Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - Ever Cursed

Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Ever Cursed by Corey Ann Haydu

19 reviews

theprincessreads's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

The author had a strong message which was clear throughout the book however it left the characters flat. It took cue as “my mother” to understand which point of view we were reading. It also took about two third of the book to finally ‘start’ the story and I do love a slow pace however the world was not filled enough to entertain the reader during the slow pace.
It is a three stars for me, with an addition of 0,25 for the fairy tale ending.

I did appreciate the content warnings at the beginning of the book.

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ihaveaproblem's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

this book is the definition of childhood fairytale with a modern and dark twist.

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soccergirl0024's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I honestly did not like this book due to the fact that it was not as fairy-tale like as I thought. The summary really misguides the reader as to what the book is about. The characters weren’t lovable nor were they that developing.

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sweetsweetroad's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I really enjoyed the book and thought it was interesting magic system.

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thekissballad's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I didn't realize that I had higher hopes for this book until I finished it and felt severely let down.

Starting out, it was a little rough and slow paced. Plus, keeping track of the princesses, their curses, and other secondary, yet still important characters, was a little cumbersome. Also, there was a lot of switching from pre-curse/pre-present day mini-flashbacks to provide important/background information, to present day, and the transition wasn't always smooth. In the beginning, it happened often enough that it contributed to the rough start.

Multiple POVs (between Jane and Reagan) wasn't actually a problem, until closer towards the end when chapters got shorter and keeping track of the switches was a bit more difficult.

About halfway through, I was absolutely over the name of Ever and all the other, unoriginal naming. I try not to be critical of authors, since I know how difficult writing can be, but it seemed like Haydu couldn't think of original names and settled on using regular words - like ever - and capitalizing them. Serious, AndNot?

Finally, the ending felt like a cop-out. Nothing ever felt truly resolved. I don't want to spoil it, though, so I'll just leave it that the ending was a mix of predictable - after the "significant reveal," which I totally guessed earlier on, btw - and disappointing.

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filliefanatic's review

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challenging dark slow-paced

3.0

not a lot.... happened? & when it did it was v e r y s l o w

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talkstofish's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Please review content warnings before deciding to go ahead with this book. I didn't get any from descriptions online, but luckily the audiobook had a warning at the beginning that allowed me to steel myself. The book is interesting from the perspective of shared trauma and recovery from traumatic events. The plot is largely based on character development surround these ideas. I think that the book's focus is on how people who are abused, those who are aware of the abuse, and those who are bystanders to the abuse deal with these events in a fantasy perspective, which was a take that I hadn't really seen before.

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caidyn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

When I first heard about this book, I wasn't sure what it would be like. But, I really enjoyed it! It's a deeply woven world with a lot going on in it. There are five princesses, all cursed with a Without spell that takes something away from them starting on their thirteenth birthday. For one, it's her ability to eat, another her memory, etc. And then there's the witch who cast the spell over them, one who has secrets and methods of her own. However, now it's time to break the spell. And, with that, secrets come out and truths are learned.

I felt that the ending was a bit heavy-handed, tbh. I liked the empowerment vibe that it had, but it was still very heavy-handed. Still, it was good. I did also enjoy the queer content included -- such as that Grace is into women and Alice is trans. I wish that there was more depth to it and we knew more because both were off-hand comments about their identity, like Grace falling for a woman and Alice not being forced to be a prince. The plot also moved at a quick clip, but it never felt rushed for me. Just that it was a quick story.

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aliteraryprincess's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

3.0

Many thanks to Simon Pulse and NetGalley for the ARC!

Ever Cursed is a young adult, feminist fairy tale that deals with some heavy subjects, most notably sexual assault and disordered eating. Corey Ann Haydu provides a content warning at the beginning, which immediately gave me a positive first impression of her and the book. As someone who is easily triggered by one of these, I appreciated it so much and I know a lot of other readers will too. Overall, Haydu handles the difficult topics very well. She does a particularly great job showing how people often turn a blind eye to sexual assault. A large portion of the plot is about bringing it to light and forcing the perpetrator to face consequences.

Haydu has created a truly fascinating and unique world. The naming of the countries and various places and events contributes to the fairy tale feel of the book. Countries are called Ever and AndNot, the witches live at the Home on the Hill, and the princesses are cursed with the Spell of Without. Some could find it jarring at first, but I found it quite charming. But the true star of Haydu’s world is the magic system. When witches cast a spell, a new skirt magically appears around their waist. The material of the skirt depends on the severity of the spell cast. A minor spell results in a lightweight material while a major one with dire consequences, such as the one Reagan places on the princesses, results in a heavy material like burlap. If a witch casts lots of heavy spells, she might find herself unable to move due to the weight of her skirts, which is what happens to Regan’s grandmother. It’s so different from anything I’ve seen before, and I loved it!

This is the closest I have ever come to seeing eating disorder representation in fantasy literature. Due to the Spell of Without, Princess Jane is unable to eat. Now, this is not actually an eating disorder since it is magically induced rather than a mental illness, but the harrowing physical and emotional consequences are mostly the same. I noticed that several of the princesses’ curses match up with some kind of disorder or mental illness, including depression, insomnia, and dementia. Sometimes it’s easy for issues like these to be romanticized in fiction, but Haydu avoids that; it is very clear throughout that these are serious and dangerous problems. In fact, she takes it a step further and critiques the romanticization of these disorders and illnesses that occurs especially when they appear in women.

My biggest problem with Ever Cursed is that the characters’ voices aren’t distinct enough. The first person narration switches between Jane and Reagan for each chapter. I found that their voices sound essentially the same and I frequently forgot whose point of view I was reading from. In general, all of the characters would have benefited from a little more development. It was difficult to connect with them or even care about them in some cases. Reagan in particular I really just disliked the whole time. I also found the ending rushed and anticlimactic. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure how or why some things happened at the end. While one major issue is resolved, there are a whole host of smaller problems that are glossed over and suddenly all better just because.

Overall this is a feminist fairy tale that takes on some difficult topics quite well. Despite it’s flaws, it’s definitely worth checking out.

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