Book Review: A Curse for True Love

Once upon a time, a girl who believed in fairytales stole the heart of a prince who had sworn to never love

Here we are, the ending of an epic trilogy. Do you feel sad when you finish a book series? Because I do, and I do feel sad to say goodbye to these characters. But the question is, does the ending live up to the hype?

Evangeline has lost her memories - no, they’ve been stolen from her. Her marriage to Prince Apolo is what every girl dreams of. It is a perfect fairytale ending. But not everything is as it seems. Is it truly a ‘happily ever after’? Which villain is the right one - the one Evangeline should be afraid of? Jacks is - as usual- flitting in and out of the action, ever watchful over Evangeline as she hurtles towards the dark, dirty truth.

Let’s think of the good things here. I do love the world that Steohanie Graber has created, particularly the ‘Story Curse’ and other little intricacies which make you wonder about what is ‘truth’ vs. ‘Fiction’. I love Evangeline’s character development. In the beginning, she was hopelessly naive - true, she was 16 years old at the start of the series and ended as a 17-year-old. But she gets tougher, easily catches lies and is more likely to listen to her gut. She is sadly less trusting, but I think we can blame her husband, Apollo, her first love, Luc and that awful stepsister of hers, Marisol. I also like Jack's progression, but I think there could've been more development. True, he always claims to be the villain, and you do learn more of his background. But I find that there is a distinct lack of trying to be better for Evangeline, nor do we truly see how he falls in love with her. Now, while we do get a few chapters of Jack’s POV, there are glimpses of his adoration - but its sad we do not truly see the emotional journey.

I was rather disappointed in a few bits a pieces - such as the impact of opening the Valory arch, considering it was such a big deal in the last two books, it felt like it didn't live up to the hype.  There were also a few holes left after I closed the book - whatever happened to Luc and Marisol? Their endings were left unfinished, as was Lala’s, which is a shame.  As with the last book, the ending felt a little rushed here and there, and there was the overused reliance on ‘convenience’, the Valors just so happened to turn up at the most opportune time… etc.

I do like the ending - I do think that the last few chapters hit the landing, it was a little muddled getting there. I also did not see Apollo’s downfall (spoiler) coming in that way - genuinely thought Jacks was going to ‘gavot’ him through the stomach. But a much more fitting ending for an objectively 2-dimensional character.

Overall, what do I think of the whole series? Honestly, I’ve read better, it's okay, but there are aspects of the plot, even now, I’m struggling to recall. I would reread this though, it has its charms.