Fall in love, break the curse.
Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year, Prince Rhen, the heir of Emberfall, thought he could be saved easily if a girl fell for him. But that was before he turned into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. Before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.
Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, Harper learned to be tough enough to survive. When she tries to save a stranger on the streets of Washington, DC, she's pulled into a magical world.
Break the curse, save the kingdom.
Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. A prince? A curse? A monster? As she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

A Curse so Dark and Lonely is a young adult fantasy Beauty and the Beast retelling. Rhen is the prince of Emberfall and the only living member of his family. He has been cursed by an enchantress Lilith and has to live through the same season over again until the girl he has chosen falls in love with him. If the curse isn’t broken by the end of the season, Rhen turns into a beast that terrorizes his entire country until the season resets itself. Harper is seventeen and only wants to help her brother and mother. Unfortunately, she ended up attacking the wrong guy – Rhen’s guard commander Grey, who was just taking another girl and then accidentally transported Harper herself to Emberfall. Now she is in a parallel universe, far away from home and unable to help her family. She has to spend her time with some arrogant and annoying prince that she was supposed to fall in love with, especially when Lilith announces this is Rhen’s last season, success or failure. Foreign Queen from the north is preparing an invasion on Emberfall and there is no army and no ruler to protect its people. Their time is short, but can true love be forced?

I really enjoyed the concept of this book, especially the parts where it talks about true sacrifice. There are just a billion things outside character’s control and, sometimes, everything they do might not be enough to solve their problem – in both Harper and Rhen’s case, save people they care about. Responsibility comes with a great price, but it’s almost impossible to fulfill it if someone else has a say in your fate. Rhen is responsible for an entire population of his country and, as he mentions, he would have given up on the curse a long time ago if it wasn’t for their suffering. On the other hand, Harper has a sick mother at home, but also a chance to help Rhen and his people. She has to choose between two lives and lives of an entire country, but how could she turn her back to her family?

I always love strategy and military tactics – the art of war that points out not all battles could be won by sheer manpower. When left with nothing else, Rhen fights with rumor and cunning, projecting confidence his country doesn’t actually have. The plot culminates just before the thrilling battle full of shocking plot twists, finishing with a not-so-fairy-tale ending. I don’t mean to brag, but I kind of predicted that plot twist/cliffhanger from the last chapter.

I liked presumably everything about this book, except its characters. Main characters, actually. I loved Grey and I really hope he gets more spotlight in the next book, but other character come nowhere near him. Harper and Rhen were both kind of bland and annoying from time to time, and I never saw any chemistry between them (tbh I shipped Grey and Harper more). I really liked this book, but since characters play a big role in my general opinion of a certain book, this one is going to get solid 3-star rating.