A review by ladyfives
Ever Cursed by Corey Ann Haydu

4.0

Usually a carved bird is sitting and still, but this one was in flight. It was beautiful and simple and somehow exactly what I needed. A reminder that we are moving even when we feel trapped.

What a dreamy, tough little book. The Damsel comp is completely fair - the same lofty fairy tale tone and logic, with claws concealed underneath. And also a constant murmur of, "Men suck, men suck, men suck..."

(Which I'm a bit...tired of. But it is what it is.) What really won me over was how it felt like a peek behind the curtain at fairy tales - now we know how a witch feels when she enacts revenge on a royal family by punishing the princess. And now we know how bad being punished can feel. Their curses were unique and in the spare moments that it characterized them I was all over it - Alice who can't sleep and Grace who can't remember especially. I just wish it spent some time with the girls with subtler curses who could really twist the knife but never got the chance - Eden who can't hope and Nora who can't even love her family.

The tone and beauty and the neat premise really enchanted me though my wish for it to have done more - and it surprised me more than once with the turns it took (ie. the Recover These Objects to Break the Curse quest seems super simple but it doesn't end up showing up the way I thought). Still lovely and absolutely tailor-made for people like me who wanted that same tone that Damsel had and is so rare to find again.