A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber

SYNOPSIS

Two Villains.

One girl.

And a deadly battle for happily ever after.

Evangeline Fox ventured to the Magnificent North in search of her happy ending, and it seems as if she finally has it. She’s married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle.

But Evangeline has no idea of the devastating price she’s paid for this fairytale. She doesn’t know what she has lost, and her husband is determined to make sure she never finds out… but first he must kill Jacks, the Prince of Hearts.

Blood will be shed, hearts will be stolen, and true love will be put to the test.

Note: Obviously there are spoilers in here for Once Upon a Broken Heart and The Ballad of Never After

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A tragic and magic tale of True Love and the cost that comes with Happily Ever After reminiscent of the fairytales we loved as children.

Evangeline can’t remember who she used to be nor how she ended up married to a prince. Jacks can’t live with the knowledge that Evangeline doesn’t remember him. Together and apart they will face betrayal and heartbreak as they try to find their way back to one another.

Our story starts only a short while after the last book ends which is great news for those of you who do not enjoy cliffhangers with time jumps (aka ME). Apollo is making it his mission to ensure Jacks is erased from Evangeline’s life. But his actions become more and more obscene and his morals become questionable at best. Evangeline struggles to know who to trust and is horrified when she realizes the only person she has is Apollo, who is hiding something from her. Jacks is facing his past and his future and is terrified of both. He thought having his old friend back would be better but it’s only made his life more complicated than he could have imagined. External forces work overtime to pull these two lovers from each other forever.

Evangeline, despite having lost herself, is still a clever little fox. Headstrong and bright, she does not allow Apollo to walk all over her. Memory or no, she’s a force to be reconned with. Her devotion to Jacks, though unremembered, still slips through the cracks making her more determined than ever to get to the bottom of the strange things going on around her. I admire her determination in this one and love that, although she lost her memory, she still retained her growth of character from the previous books. Jacks is also extremely fascinating as in this book as, for the first time, we see his true heart. But, true to fashion, he runs from his feelings like a toddler and becomes our little damsel in distress. Good thing Evangeline is brave enough for the both of them. For someone who has been alive and and heartbroken over and over again for hundreds of years, there’s finally someone who cares.

Unlike what sounds like a majority sentiment around this book, I LOVED the plot. I think the main argument is that there was not enough Jacks in the story and the resolution was so short but… that’s literally the tried and true template for most YA novels before TikTok, New Adult, and “Spicy” romance trends arrived. This is a romantasy, with heavy elements on the world building, and aimed towards young readers. It had just as much romance in it as is appropriate in my opinion and I loved how tastefully it was done. Think of Katniss and Peeta and the literal ONE PAGE epilogue that showed their ending and THEN complain to me that this wasn’t enough. This was the finale, there had to be high stakes, and there HAD to be a long separation otherwise what would the point of that cliffhanger have been? It keeps us on our toes. “When will Jacks be showing up?” WHO KNOWS. That’s the point.

I liked that we got to delve further into the history of this world as well. I’m absolutely entranced by The Magnificent North and the massacre that brought the Valors to their knees. It was my favourite part of the trilogy and this book didn’t disappoint. I do wish, however, it was a little longer so we could have gotten more time to get to know all the new characters. I do believe there was some great set up for further spin off series in the book however.

In summary, Eva and Jacks have my whole heart and I’m beyond happy with this resolution to a fantastic adventure. I gave this book 5 stars because I honestly believe it lived up to its predecessors. A Curse for True Love is worth the read if you’re looking for a good old fashioned fairytale.