deadly, Brigid Kemmerer
Themes: Fiction, Retelling, Fantasy
Reading Format: Paperback
4 STARS // 7.2 CAWPILE
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AD • Review Copy, I received a free copy of this book from Bloomsbury in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Brigid Kemmerer is often known for her contemporary writing, but let me tell you, if you haven’t read her fantasy series yet, you need to! This is a three-part story that begins as a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and becomes so much more. If you haven’t read books one (A Curse So Dark and Lonely) or two (A Heart So Fierce and Broken) yet, this review will probably spoil you for how those books go, so read those first and come back!
I can only assume you’re staying because you’re happy with potentially knowing how book one and two ends! So, we enter into this book with two newly found brothers, Grey has given Rhen a timeframe to come to a truce or there will be war. Both men have serious big ego syndrome, surrounded by so much power they both seem to want to prove who has the most. Rhen is a little more strong-willed in his battle to show he is the best male there is and Grey must be destroyed, whereas Grey is leaning towards wanting peace and a happy life with Lia Mara. Generally, both men have a bit of a who can shout the loudest competition in this book in their own little ways.
But I think really this is a story about the empowering women Kemmerer writes. Harper and Lia Mara are both stuck on opposing sides of this, neither wanting violence and both being driven by a need to do the right thing. We can certainly see parallels being drawn between each female lead, both have been thrust into her position and both just want to do what is best for their lands and those they love. I feel sad that Harper is on the ‘wrong side’ of all of this because to me, when it comes to the battle for the throne of Emberfall between Grey and Rhen, Rhen is just going about it in the wrong way. But we don’t see Harper being weak here, we see her standing up to Rhen and telling him she thinks he is wrong. This is what I admire about Harper as a protagonist, she has morals and values that she doesn’t set aside for love.
This book stretches out the journey of the plot and at times it did feel slower, but once it started building up the action, Kemmered took no prisoners. This felt like a brutal finale and it really tugged at my heartstrings. The characters in this series feel so real and you get so attached to them that you will spend most of this book reading in fear for their fictional lives! I think my favourite part of this was the tension and action we experienced in the final 100 pages or so, leading towards the series conclusion. I think Kemmerer did this will and ended this book in a way that felt like a satisfying end to this three-year saga.
Ahhh I’m so excited for this!!
This series has been on my TBR for a while now. I’m even more excited to read it having read your review, it sounds like such a great one to really get your teeth stuck into. Fantastic review – thanks for the recommendation.