A HEART SO FIERCE AND BROKEN BOOK REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 17 лис 2024
- A non spoiler book review and a spoiler chat for A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer, the sequel to A Curse So Dark and Lonely.
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Just wanted to say that I agree with everything. I also really loved that Noah mentioned that Rhen could have PTSD. I was so frustrated all through the book but now I just wanna hug all of them
ladyserena1989 Same!! i really appreciated that representation
SPOILERS;
I agree with everything you said! I so, so wasn’t a fan of the Grey vs Rhen thread throughout and how everyone was trying to make Rhen out to be a monster. I was like, “I read the first book. I know what went down, stop trying to convince me he’s evil when he’s not.” Grey and Rhen both clearly cared for each other, and I wasn’t a fan of the whole narrative.
But the last chapter from Rhen’s POV where Rhen refuses to stand against Grey and even says that he would stand aside to let Grey take the crown, I did some fist pumping! I felt so vindicated knowing that the author was just doing a clever diversion throughout and that Rhen wasn’t really the bad guy he was being set up as.
Imli I agree. I finished the book literally 3 minutes ago and came straight for the reviews.
The final chapter (in my opinion) restored my faith that Rhen isn’t evil and truly deep down wants to do the best thing for Emberfall but can’t because of Lilith.
during the book I missed seeing POV of Harper or Rhens but I still liked the end
Spoilers!
Oh wow, I’m definitely in the minority here! I didn’t 100% love Harper or Rhen but absolutely loved Grey, so I just about died when I found out he was the main character in this book!! I also really liked Lia Mara after a little bit of getting used to.
However, yeah.. I can’t figure out why Grey wouldn’t just tell him.. but maybe it was intentional to make him have to reconsider his decision? I dunno. Trying to defend it here 😂
Also. I literally hated Lilith. Like kinda in a good way that you’re supposed to hate a villain, but I found her being a little bit of a “cruel just to be cruel” villain, so I really enjoyed having a book without her, rip the next book
I really liked how the ending (killing mom) was done as well. and I sincerely hope that in the next book we see some kind of “alliance” between Grey and Rhen bringing everything back together!!! Like Grey with Syll Shallow and Rhen with Emberfall having a friendship/brotherhood thing save the day rather than a romance? I dunno, just a theory- but wouldn’t that be cool?
Wow am I the only one who loved this book better than the first one......am sorry but I really enjoyed this book despite all the critics
Me too!!!!
I loved this one so much more.
[Spoiler- forgive me if I rant]
I was so frustrated throughout this book. Whenever someone slandered Rhen (Jake, Lia Mara), my blood boiled. Everyone was trying so hard to make him evil and my heart was just do troubled for him.
He has endured so much for his people yet no one knows of his sacrifices and suddenly he is the fuel monarch? I was thinking when Grey didn't correct ppl who spoke of Rhen's cruelty like dude, did you not kill ppl? Grey was literally ready to stop Harper to meet her dying mother. How's that for cruel?
No one can convince me that Rhen is cruel or an evil brother. He deserves love and relief from the tortures of Lilith 😭
I feel the same u just said it better😭😭😭
I loved this book so much. But I agree that Lia Marra was hard to stomach in the beginning. When her guard gets killed, I was like, okay, you are the one who ran away and tried to fix everything.
My poor Rhen gets done a little dirty. Why can Grey not just fricken talk to him?! why couldn't he tell him? You are making Rhen fear you and be scared when you could just admit it.
I know the author needs tension, but using miscommunication as the major plot point for so many different parts just got a bit irritating.
However, I still flew through the book and really enjoyed it. Hopefully, Rhen will be redeemed a bit in this 3rd one.
I hope so too my rhen can not be a MONSTER
I loved this book so much 😍 I found that the author did a really great job at highlighting Grey's weaknesses cuz in the first book I felt that Grey was seen as the better option for Harper. In the first book, I felt like he was made out to be this perfectly loyal and brave guy with no flaws. In the second book, we find out that Grey isnt perfect and that's ok.
I really connected with Lia Mara cuz I loved how her strength really came from the compassion she had for others. She may not be as vocal as Harper, but I loved the quiet strength Lia showed throughout the book. For example, when Nolla gave the order to kill the trapper and his daughter, Lia did speak up but I don't think she really had to. I felt that both Nolla and her mom knew that Lia would have spared their lives regardless of the risk that decision could pose for them later. I think it shows a lot of integrity when people just know where you stand instead of always wondering haha those are just my opinions tho. I totally understand why people would get frustrated with her. I just always feel like people dont give her a fair enough chance because of Harper (I love Harper too, but i really appreciated Lia). I love your videos so much! I hope your doing well 😊
Yes!!! Thank you, my thoughts exactly.
I just think this could have been avoided if right after leaving Lilith for dead during the first book Grey came back to Ironrose, had a formal sign off from Rhen and then left. It would have kept the trust between Rhen and Grey and would have even made 100% sense that Grey would have just wanted to leave after the curse was broken and wouldn’t have caused any suspicion!
I love how you try to understand Rhen’s POV because of how almost everyone but Harper is turning against him and how the book is portraying him as a villain. 😭😭 The sequel was a slight disappointment for me it felt like an OOC fanfic, they rly did Harper and Rhen dirty here and Grey suddenly turned from badass, cool to this lovesick boy. Like personally, GreyLia wasn’t my fave I think their romance was too rushed and their dynamic almost felt like a carbon copy of RhenHarper but less and less natural and eye catching.
I enjoyed the second book as much as the first one, i missed Harper and Rhen initially, but then Grey, Lia Mara and their motley lil group made their way into my heart.
Literally agree all over the place! I was so worried that nobody else would share my frustration in how everyone did the absolute wrong things lol. But that ending man, oh that ending! I now can’t wait for book three even after being pretty angry with everyone but Harper the whole time lol.
I missed Rhen and Harper's POV so much but I was also hooked on Grey n Lia Mara's POV but I missed Rhen so much 😭
WARNING: MINOR SPOILER IN THIS COMMENT!
I loved this one! I just finished it and I could not put it down. I started it late last night so I reluctantly had to put it down at some point, but then I got right back to it this morning and finished and I loved it. I was disappointed as well that we didn't get to see more of Harper and Rhen, I was hoping we would, but I actually really liked Grey and Lia Mara's stories. There were one or two times when I started to lose a little interest, but then it quickly picked back up again for me. I do agree with you that Grey should have told Rhen from the beginning, I think he shouldn't have even ran away in the first place, he should have just went back and told Rhen what he found out. Things could have turned out much different, and maybe they could have even found a way to rule side by side, but of course if that happen there wouldn't be much of a story to tell. As much as we love to yell at characters for making these stupid decisions, there probably wouldn't be any conflict without it, and we have to have conflict in a story. I loved that ending and I can't wait for the next book. Wish you could have enjoyed this one more, but for me it's a favorite of 2020.
Great review. I just finished the book and really wish Grey would’ve just communicated to Rhen in the first place. It really would’ve saved us all a lot of headache 😊
I know I’m super late but I’m super excited that I’ve found people who finally agree with me and don’t hate Rhen. Every single thing I’ve seen has just been hating on Rhen. The only thing I will except Rhen-hate for is of course the *minor spoiler alert* whipping. Not even of Grey, but TYCHO. Grey kinda had it coming tbh. He absolutely should’ve just told Rhen, and I never felt bad for him during or after that scene. I actually was just so so so mad at him. They make it very clear in and after that book that Rhen did NOT know that Tycho knew Grey was the heir. Rhen’s only purpose for whipping Tycho as well was to try to kill him to get through to Grey. Grey knew that as well. Yet he didn’t just tell Rhen!! How did he think he would get out of there, and still have Rhen not know he was the heir??? I was absolutely disgusted with both Rhen and Grey during and after that scene.
But the reason why Rhen was redeemed and Grey wasn’t has to do with Forging Silver Into Stars - so if you haven’t read that, don’t keep reading. And also go read that book bcs it’s SO good.
Alright, so in FSIS, Rhen and Tycho end up speaking directly about the whipping. Rhen explains his decision, and then says that he knows the damage he caused to Tycho, and that Tycho would be right to hate him. This acknowledgment of the trauma Tycho has had to deal with…to me that’s better than an apology, and I think Tycho thinks the same way.
Grey, however. Throughout the book, he repeatedly doubts Tycho’s decisions and eventually his loyalty. Grey doubted Tycho’s LOYALTY. How?? Why?? The only straightforward acknowledgement of the whipping was how Tycho says “I’m very good at keeping secrets. Perhaps you remember.” And Grey says, “I never forgot.” Like great dude, it’d be pretty hard to forget, seeing as you were both tortured nearly to death. No acknowledgement of Tycho’s loyalty or bravery in that moment and beyond it. Just “oh yeah that happened.” I forever despise Grey.
Anyway I kind of veered away from this specific book, but I just needed to explain why Grey is legitimately the worst.
**SPOILERS**
I totally agree that this felt like a middle book. I was so much more in love with ACSDAL. This book felt like it dragged on FOREVER. Especially the first 50-100 pages. After that it kicks up a bit, but still not much.
And then it got boring again.
And Lia Mara was so boring. I’m sorry. I appreciate her compassion and I am so sorry and I empathize deeply with the fact that she was raised in a way that makes her insecure and feel undervalued. But I could not relate or learn to love her. Especially not as much as Harper.
I didn’t love Rhen in book one (and him being stupidly brutal in book two’s beginning didn’t help) But I could admire his strength and care for his people. I have no admiration for Lia Mara.
And the Lia Mara-Grey romance felt rushed and kinda outta the fact that She was the only girl there and he was the first boy who paid her proper attention. Like he mentioned Harper so much before Lia Mara came into the story that I feel like she should’ve been this powerhouse to change his mind. He said he was fighting off feelings for Harper. And I don’t know he never felt like he was in love with her and she kinda just felt like she had a schoolgirl crush on him.
Tycho was a saving grace because I’ve always loved the loyal best friend. That character is always my fav. And yeah. Tycho filled that need perfectly for me.
I’m also super against the fact that Rhen and Grey are both so quiet and DONT communicate with one another. That’s very dumb after all their time together. I also don’t want them to go to war because they both clearly care so much for each other (I say as I ignore the whipping scene) and just want the people to be okay.
Jake grew on me a lot in this book. He became a much more fleshed out and more likable character.
The epilogue sold me. I didn’t love it as much as ACSDAL but it was fine and got me excited for book 3.
And may I say something horrible? I WANTED LIA MARA TO DIE IN THE ENDGAME. When Lia Mara was called out to die by Grey’s hand, I knew he wasn’t going to kill her. But I wanted Karis Luran to kill her. Because I love when main characters die. It shows guts from the author. And I never loved her to begin with so I wouldn’t have felt completely devastated. Then Grey could still kill Karis Luran, take the throne, and have Nolla Verin guide him. With their love for Lia Mara guiding their friendship with the compassion of Lia Mara always in the back of their minds. Like that would’ve been so fun. I’m sorry I really wanted that even though it sounds miserable.
Lila Janick ah please help me and tell
Me what the epilogue is exactly about because I sooo don’t want to buy the whole book to find out (and a really hated the book from the sample) pleaseee🥺🥺❤️
Since you mentioned Jake, I just wanted to comment about him too. Jake irritated me the first book and I tolerated his "I wanna go home" in the first few chapters of the second (on the side note, I absolutely love Noah then and now) but when he started sassing Grey countless times and punched the heck outta him, I changed my mind. I fell in love with Jake. 😂
And about Lia Mara dying, I kinda also prefer that ending too?? Like, Karis Luran shoots Lia Mara and Grey simultaneously throws a dagger at Karis Luran. Then find out later that LM got shot on her chest or somewhere fatal.
I don't know what direction Brigid K. is going on the third book but I really hope there's death. MAKES US CRY AND WRITHE IN ANGER AND ANGUISH.
SPOILERS!!!................I did not expaect the enchantress to be back, but it totally makes sense why Rehn was so frightened! Grey is my favorite character and I cannot wait for the third book!
I agree with your review so much. This is a 100% how I felt when I was reading this book.
**spoilers**I agree with everything you said however, I was disappointed with the revel at the end..not sure what I wanted but not that. also I was having serious tamlin (ACOTR) PTSD when I saw the route that was being taken with rhen..and when did Harper get so submissive? unfortunately this one didn't do it for me but it was a quick read so yay?!
I just finished the book, cuz library waiting lists, but as you said I was frustrated on how the story was going, I came to watch the non spoiler part, after that I power through the rest of the book, and I am back. I agree, that ending is a cliff hanger!
Also love your idea for the couples 💕
I have two theory idea things, but if Lillith is actually back then that means the curse broke because Harper loves Rhen, orrrrrrrrrrr Lillith isn't real it's like her ghost and Rhen is so scarred that he sees her. I am so glad that you agree with Rhen not being the monster, I was talking to some friends and they were like, omg he hurt Tycho omg he's so mean so bad, but everyone was bad.
Almost 100% agree with you. I hate how the plot took Rhen down a darker path. But the ending does bring me some hope.
I like this one better than the first! Grey gets his well deserved happiness but I still think about what could happen if Grey pursued Harper...
I just finished this today and this is literally been going in head while @ work and i'm- asfjdksh!! I never knew I would love Grey this much. 🥺
I actually DNFed this book. Lia Mara was boring and I disliked that she became the main character when I LOVED Harper so much. I loved Grey as always but the whole conflict for this storyline was just so stupid to me and I was bitterly disappointed. I gave up at around page 297 so I did try to give it a fair chance. But yeah I prefer to think of A Curse So Dark And Lonely as a standalone.
Ok first of all I loved this book....not only because I love grey as a character but because I got see a better pic...you guys be looking down on this book because it made rhen look bad? Nah...It just shows even if you are a good person you can make bad choices....This book made me see that the is more to scary grey....and for all those with different opinions I understand....This thing for miscommunication that happened between rhen and grey happens all the time......and gonna go ahead and defend grey that in his eyes the was a possibility that rhen was going to kill him if he knew the truth.... and at the end he even admitted to his mistake....so all am saying is that this was a good book....that deserves less negative vibes than its getting....
I appreciate Lia Mara so much for her gentleness and sweetness and soft bravery. The tough, snarky heroine is nice and all, but I liked to see a character that is very sensitive, is easily brought to tears wants people to be kinder than they are.
Ok I don’t know how but how?!?! Do all our opinions match so accurately😂😂
Spoilers:
The ending definitely saved the book for me. It was good throughout but I’m so glad there was a glimpse into Rhen’s perspective at the end. I’m surprised Harper is backing Rhen up though considering she doesn’t know about Lilith. I don’t feel like her character would have supported that in the first book even being in love with him. We shall see what happens in the 3rd book. I wonder if the author will do a POV from all 4 characters.
I just finished the book and I am so scared for Rhen 😭😭😭😭😭
Yes😭😭😭😭😭
Thank you. I am over 100 pages in and I'm dying with boredom. So, I looked up reviews to see if it gets better. Everyone else said they liked it. Glad to hear from someone that struggled like me. I'll push through and look forward to the third.
Spoilers!
I really liked this book. Not as much as the first one though, this was mainly because I didn’t care about Grey and Lia Mara nearly as much as Rhen and Harper.
I often wished that we could see what was going on from Harper’s perspective again. (I understand that we couldn’t have seen it from Rhen’s perspective because it would spoil the final chapter)
Even with that, it would have been interesting to see Emberfall turning on Rhen from Harper’s (or someone else inside the castle’s) perspective. Maybe not even for many chapters. Just a couple scattered between all of the others.
I must be awful at spotting plot twists because I had absolutely no idea about this one. When I found out Lilith was still alive I physically gasped.
Overall I really enjoyed A Heart So Fierce and Broken and it did a good job as a sequel to probably my absolute favourite book at the moment.
These are all just my thoughts right after finishing the book so I’ll probably have more to say when I can sit back and think more about it.
I completely agree with you , when you talked about the book for a moment i tought that i was in your place reviewing the book and btw i love the first book
I preordered this book and it’s taking forever to get to my houseeee 😭 but I had absolutely no idea that this is how the book goes down so I super appreciate this review!! And lowkey am disappointed now, but I hope like you I can fall for the book anyway!
I literally JUST finished A Heart so Fierce and Broken and needddeed to "talk" to someone about it! Am so glad I found this video! I can't believe how many similarities we had in reading this novel lol. I was initially disappointed when I realized there wouldn't be a lot of Harper in this book but the rest of the novel made up for it. It sucks that my library won't have the final book available in a while for me to read but I really hope we get more Harper POV in it!!!
Can we please acknowledge, though, that PTSD is an explanations for cruelty, but not an excuse? I feel so sorry for Rhen, but his fear and fury led to multiple cases of torture and state-sanctioned murder sprees throughout his kingdom, which Harper and many readers seem to brush away because they pity and love him. We should love and pity and want him to get better, but not make excuses for abuse, ever.
I think the concept you bring up is an important one, though I also think readers often don’t extend the same feelings to fictional characters that they do for real people. It’s often why romance readers read things they don’t actually want irl, why people ship characters with villains, or why people wish death upon characters for being mildly annoying. Though I 100% agree that if this were a real person, absolutely it would be unacceptable to excuse his behavior 💗
Have your tried The last apprentice/ The Spooks series by Joseph Delaney?
I think you'd love it
Spoilers:
I'm glad you guys are convinced Rhen is not being set-up to be villain, but I'm still really nervous. There was just so much negativity around the perception of Rhen, and the fact that the people have turned against him after everything. We had characters from the first book agreeing that "he controlled the people with lies and fear" and I'm left completely stunned. I'm thinking: YOU PEOPLE WERE THERE, YOU SAW WHAT HAPPENED. The kingdom was in real danger of collapsing and he did absolutely everything he could to stabilize it and it's like not the characters criticizing him now had any better ideas or even objections when everything was happening. I couldn't stand that his actions in book 1 were suddenly made to look evil on top everything that was already happening. But I don't think anything broke my heart like when Grey implies he and Rhen were never really friends
I really wish we got more of Harper's POV, to help me understand exactly why she stayed, because Rhen's whole... condition looked really bad from the outside (see the whole whipping innocent children thing). And I would like to know (maybe from the author herself after all is said and done) if Harper would really have run away with Grey if he asked, as Lia Mara implied. I hope not
I was relieved that Rhen was willing to step down because that is a sign that maybe he's not too far gone, but I HATED the Lilith appearance (even though I kinda like Lilith herself and also a little glad she's back). I just really don't like when a character we've followed is controlled by someone else but I dislike the idea of Rhen being the ultimate villain even more, so I guess we'll see how it goes.
Spoilers!
For the 1st part of the book I was so scared of: back to the love triangle and doing it even more - that would just ruin the whole story for me and it would became another "Throne of glass" (bleh!); building the tension between Harper&Grey was completely unnecessary (gurl, staahp! you already have a prince boyfriend, stop throwing yourself on others!); what happened to Rhen as a character was really upsetting me - I didn't care about that he was loosing control, atacking his own people or killing the guard of another country but whipping a 15 year old boy was too much. And as I understood - Lilith wasn't there yet (or maybe she was?). This disturbed the consistency of his character and I was scared of making him the bad guy, that woulnd't have any sense to me. Rhen&Grey relationship is very unbelievable to me - they spent like "eternity" having only themselves, must rely on each other, Grey's loyalty was beyond everything and now they don't trust each other at all and became enemies? I don't buy it.
But the 2nd part calmed me down and I was mostly relief but still have some mixed feelings. For me Lia Mara was the best because she was the only one who was willing to communicate and I liked that she was smart enough to immediately understand what's going on. And at the end it it frustrates me that Rhen was angry at Grey for not telling him the truth yet he's is doing exact same thing with not telling anyone about Lilith. I'm sorry for the long post, but I had to get it out of my mind :D
I was so disappointed in this book 😭
Me too. The first book was so much better!
same
I absolutely loved the sequel I can't believe it took me so long to read it I cannot wait to read the third book
I loved Grey so much in the first book! i’m so sad I didn’t enjoy this one as much considering it’s basically HIS book... it just felt so weird without Rhen and Harper, kind of like a spin-off instead of a sequel.
“Hey that was dumb “😂😂
Could anyone spoil me the whole 2nd book? I kind of want to know the end or the 3rd book but might not like the 2nd considering the comments and how I hate the root of the problem being miscommunication, the bane of my existence.
How do you make time to so much reading ?
I’m not her but audiobooks help a lot
Just downloaded an app from the ad that showed up before you vid. Haha I think that’s the first time that happened. It was for a “brain exercise” app :)
I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt that way about Lia Mara. I was like, shoot I feel like I'm supposed to really like this character buuuttt she's just not as good as Harper🙈
Spoilers (minority opinion; long):
I am definitely in the minority when I say that I prefer this book over the first. Even though Harper and Rhen were likeable characters, I fell in love with the story mainly because of Grey, so I was so happy to find out that he is the main protagonist in this second book.
I will definitely agree that Harper was a stronger female protagonist, and I enjoyed reading from her POV more than Lia Mara. Not to say I hate her. I like Lia Mara for her kindness and compassion, and I'm glad that Grey got paired up with a girl who is kind and gentle to his brave and strong. And I don't fault her for hating Rhen for what he did. I understand that it's a political game but one key defining characteristic that made Rhen was that he is a fair and just ruler, so it was sad to see him become heartless in this story.
I also agree that I hate that the author ruined Rhen and Grey's relationship (even though it was necessary to drive the plot). Although, I will say that I always felt like Grey cared more for Rhen than the other way around. So, the whipping was the final straw for me. I couldn't defend Rhen anymore after that.
And, I may be the only one that feels this way, but I understand why Grey didn't tell Rhen. He ran because he didn't want Rhen to be put in that situation of having to choose. Even if Rhen knew, Grey would still have been eliminated as a threat. I see your point that they could have come to a resolution, but I saw it as Grey not wanting to put that choice on Rhen, so he remained silent and wanted to disappear. It wasn't the smartest decision and I'm also glad that Grey questioned it, but I saw it as him wanting to protect Rhen.
But, since I am in the minority, I will admit that I am biased on this review because Grey is my all-time favorite character. He gives so much to the world and never asks for anything in return. If anything, the world punishes him for it. (I call bs when people say Rhen suffered more than Grey. They were trapped together. They went through everything together.) Some of his quotes brought tears to my eyes because of how relatable he is:
"My life is full of wishes that never come true."
"Every moment of this brings me pain."
"I am just a weapon to be used by another."
Like, I just want to give this beautiful boy a hug.
Overall, your review did open my eyes to a few things, and thanks for providing a safe place for us to share our thoughts. It makes me excited to read the third book!
Steelheart in 2020? Some Love for The Reckoners? 🙂
Des anyone here ship grey and rhen, and lia mara and harper? because they would look so CUTE together! Disagree with me if you want! but this is my opinion. If you agree with me, like.
I love Harper and Rhen
Mengaku kau tu keji tak ada apa-apa kasih sayang langsung dalam diri
Great video!! 📖🥳
Aku kata harper tak boleh deting dua lelaki kerana suatu hari salah satu lelaki tu nak berekap degan dia edap degan perempuan lain
I loved this book
Harper tu aku yakin takde jantinah
I really didn’t like this book. Parts of it made me angry and I just felt like so much of what I enjoyed about book one was thrown out the window in favor of this one. I’m not really sure whether I’ll bother with the 3rd one or not at this point. I’ll probably just wait for reviews first instead of it being a day one purchase.
Kenapa kau hina aku kata aku macam tu pulak. Kau kapih ya memam benci kau dari dulu. Aku lia mara bukan harper si keji
Just because a girl enjoys reading......and no violence doesn't mean....she's boring.....people and ways go for the bad guys and girls saying the good ones are boring......
I actually liked Lia mara and I didn't agree with most of Wat u said about the book....favourite characters are tycho and jake