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A Heart so Fierce and Broken is the second book in the Cursebreakers series by Brigid Kemmerer.
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?
I will admit, I went into A Heart So Fierce and Broken with expectations. I have heard *many* things about the rest of this series. One of my friends loves this book. A lot of people have found themselves extremely disappointed.
I, however, am in the middle. So I'll throw a three star on this book, which really really sucks because like so many others, I absolutely adored A Curse So Dark and Lonely.
To put things as spoiler-less as possible, it was still an enjoyable story and I look forward to seeing where it goes, but I'll put it like how someone else did: it's a much better story if you forget the first book ever happened. If you just read it as a stand alone. A lot of the characterization can make some sense, but you have to reach for it to understand, and that should *never* happen.
I loved getting to explore a different part of the land in this book, and I enjoyed many of the new characters or focuses introduced here. Overall, the themes are interesting and the story itself is just enjoyable.
However... Just gonna mark the rest as spoilers just in case!
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS!
Okay, look, I get the idea of Rhen. In fact, I *like* the idea behind Rhen. Getting back his kingdom when part of why he got it back was by lies wouldn't be easy, especially with an heir rumor popping up. There would be some people rebelling given their beliefs about succession. And yes, Rhen being fearful of magic makes sense. All of the idea behind everything makes sense.
But it's like the author had this idea, but she just went too far with it. I loved Rhen and Grey's interactions when they were talking about being friends, when they were letting their guard down, but then... Rhen just swerved too hard into the brutal lane. Sure, he's always been brutal to a point, and he's scared, but it just didn't *feel* like Rhen. And I know this is Grey and Lia Mara's story, but a Rhen PoV earlier than the end would have been *really* helpful. Wouldn't have fixed how far the author went, but maybe she would have at least seen it was too far and taken it back! Too hopeful? Too hopeful...
As for Grey... I liked the idea around him as well. The tension of his true relationship with Rhen, about his feelings of duty and to himself and just... There was a lot of interesting things, things I wanted to see explored. But again, the execution just felt... Off. And that is probably because at some point, Grey really just... Didn't feel like Grey? I still love him, and there were sparks of him showing through, but... And this is where we get into the real issue I think I had.
I liked Lia Mara. I liked that she wasn't the typical strong girl character. She was strong in a very different way that I enjoyed. People say she is a knock off Harper, but I think they're both very kind people, but their different environments definitely show. Lia Mara is a book worm princess with a kind heart, and Harper is a no-nonsense survivor with a kind heart. There are similarities, yes, but I don't think Lia Mara as bad a character as some others seem to.
*However,* I really was not a fan of the romance in this book. I really wanted to love it, because again, the ideas behind the romance were there. And I liked those ideas. Lia Mara seeing that kindness in Grey, that gentleness, encouraging him to be himself and not just a soldier to the crown, and they both had this strong sense of duty that really carried them.
But Grey lost a lot of his characterization whenever it came to being with Lia Mara. I can understand falling for Grey. I can understand falling for Lia Mara. But we just kinda got *told* they were feeling these really strong feelings. It definitely felt more legit from Lia Mara's point of view, but it was like the author wasn't quite sure how to have Grey be in a relationship. He felt far more authentic with his feelings in Harper, which made shipping this really hard because I do prefer the Harper/Rhen and Grey/Lia Mara pairings.
This book was just so filled with good ideas that I enjoyed, but so many things just didn't really work right.
But I still love these characters. I still love this world. I'm still invested in seeing where the plot goes. I'd just be lying if I didn't act like some part of me felt cheated that this book read better as a standalone than a continuation.
