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CurseBreaker: An East O' The Sun, West O' The Moon Retelling
A Scorned Queen, A Cursed Prince, A Girl begging for love and adventure...
History Channel's Vikings meets Norse Folklore and Mythology in this High Fantasy retelling of the Norwegian Fairy Tale, East O' The Sun and West O' The Moon.
Eighteen-year-old Helga "Hel" Daalgaard has accepted that the only love and adventure in her future live within the pages of the books her father brings for her from his travels. She's content helping around the home she shares with her parents and eight siblings; it may be a dull life but it's all she's ever known... until a polar bear arrives at their tiny cottage and offers up a strange proposal.
After spurning his young stepmother's advances, Prince Dyre is cursed to spend his days in the body of a polar bear. To break the curse he must find a woman to fall in love with him and stay with him for a year - but the woman of his choosing can never learn that he is truly a man or Dyre will be forced into a future even worse than spending his days as a polar bear. He thinks Hel could be the one to break the curse, but if Hel ever finds out what brought them together he may lose her forever.
Nobody ever crossed Viveka, Queen of Aldavellir, and lived to tell about it. Dyre is the only man alive that has turned her down but she'll have him whether he likes it or not. She'll make it impossible for the girl he's chosen to last long enough to break the curse. After all, queens don't have to play fair.
CurseBreaker is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Erin Summerill!
History Channel's Vikings meets Norse Folklore and Mythology in this High Fantasy retelling of the Norwegian Fairy Tale, East O' The Sun and West O' The Moon.
Eighteen-year-old Helga "Hel" Daalgaard has accepted that the only love and adventure in her future live within the pages of the books her father brings for her from his travels. She's content helping around the home she shares with her parents and eight siblings; it may be a dull life but it's all she's ever known... until a polar bear arrives at their tiny cottage and offers up a strange proposal.
After spurning his young stepmother's advances, Prince Dyre is cursed to spend his days in the body of a polar bear. To break the curse he must find a woman to fall in love with him and stay with him for a year - but the woman of his choosing can never learn that he is truly a man or Dyre will be forced into a future even worse than spending his days as a polar bear. He thinks Hel could be the one to break the curse, but if Hel ever finds out what brought them together he may lose her forever.
Nobody ever crossed Viveka, Queen of Aldavellir, and lived to tell about it. Dyre is the only man alive that has turned her down but she'll have him whether he likes it or not. She'll make it impossible for the girl he's chosen to last long enough to break the curse. After all, queens don't have to play fair.
CurseBreaker is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Erin Summerill!
354 pages, Paperback
Published January 2, 2018
1 person is currently reading
99 people want to read
About the author
Taylor Fenner
12 books133 followersTAYLOR FENNER is the author of eleven Young Adult and New Adult novels and novellas. Her Young Adult Fantasy Retelling, CURSEBREAKER, was shortlisted for the 2017 Ozma Award for Fantasy Fiction, and her standalone fantasy novel, MONSTERS & MIST, is a Literary Titan Silver Book Award Winner and was also shortlisted for the 2021 Ozma Award for Fantasy Fiction.
Taylor is a thirty-something-year-old book junkie who devours books in most genres, although she has a soft spot for thrillers and horror novels.
Taylor lives in Wisconsin with her escape artist cat, Houdini, and a British shorthair cat, Makita, who might have eaten her last owner. Besides writing, by night, Taylor works the night shift as a dispatcher in a possibly haunted police station. When not working on her next novel, you’ll find Taylor traveling or planning her next adventure, watching horror movies - she says classic horror is the best - reading or watching shows about creepy history, indulging in sugary coffee drinks, singing badly along to songs on Spotify in the car, and obsessively planning for Halloween starting in July (it’s never too early). You can follow Taylor on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok.
Taylor is a thirty-something-year-old book junkie who devours books in most genres, although she has a soft spot for thrillers and horror novels.
Taylor lives in Wisconsin with her escape artist cat, Houdini, and a British shorthair cat, Makita, who might have eaten her last owner. Besides writing, by night, Taylor works the night shift as a dispatcher in a possibly haunted police station. When not working on her next novel, you’ll find Taylor traveling or planning her next adventure, watching horror movies - she says classic horror is the best - reading or watching shows about creepy history, indulging in sugary coffee drinks, singing badly along to songs on Spotify in the car, and obsessively planning for Halloween starting in July (it’s never too early). You can follow Taylor on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 14, 2020
Disappointingly, this was a story that read more like Vikings fanfiction than a proper retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon.
It purports to be a historical retelling, but the author has a feeble grasp of the time and the place, because the characters talk and think like actors in the History show than as actual Norse reavers would. Seriously, what Viking worth his salt sounds like an American and says stuff like okay, guy, and addresses people as Mr? And why exactly does the girl insist in calling the white bear prince a "polar" bear in a time when they had no concept of South Pole and North Pole yet? And et cetera, the world is practically non-existent as development goes beyond a feel of stage play set up, the characters don't belong in the 800s, some of the characters' names are anachronistic and foreign to a Viking setting (I mean, Wray? And Kiersten before Christianity took hold in Scandinavia?), the plotline is extremely predictable, and both the prose and dialogue could use better editing.
It purports to be a historical retelling, but the author has a feeble grasp of the time and the place, because the characters talk and think like actors in the History show than as actual Norse reavers would. Seriously, what Viking worth his salt sounds like an American and says stuff like okay, guy, and addresses people as Mr? And why exactly does the girl insist in calling the white bear prince a "polar" bear in a time when they had no concept of South Pole and North Pole yet? And et cetera, the world is practically non-existent as development goes beyond a feel of stage play set up, the characters don't belong in the 800s, some of the characters' names are anachronistic and foreign to a Viking setting (I mean, Wray? And Kiersten before Christianity took hold in Scandinavia?), the plotline is extremely predictable, and both the prose and dialogue could use better editing.
July 16, 2018
East of the Sun, West of the Moon is one of my all time favorite fairy-tales so naturally when I saw Cursebreaker I got super excited! I'm all for retellings of this glorious story.
If you're not familiar, EotS/WotM is very similar to Beauty and the Beast - a girl is taken away by a polar bear who is actually a man cursed to be a bear by day and a man by night. The curse has stipulations but long story short if the girl doesn't fall in love with him, the Prince will be sent to spend eternity East of the Sun and West of the Moon. ;)
Taylor did really well by this classic tale! I love the way she incorporates Norse Mythology into the story and I love her characters. Their names are perfect, and I love Hel's spunk! And Taylor is fantastic at setting a scene. :D
I honestly only docked a star because I felt like there was a lack of emotional beats and for me that can really lag a story. That said, I was still so gripped that I just kept reading--so don't let that discourage you! Give it a chance! :D
If you're not familiar, EotS/WotM is very similar to Beauty and the Beast - a girl is taken away by a polar bear who is actually a man cursed to be a bear by day and a man by night. The curse has stipulations but long story short if the girl doesn't fall in love with him, the Prince will be sent to spend eternity East of the Sun and West of the Moon. ;)
Taylor did really well by this classic tale! I love the way she incorporates Norse Mythology into the story and I love her characters. Their names are perfect, and I love Hel's spunk! And Taylor is fantastic at setting a scene. :D
I honestly only docked a star because I felt like there was a lack of emotional beats and for me that can really lag a story. That said, I was still so gripped that I just kept reading--so don't let that discourage you! Give it a chance! :D
January 14, 2019
one of my most favourite fairy tale is the polar bear king or East of the Sun and West of the Moon. i was hoping for so much in this book but i couldnt finish it...it was so boring and predictable....i just couldn't finish it and that made me sad but i tried. i tried until the moment where the polar bear asks her not to speak to her mom alone...and what does she do speak to her mom.....i tried but i just can't...
January 2, 2018
It's here! My YA Historical Fantasy is available now in eBook and paperback! I can't wait for everyone to read it!
May 14, 2021
I love East of the Sun, West of the Moon. It is my favorite fairytale along with Beauty and the Beast so anytime I see a retelling of the story, I automatically feel compelled to read it. I wanted to like this one, but some of it fell flat for me.
Hel seemed like a decent female character in the beginning. She was the "lesser" sister of her family interns of beauty and the strongest daughter. Unlike other retellings, Hel wasn't unloved. Her family loved her very much and told her it was her decision to make to go with the polar bear. I enjoyed the family dynamic she had in that she was close with her brother Axel and while she may not have a liking towards fine gowns or makeup but she did get along with them. At one point in the book she describes her family home as full of love and she looks back on it with fond memories.
Dyre was very two dimensional to me. I enjoyed the scenes where it was written in his POV as that was new. All other retellings I've encountered only speak from the female heroine's POV so I liked getting in his head a little. But even in that he just didn't seem to grip me off the page. All we really learn of him is he used to travel and he has a hobby of blowing glass (I will say this was a nice touch as blown glass is a beautiful art and I have not come across another work of fiction that works it into the story). His whole character just seemed to be a little like Prince Charming from the animated Cinderella movie. Just there as the prince character but you don't really learn much about him.
The dialogue in this book may be what was lacking for me. It just seemed very childish and not what an 18 year old girl and 21 year old boy would talk about. There were big spans that were description of what Hel was doing as Dyre would leave her alone to wander the palace. In the original story, the prince is meant to spend most of the day with her in his polar bear form as this is how he gets to know her and fall in love with her. As it was, he was in love upon first sight and then talked to her only a third of the time during the day.
As it stands, this book was probably my least favorite retelling of this fairytale although it did have some good elements to it. There were a few grammatical errors, but not many. If you're like me and love this fairytale, then I would suggest trying the book. If you've never read East of the Sun and West of the Moon before or are familiar but looking to read your first ever retelling, start somewhere else. Maybe Edith Pattou's "East" or Jessica Day George's "Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow".
Hel seemed like a decent female character in the beginning. She was the "lesser" sister of her family interns of beauty and the strongest daughter. Unlike other retellings, Hel wasn't unloved. Her family loved her very much and told her it was her decision to make to go with the polar bear. I enjoyed the family dynamic she had in that she was close with her brother Axel and while she may not have a liking towards fine gowns or makeup but she did get along with them. At one point in the book she describes her family home as full of love and she looks back on it with fond memories.
Dyre was very two dimensional to me. I enjoyed the scenes where it was written in his POV as that was new. All other retellings I've encountered only speak from the female heroine's POV so I liked getting in his head a little. But even in that he just didn't seem to grip me off the page. All we really learn of him is he used to travel and he has a hobby of blowing glass (I will say this was a nice touch as blown glass is a beautiful art and I have not come across another work of fiction that works it into the story). His whole character just seemed to be a little like Prince Charming from the animated Cinderella movie. Just there as the prince character but you don't really learn much about him.
The dialogue in this book may be what was lacking for me. It just seemed very childish and not what an 18 year old girl and 21 year old boy would talk about. There were big spans that were description of what Hel was doing as Dyre would leave her alone to wander the palace. In the original story, the prince is meant to spend most of the day with her in his polar bear form as this is how he gets to know her and fall in love with her. As it was, he was in love upon first sight and then talked to her only a third of the time during the day.
As it stands, this book was probably my least favorite retelling of this fairytale although it did have some good elements to it. There were a few grammatical errors, but not many. If you're like me and love this fairytale, then I would suggest trying the book. If you've never read East of the Sun and West of the Moon before or are familiar but looking to read your first ever retelling, start somewhere else. Maybe Edith Pattou's "East" or Jessica Day George's "Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow".
January 2, 2018
This book reminds me of an adult fairytale. It grabs you after reading just a few pages of it and I found myself not being able to lay the book down until I read another chapter then another chapter and another. I now find myself wishing there would be a sequel telling us how the rest of the characters' lives played out. I believe everyone, young or old, needs to read this retelling. It compliments the original fairytale, East O' The Sun and West O' The Moon beautifully.
Both fantasy and fairytale story fans will love this book. It's a book I want to reread again and again and I'm not usually a fantasy genre fan.
Both fantasy and fairytale story fans will love this book. It's a book I want to reread again and again and I'm not usually a fantasy genre fan.
April 29, 2020
Library ebook
January 11, 2018
this is a retelling of the polar bear king. where a girl must live with the prince(who was turned into a bear, but only during the day) and not find out he is human for a year. she ruins it then must travel to the end of the worlds to find and rescue him. it's a great retelling and I enjoyed the added aspects of God's.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews