A review by kayaj
A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber

 

After the finale* of the Caraval trilogy disappointed me, I had hesitantly high hopes for this final book in the Once Upon A Broken Heart series. The first two were full of magic and whimsy, tinged with darkness at the edges. A poisoned apple of a book series if you will. However, this one just lost a lot of the magic for me unfortunately.

*yes yes, i am well aware that the final book was named finale so it seems like i’m making a not-so-clever reference to it. and so what if i am? i never promised clever and original quips

We follow Evangeline, who has lost her memories after the ending of Ballad. She is married to Prince Apollo, who will stop at nothing to keep her safe from Jacks, whom she doesn’t even remember. She has it all: a prince, a castle, true(?) love. However, when she meets Jacks in the form of Archer, she slowly starts to realize that there’s something dreadfully wrong with her “happily ever after”. 
 

A Curse For True Love actually disappointed me more than I thought it did. To start, we get at least twice the amount of chapters from Apollo’s perspective as we do Jack’s. And that tragedy summarizes the crux of the problems with this book: Jacks is not present enough*. As a reader, I do not care about Apollo. His coolest attribute is that he shares the name of a Greek god. His chapters either hint towards some political maneuvering that is never fully fleshed out or some complex villain arc that is…guess what? Never fully realized! Ding ding ding!

*i know it sounds like i’m simping but guys, for once in my life i am OBJECTIVELY not. well…actually i am but come on, it’s jacks!

Not only are we stuck reading from a character who we don’t care about*, but Evangeline’s lack of memories is so frustrating to experience. The first half of this book is incredibly slow, and it kind of feels like nothing of consequence is happening. The only truly captivating parts are when the Valors appear and seem to be vaguely plotting something. Like I said, the politics and mind games never feel truly fleshed out so I couldn’t find it in myself to really care. I was more or less just waiting for Jacks the entire time.

*i just realized i owe the two apollo lovers that exist in the world an apology. i’m happy the two of you get to read about a character you adore.

“He would carry her through more than just freezing waters. He would pull her through fire if he had to, haul her from the clutches of war, from falling cities and breaking worlds . . .”

 

 

Jacks is not present enough in this book. The overwhelming chemistry of the first two books just…melts away. Evangeline and Jacks hardly encounter each other and when they do, it’s obviously complicated because of Evangeline’s amnesia*. This not only made the majority of the book a waiting game, but it cheapened the ending. I think it would be better to read all of the books back-to-back, so the banter, side glances, and chemistry carry you through this book.

*sorry for all these side tangents but have i ever stated how much i HATE amnesia as a plot device??? the only time it’s ever worked is for dory in finding nemo and even dory doesn’t get a full pass.

The issue with a fantasy romance series is that it often relies heavily on the romance being fleshed out. When that’s not working, the flaws in the fantastical elements really come to light. This book never felt like pure magic in its treatment of setting and characters, not the way the others did. However, I did really enjoy the last 100 pages. We finally got yearning! Love! High stakes! Twists and more twists! The last 100 pages of this book are what I wanted the entire 400 pages of this book to be.

I will add that I own the Owlcrate edition of this book, which means I got to read a very interesting bonus epilogue. There are some characters that I would like to read more about for sure. I think that if Stephanie Garber does end up writing those stories, I can see why this book feels the way it does because it truly feels like a prequel for another series and not the finale to Evangeline and Jack’s.

So that’s it! Overall, I am heartbroken. I still enjoyed the writing, and the characters, not to mention that the first two books definitely softened me for this one. It’s just a shame that this did not feel like a consequential finale for the most part.