A Vow So Bold and Deadly
High Fantasy, Young Adults
Brigid Kemmerer
Cursebreakers, Book # 3
Bloomsbury YA
January 26th 2021
eBook
408
English
April 30, 2021 May 3, 2021
Library Love, Virtual Mount TBR
Face your fears, fight the battle.
Emberfall is crumbling fast, torn between those who believe Rhen is the rightful prince and those who are eager to begin a new era under Grey, the true heir. Grey has agreed to wait two months before attacking Emberfall, and in that time, Rhen has turned away from everyone—even Harper, as she desperately tries to help him find a path to peace.
Fight the battle, save the kingdom.
Meanwhile, Lia Mara struggles to rule Syhl Shallow with a gentler hand than her mother. But after enjoying decades of peace once magic was driven out of their lands, some of her subjects are angry Lia Mara has an enchanted prince and a magical scraver by her side. As Grey's deadline draws nearer, Lia Mara questions if she can be the queen her country needs.
As the two kingdoms come closer to conflict, loyalties are tested, love is threatened, and a dangerous enemy returns, in this stunning conclusion to bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer’s Cursebreaker series.
About the book
Third and final (? I’ll explain after about the question mark) book in Brigid Kemmerer’s Cursebreakers series. Prince Grey has given his brother an ultimatum, surrender or it will be war between their native kingdom and Grey’s adopted one. As the two princes prepare for the impending battle, the enchantress Lilith is back even more fierce and sadistic than before and wants to reign alongside Rhen.
Meanwhile, in Syhl Shallow, anti-magic groups have begun to rebel against the new queen who fraternises with a magesmith (as those who have magic are called) and many attempt to her life. Her sister would like Lia Mara to be stronger and more bloody and to give an example of a firm hand to those who would like to dismiss her. But Lia Mara is convinced that by treating others with leniency she is able to achieve more than repression in blood.
What I think
The third book did not impress me very much. Happy to read Rhen’s point of view again, and especially Harper’s, but I didn’t like what actually happens. Which I will talk about later in the spoiler section because at this point I cannot review this series without a little discussion which therefore contains spoilers.
I can’t understand why Lilith is immortal. Or better. I understand that she heals herself quickly with magic and therefore she may seem immortal, but how did Rhen’s ancestors exterminate the magesmith if the swords don’t kill them? I may not remember well in the first book, but if they used special weapons, why doesn’t Rhen know?
It also feels very much like a repeat of the first book with Rhen in Lilith’s clutches, but in this case with Grey on vacation in another state.
Style
Honestly, I don’t like the fact that there are 4 points of view, but divided into two groups. I would have preferred a chapter for each point of view but with the 4 mixed not two by two: practically we have a first part with Rhen and Harper’s point of view, then a second part with Grey and Lia Mara’s point of view and then back again to Harper and Rhen, then back to Grey and Lia Mara and so on and these parts are long, I don’t know, maybe 10 or 15 chapters. If she had mixed them better I would have liked it more.
However the chapters are not long, English is not complicated or at least I didn’t find it difficult at all.
Characters
I don’t like Grey anymore. Maybe if the first book had been in his point of view instead of Rhen’s, maybe I could have accepted the end, but he really seems like a different character from the first book. And there is also no excuse for the spell because it is never mentioned as the cause of his diversity.
Lia Mara is unbearable. I couldn’t wait for her chapters to finish to get on with the story. But without saying why and therefore making spoilers, I can’t say why I don’t like her anymore. Let’s say that the constant repetition of what she think is counterproductive.
Harper… I don’t know… I thought she was the heroine of the series and from a certain point of view she is, but since the author wanted to point out how good Lia Mara was, I think that Harper has not been exploited to the fullest, but above all she is no longer the character of the first book. And I understand her character development but I haven’t actually seen it here.
Rhen. He was my favourite character from the first book. His ideals were firm and I think his character had a big development in the first book but then it stopped. And still, you can’t blame the spell because it’s never mentioned that the characters were like that in the first book because of Lilith. I do not condone what he did as mentioned in the previous review but it seems that everything he endured in the first book and that Grey saw, is cancelled. As well as in real life and not only in positive or negative things but also for example in sports, if an athlete no longer wins, he has to retire, it doesn’t matter if he has won everything in the previous 10 years and competes only because he loves the sport. All cancelled. I had the same feeling here. What was done in the first book no longer exists, I don’t even think the author remembers what she wrote.
Lilith. Jesus! I could not wait for the book to finish so as not to read about her again. As I said, it seemed like a copy of the first book, only now the spell is gone. And I understand that she wants revenge for what it was done to her people, but I didn’t find it logical taking it out on Rhen for the second time.
Conclusion no spoilers
I recommend the first book. Honestly it is the only one I recommend also because it can be read by itself since there is an end (more or less) even if obviously there is something unfinished, but there is something unfinished here too and that is why I have a question mark in the first sentence. And that’s also what makes me say a big no to the finale.
Despite this, I didn’t feel like giving less than three stars because there are some beautiful scenes.
Discussion with spolers
Be warned, don’t read if you don’t want to know some things!
I find mockery the fact of having protagonists in the first book who are mostly good, turning them upside down in their ideals to make other characters stand out. It is not at the level of ACOTAR, but the concept is the same. Maybe it’s me who is fond of the characters and would like them to be the protagonists until the end, but when this reversal happens I lose interest. Yes, I would have liked Rhen to become king, he was raised for it and under the spell for it, but mostly because Grey is an illegitimate child and it is never explained why he is considered first in succession. In reality illegitimate children could not have claims to the throne if the father did not make them legitimate before he died so what the hell does Grey want? Plus he already has a kingdom to rule Syhl Shallow, stay there and give Emberfall to Rhen.
Then the fact that in the end, my favorite character from the first book is so depressed and that Grey takes everything from him doesn’t go well with me. If Grey had left the kingdom to Rhen, I would have liked the book a lot more, but that doesn’t happen and so it was a big disappointment.
Lia Mara is a disappointment. I have already said that she is Harper’s copy and her wanting to do everything with peace could be appreciated, but stupid and I find her empty, always wondering if she is doing the right thing, pages after pages of her thoughts that I could do less to read because they are all the same. And honestly, I also find her relationship with Grey empty in the sense that I didn’t see their attraction and I honestly don’t understand why they are together. But to each their own…
