Curse Breaker by Taylor Fenner Review

 I am always excited to read East of the Sun and West of the Moon retellings when I get the chance. I am always interested to see how authors put their own twist on a previously told story. However, when an author sticks too closely to the original story the book isn’t as interesting. And sadly, that was the case for Curse Breaker by Taylor Fenner. The book is good but it doesn’t add much in addition storyline to really help make it stand out from its original source.  

Curse Breaker is the tale of Hel (aka Helga) the youngest daughter of a Viking who dreams of love and adventures. However ever since her fiancée died, she has had little hope of ever finding love again let alone adventure. Little does she know that her prayers to Freya (the Norse god) will lead her on a journey she never could have imagined and a love worth fighting for. When a white bear appears at her house asking for her to come with him in exchange for riches her family encourages her to go. Despite not knowing where her journey will take her Hel reluctantly agrees knowing how well off her family would be. She journeys on the white bears back and they arrive at his castle where she is attended to by his servants who are beings made of mist. Every night Hel dreams of a man sleeping beside her but when she awakes there is no one there. She soon grows to care for the white bear (Dyre) after experiencing his kindness to her firsthand. In truth Dyre is an enchanted prince cursed by his young stepmother Viveka when he refused to give in to her awful desires. He hopes Hel will be able to break his curse for if she fails his future will be a bleak one indeed. When tragedy strikes the couple how far will Hel go to save her beloved prince? 

I liked this book overall but I feel like it could have benefited from adding additional content. I just feel with a bit more added to the story and to a lesser extent to its characters this book would have been better. That said I did think the world was an interesting place. Hal’s family are Vikings and as a result they follow the not so savory traditions that Vikings had. That would include raiding other villages and sacrificing people to the gods in return for good fortune. The man that was sacrificed in the beginning had recently slept with Hel’s older sister Arika. However, no one understands why she cries so hard during the sacrifice since they believe he would go to the afterlife and dine with the head God Odin. Little do they know that Arika is now carrying the sacrificed man's child making her now a ruined women who no one would marry. This is another reason why Hel goes with Dyre since he might help her sister when the baby came. All these details about the Vikings’ way of life interested me in the beginning but it isn’t really that present throughout the story.  

The main characters, while likable I felt like didn’t have a lot of development or dept to them. Hel was as brave and kind as I expected and her romance with Dyre was sweet, but I didn’t really connect with her. I was also a little surprised that she wasn’t hurt more by her family’s eagerness to go with the white bear since none of them knew where he would take her. One of her sisters' comments that he will probably eat her, and no one seems worried about that possibility. I think their behavior would make more sense if they were despicable people, but they don’t seem to be. Overall though Hel is a likable character. She has all the bravery of her original counterpart and seems to have some fighting skills that to boot that certainly help her on her journey. I just think she could have been developed more. Dyre, I thought was a more rounded out character. While I find him slipping into Hel’s bed while she’s asleep creepy, (don’t worry it's not like he’s doing anything to her) I could feel his loneliness. He is frustrated that he can’t court Hel properly and that he is gets so shy around her. He has also had to deal with a stepmother who not only murdered his father but wants him for herself. And to punish him for his refusal he must deal with a curse that transformed him into a bear by day and the prospect of possibly marrying a hideous wicked troll princess (his stepmother's sister) if Hel fails. Lets just say he has a lot on his plate.  

The character that confused me the most in this story was Viveka (Dyre’s stepmother). She clearly wants Dyre for herself but seems to be marrying him off to her troll sister Serpentina. I honestly couldn’t quite understand her motives. I know she is evil and needs to be stopped (heck even the Norse Gods seem to know that) but it would have been nice if her intentions were clearer cut. 

Anyway, this is a pretty good story that sadly seems underdeveloped. If the author Taylor Fenner ever decides to edit and make changes to her story it would probably get a higher rating. I am honestly torn on what to rate this book. I gave it four stars on Goodreads but that seems a little high for it. So, I am going to give it 3.5 stars. It's an enjoyable story overall but not a must read for any fairy tale lovers. If you love the fairy tales Beauty and the Beast or East of the Sun and West of the Moon, then read it but if you're not a huge fan you can skip this one over.