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A Curse For True Love Review

  • Nov 20, 2023
  • 4 min read

β€œπ‘Άπ’π’„π’† 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒂 π’•π’Šπ’Žπ’†, 𝒂 π’ˆπ’Šπ’“π’ π’˜π’‰π’ π’ƒπ’†π’π’Šπ’†π’—π’†π’… π’Šπ’ π’‡π’‚π’Šπ’“π’šπ’•π’‚π’π’†π’” 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 π’‘π’“π’Šπ’π’„π’† π’˜π’‰π’ 𝒉𝒂𝒅 π’”π’˜π’π’“π’ 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆.”

- A Curse For True Love by Stephanie Garber


Genre: romantasy

Overall rating: 4.5/5 stars

# books in series: #3 of 3

Song: "The Archer" by Taylor Swift

My review: Before I start this review, I need to specify that I loved this book. So much. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a satisfying conclusion to one of my favorite fantasy series. All criticism comes from a place of love. I’ll mainly be talking about the parts I didn’t enjoy in the review, because for the good parts, I have nothing really to add except that I absolutely loved them.


β€œπ‘Ίπ’‰π’†'𝒅 π’‡π’π’“π’ˆπ’π’•π’•π’†π’ π’‰π’π’˜ 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 π’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’† 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒔 π’ƒπ’“π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’•π’†π’“ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’‡π’†π’†π’π’Šπ’π’ˆπ’” π’˜π’‚π’“π’Žπ’†π’“, π’‰π’π’˜ π’Šπ’• 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 π’”π’‰π’Šπ’‡π’• π’•π’‰π’π’–π’ˆπ’‰π’•π’” π’‡π’“π’π’Ž π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’˜π’‚π’”π’'𝒕 𝒕𝒐 π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’˜π’‚π’” π’‘π’π’”π’”π’Šπ’ƒπ’π’†.”


First issue β€” there was a lot less magic in this book than the first two. One of the things I love most about the series is the whimsical world Stephanie created, and I wanted to see more of that, but it felt like there was more character drama and less worldbuilding/description stuff if that makes sense (I know it’s the third book, but still). My favorite part of Stephanie’s writing is the way she engages all five senses in the story, with her descriptions not only of the landscape but the smells, tastes, textures, and sounds β€” it’s such a unique and charming element I’ve found in few other books that really adds a deeper layer to the story and immersion.


β€œπ‘°π’• 𝒉𝒂𝒅 π’•π’‚π’Œπ’†π’ 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‰π’†π’‚π’“π’•π’ƒπ’“π’†π’‚π’Œ, 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‚π’π’Žπ’π’”π’• 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’˜π’“π’π’π’ˆ 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒕𝒐 π’Œπ’π’π’˜ 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 π’˜π’‚π’” 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆.”


Next, I’ve seen a lot of people complaining about the Apollo POV chapters, that they were boring and hard to get through, etcetera β€” and while I totally can see where they’re coming from, because Eva and Jacks’ chapters were so much more fun, getting into Apollo’s head really did help the reader understand him on a deeper level as a character and his thoughts, motivation, and morals. I feel like in the first two books, he’s a much more one-dimensional character, who’s just there to be the other end of the love triangle. His POV in ACFTL truly unveils why he’s a horrible person, because obviously everyone was mad after what he did at the end of TBONA, but until that point he really does seem like the victim; a fairytale prince who had bad things happen to him who could genuinely make a good husband.


β€œπ‘¬π’—π’‚π’π’ˆπ’†π’π’Šπ’π’† 𝑭𝒐𝒙 π’‚π’π’˜π’‚π’šπ’” π’ƒπ’†π’π’Šπ’†π’—π’†π’… 𝒔𝒉𝒆’𝒅 π’‡π’Šπ’π’… 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 π’Šπ’π’”π’Šπ’…π’† 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 π’‡π’‚π’Šπ’“π’šπ’•π’‚π’π’† 𝒐𝒏𝒆 π’…π’‚π’š.”


I want to take a moment to appreciate Evangeline as a main character. How often these days in YA do we find a FMC who exhibits childlike innocence without being completely robbed of it during her character development, absolutely loves pink and gowns and pretty things, can’t kill a man with her bare hands, has constant hope for humanity, genuinely cares about and wants to see the best in people, and believes in both the existence of happily ever afters and the fact that she deserves one? I feel like so many authors try to write their FMCs as the complete opposite of Propp’s damsel in distress archetype, and consequentially, the fact that Evangeline is closer to it makes her stand out so much more. Plus, she’s so relatable. I, also, want to wear beautiful ball gowns everywhere and marry a man who adores me. Her determination to never give up on Jacks and settle for less had me on the floor.


–––––––––––––––––– SPOILERS BELOW ––––––––––––––––––


"𝑰’𝒗𝒆 π’Žπ’‚π’…π’† π’Žπ’š π’…π’†π’„π’Šπ’”π’Šπ’π’, π‘±π’‚π’„π’Œπ’”. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 π’šπ’π’–. 𝑰𝒕 π’˜π’Šπ’π’ π’‚π’π’˜π’‚π’šπ’” 𝒃𝒆 π’šπ’π’–, π’–π’π’•π’Šπ’ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 π’•π’Šπ’Žπ’†. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 π’‡π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’• 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒓 π’‚π’π’šπ’π’π’† 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 π’˜π’‰π’ π’•π’“π’Šπ’†π’” 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕- π’Šπ’π’„π’π’–π’…π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’šπ’π’–. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’Žπ’š π’„π’‰π’π’Šπ’„π’†. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’Žπ’š 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’Žπ’Šπ’π’†. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 π’šπ’π’– 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 π’ˆπ’π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 π’Žπ’†, π‘±π’‚π’„π’Œπ’”.”


Another complaint I had was the amount of plot holes, or at least elements that didn’t really get resolved. While I don’t think the ending was as rushed as some that I’ve read, it left me with so many questions. What happened to Luc and Marisol? Why didn’t Lala appear after the climax? What about the last kiss Eva owes Jacks? Does their kiss count? Because if so, that should have been explicitly specified. How exactly was Jacks’ curse broken? Was it just the β€œpower of love”? If so, why didn’t that work with any of the previous foxes? And I’ve seen the theories floating around the internet, but I need actual confirmation of what the heck the whole apple thing was about. The throwaway sentence in the epilogue was NOT sufficient. Someone get Stephanie on line one please, I need answers!


–––––––––––––––––– END OF SPOILERS ––––––––––––––––––


Okay, sorry, I just had to get that point in my review. Spoilers are done now. A Curse For True Love was my number one most anticipated read of 2023, and while it was by no means perfect, it did deliver a satisfying ending to the series that had me squealing and giggling and binge reading way past my bedtime; all in all, a success. I can't wait to see what Stephanie has up her sleeve for the next series, to be announced in a few months!

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