“𝑶𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒂 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒏 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.
“𝑺𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆.”
First issue — 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 — 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.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌, 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 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 — 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.
“𝑬𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒙 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆’𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚.”
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.
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"𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕- 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆, 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔.”
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 “power 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!
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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!