Bloomsbury A Heart So Fierce and Broken (The Cursebreaker Series)

Nice

Me gusto bastante el primer libro, y no mentiré, me decepcionó bastante el giro que tomaron las cosas. Para los fans de ACOTAR, siento que la autora quiso aplicar con Rhen lo mismo que pasó con Tamlin. Hacerlo ver como un hombre cruel. Grey es un personaje interesante, pero la otra protagonista es otro caso. Honestamente, luego de leer este, murieron mis ganas de leer el último. Al menos vino bien protegido y tiene una presentación preciosa

Another 5-star rating for this amazing series. I love a well done re-telling. And Beauty & the Beast is one of my all-time favorite stories.Sequel to A Curse So Dark and Lonely, A Heart so Fierce and Broken follows the journey of Grey and Lia Mara.This second installment of the Cursebreakers series was unexpectedly amazing. I'm so glad this book did not, in my opinion, suffer from the dreaded middle-book trap.Knowing that we would no longer have Rhen and Harper's POV (except the prologue and epilogue), I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this book. I loved Rhen so much, and respected him for the hard choices he made during his curse. He may not have always made what we, as the outside reader, would have deemed as the best choice, but he has always done what he thought was right to protect his country and Harper. Losing his POV, and later seeing the choices he made against the missing heir/Grey as an outside POV, really hurt. I wish we could have known the turmoil he was struggling with internally and what was going on at Ironrose while Grey was regrouping in Syhl Shallow.But it all came together in the end. I love Lia Mara as much as I love Harper. And the epilogue from Rhen answered so many questions while also making me cry and scream for the final installment to be released ASAP!The following is a summary and review which will contain spoilers. Continue reading at your own risk.We learned at the end of ACSDAL that Grey is the lost heir to Emberfall and a half-blood magesmith. AHSFAB follows Grey as he goes from being in hiding from Rhen's guards looking for the lost heir and magesmith, to a reluctant Prince seeking an alliance and ending a war with Syhl Shallow while just trying to reunite his country.Tycho is a young man (about 15 years old) who starts out indebted to the same person that Grey works for. Grey trains Tycho to fight while he's in hiding, and eventually shares his secret about being the missing heir to Emberfall. Tycho follows Grey to Ironrose Castle, and is later used by Rhen as a pawn to try to force Grey to tell him what he knows about the heir. Although Tycho is young, and has no blood ties to Grey, he becomes fiercely loyal and the first person to swear fealty to Grey as the true ruler of Emberfall.We also meet Princess Lia Mara of Syhl Shallow. She had become a political hostage by Rhen, but met a captured Grey during an escape attempt. Together, they escape Emberfall and retreat to Syhl Shallow to find sanctuary and an alliance for Emberfall. Lia Mara is the eldest daughter of Queen Karis Luran, however she is not the named heir of her mother's crown. Lia Mara is brave, fierce and believes in peace over violence. Over the course of their travels together, Lia Mara and Grey begin to fall in love. She helps him believe in himself, his magic, and his right to the crown of Emberfall.Another hidden gem of a character we meet is Iisak, a fierce magical creature called a Scraver. Iisak follows Grey as the last Magesmith, to help him get back to his own lands and find "something of great importance" to him that forced him to leave his ice forests and break a treaty with Syhl Shallow. While Iisak could rip out the throats of any opponent, the group of travelers become fiercely loyal to him.Jake and Noah of course follow Grey on the journey, in hope that eventually he will be able to return them to their own world in D.C. Jake's development arch is absolutely everything I hoped it would be. After finishing ACSDAL my biggest question was what was going to happen with Jake and Noah. They didn't want to be trapped, they had nothing to tie them to Emberfall. What would they do? This second book answers all of those questions, and really gives so much depth to Jake. I know that Harper doesn't wish any ill will toward Grey, even with the way he comes back to Ironrose at the end. However I'm still concerned about what the loyalty between Jake and Grey will mean for Harper and Rhen. (We know Rhen and Jake never really got along anyway, but they do both love Harper, so that will be interesting)All in all, I'm so glad this book didn't suffer from middle-book-itis. It wasn't just a means to get from the beginning to the end. It was well developed, carried its own weight in relation to propelling the overall story toward the conclusion. I can't wait to see what happens next, how all of our characters come together to battle the real villain. I am living for the moment when Harper and Lia Mara become BFF's.Can Rhen and Grey work together to reunite Emberfall? How will they defeat Lilith once and for all? Will either Rhen or Grey be killed in the end as a means to resolve the conflict between the line of succession and/or to defeat the enchantress? I just... I need the next book right now and I know we have at least a year before it'll be released! But on the plus side, it means I have a year to forget all of the finer points so I can re-read the whole series again next year when the final book is released!

“Fear makes people act in ways we'd never expect.”I wasn’t sure what direction this book was going to go in, I certainly didn’t think I was going to love it as much as A Curse so Dark and Lonely but I ended up loving it even more…This book follows my all time favourite literary characters – Grey. That man has been through so much, and he tries to keep it all hidden. I honestly don’t know how he remained so strong throughout the curse, and then with everything that followed. My heart goes out to him. I love him so much.Lia Mara was a pleasant surprise. I was charmed almost immediately. She doesn’t see herself the way others do, and I love that she has people around her trying to make her see her strengths.Iisak and Tycho became instant favourites for me. I swore when reading it if anything happened to Tycho leading up to Grey's questioning I would never forgive Rhen.. And I won’t. I don’t care what is being done to him in secret. I will never get past what happened.This story was emotional and intense. I didn’t know who to trust. I wasn’t expecting everything to unfold the way it did. I suspected the ending but everything else was a rollercoaster. I want to reread it right now."The most dangerous person at the party is always the girl sitting alone with a book.”

I'd heard mixed reviews about this book - I'm not sure if I just lowered my expectations, but I loved this continuation of the story. We do move on to newer characters, and at first, I was a bit upset about this. But you know what - I fell in love with these new ones, perhaps more than Harper and Rhen. One of my sticking points with the first was that I wanted a bit more from the characters - I think A Heart So Fierce and Broken did deliver this for me.I wasn't sure I was going to feel that strongly toward Lia Mara - she is one of the new viewpoints we follow from in this part of the story. But I love her so much! She loves books, she's caring, unflinching, and level headed. I thought I'd miss Harper's view, but I think I liked Lia a bit more.And that end! By heck do I need to know what is going to happen next!!!

The curse is broken!!No not THAT curse.... the sequel syndrome!Finally, after many years and many many book series... we are finally graced with a book series that doesn't crash and burn after the first book!OK a bit harsh, they don't all exactly crash and burn. There's many series out there that have their seat belts on and survive a longer haul before....But this... this second book in the cursebreaker series, in my humble opinion is even BETTER than the first book!! When, pray tell, do we rarely get that joyous occasion?!Grey, oh Grey... he just keeps on getting better and better.Sorry Rhen, not sorry! 😏