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A review by elaichipod
A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I started this series about two weeks ago and I'm sad to see it come to an end. Evangeline and Jacks deserved the most beautiful love story, and ultimately, I am happy that they got it, but the way it all came together in this last book was not as satisfying as I expected it to be. The Ballad of Never After was enchanting and magical, quite literally, and every moment Evangeline and Jacks spent together was cherishable. Even when Jacks was being incredibly closed-hearted, I loved his interactions with Evangeline. This book did have it cute moments, but I could probably count on my hands how many times Evangeline and Jacks interacted in this book, which was the most disappointing aspect of the book. Not to mention, Jacks' POVs only accounted for five of the 49 chapters. I also had such a hard time getting through the first 100 pages, they were kind of dull.
I heard about the the plethora of Apollo scenes in this book before I read about them, and at first I was okay with it. The Ballad of Never After ended with Apollo being responsible for Evangeline's amnesia, but I was really curious to understand why he is the way that he is. It's been a rather consistent theme in this series in which a majority of the characters' decisions are in search, protection, or sustenance of romantic and familial love. From Marisol, Chaos, Lala, Jacks, Aurora, and of course, Evangeline, almost every single character is actively pursuing some type of love in their lives. The pursuance of love in one's lives is an admirable goal. This is also why I cannot dislike any one character, even Marisol. When we figure out that Apollo is also in pursuit of Evangeline's love, albeit in a very obsessive way. I couldn't really explain why Apollo was so infatuated with Evangeline, but I felt like his affections had at least some authenticity to them. There is also the case that Apollo thinks that he has to kill Jacks in order to make Evangeline his. But in The Curse for True Love, I didn't care to know why Apollo was being so controlling and unlikeable, I wanted to see Evangeline overcome her memory loss and confess her feelings to Jacks.
I did like that Evangeline was suspicious of Apollo almost from the very beginning. Her gut and heart are clearly pointing towards something being incredibly wrong, and since Evangeline is a person who is very in touch with her emotions, she caught on quite fast. I thought it was interesting when Evangeline's tutor brought out a book that was titled 'The Greatest Love Story Ever Told: The True and Unabridged History of Evangeline Fox and the Prince of Hearts,' but then it quickly switched to Apollo's name, especially when you remember that every time the words in a book change, they become less true. Apollo became 90% irredeemable to me when he killed the boy who survived the Fortuna massacre. I did think it was a bit lazy that Evangeline simply remembered everything after she read her letter to herself.
Moving on to happier things, Jacks said Evangeline's name 5 times in this book! He called her my love once after he had given up his second heart and was poised to kill Evangeline. I loved that despite Jacks not having his heart, it was so obvious that he still loved Evangeline. The lack of having a heart or being cursed couldn't change the fact that Evangeline is always be his one true love. Also, I thought it was funny when Aurora joked with Evangeline and asked her if she was going to meet her secret lover, and of course Evangeline had no idea what she was talking about, but then soon after Jacks comes into her room to kill the assassin. The tension between Jacks and Evangeline when Jacks would lightly touch her hair or face was almost healing after all that Apollo screen time. The anger that Jacks had expressed since Evangeline couldn't remember him was so lovely. I love the pain, the anguish, and the slow burn. After pushing her away so many times, all he wants is her love and attention back on him. He is so desperate for her, and I live for it. Not to mention the fact that the Cursed Forest revealed that the time he spent at the Hollow with Evangeline was his best day.
I heard about the the plethora of Apollo scenes in this book before I read about them, and at first I was okay with it. The Ballad of Never After ended with Apollo being responsible for Evangeline's amnesia, but I was really curious to understand why he is the way that he is. It's been a rather consistent theme in this series in which a majority of the characters' decisions are in search, protection, or sustenance of romantic and familial love. From Marisol, Chaos, Lala, Jacks, Aurora, and of course, Evangeline, almost every single character is actively pursuing some type of love in their lives. The pursuance of love in one's lives is an admirable goal. This is also why I cannot dislike any one character, even Marisol. When we figure out that Apollo is also in pursuit of Evangeline's love, albeit in a very obsessive way. I couldn't really explain why Apollo was so infatuated with Evangeline, but I felt like his affections had at least some authenticity to them. There is also the case that Apollo thinks that he has to kill Jacks in order to make Evangeline his. But in The Curse for True Love, I didn't care to know why Apollo was being so controlling and unlikeable, I wanted to see Evangeline overcome her memory loss and confess her feelings to Jacks.
I did like that Evangeline was suspicious of Apollo almost from the very beginning. Her gut and heart are clearly pointing towards something being incredibly wrong, and since Evangeline is a person who is very in touch with her emotions, she caught on quite fast. I thought it was interesting when Evangeline's tutor brought out a book that was titled 'The Greatest Love Story Ever Told: The True and Unabridged History of Evangeline Fox and the Prince of Hearts,' but then it quickly switched to Apollo's name, especially when you remember that every time the words in a book change, they become less true. Apollo became 90% irredeemable to me when he killed the boy who survived the Fortuna massacre. I did think it was a bit lazy that Evangeline simply remembered everything after she read her letter to herself.
Moving on to happier things, Jacks said Evangeline's name 5 times in this book! He called her my love once after he had given up his second heart and was poised to kill Evangeline. I loved that despite Jacks not having his heart, it was so obvious that he still loved Evangeline. The lack of having a heart or being cursed couldn't change the fact that Evangeline is always be his one true love. Also, I thought it was funny when Aurora joked with Evangeline and asked her if she was going to meet her secret lover, and of course Evangeline had no idea what she was talking about, but then soon after Jacks comes into her room to kill the assassin. The tension between Jacks and Evangeline when Jacks would lightly touch her hair or face was almost healing after all that Apollo screen time. The anger that Jacks had expressed since Evangeline couldn't remember him was so lovely. I love the pain, the anguish, and the slow burn. After pushing her away so many times, all he wants is her love and attention back on him. He is so desperate for her, and I live for it. Not to mention the fact that the Cursed Forest revealed that the time he spent at the Hollow with Evangeline was his best day.
His eyes burned as they met hers; it was a fire like anger. But she could see hurt as well. It came in threads of silver that moved through the blue of his eyes like cracks. “I’ve seen you try before. I’ve seen you want something more than anything else in the entire world. I’ve seen what you’re willing to do. How far you were willing to go. You haven’t even come close to that now.”
She tried to pull away, but Jacks held tight, knotting her hair in his fist and keeping his forehead pressed to hers. “Please, Little Fox, remember.”
The part where Evangeline loses her breath when they kiss for the first time was hoenstly quite stressful. I knew she wasn't going to die - this series isn't a tragedy - but Jacks panic was so real. I also, loved that part. I read it a couple times before I moved on.
He looked angelic and anguished. His beautiful face was drained of color. Tracks of blood fell from his eyes down his pale cheeks.
“Don’t cry, my love.” She carefully wiped his tears with her fingers. “I’m all right.” She gave him a wobbly smile.
His eyes went wide and as blue as a clear sky after a storm.
“How is this…” he trailed off.
It was a little endearing to watch. His sulky mouth gently parted as he seemed to forget how to speak.
“I already told you. You are the love of my life. You are mine, Jacks of the Hollow. And you’re not going to be the end of me.”
My all-time favorite version of Jacks is shy and nervous Jacks.
"You could never look awful," he said faintly.
She looked up again. For a second, he looked almost shy and incredibly young, barely older than her. Blond locks of hair fell over his eyes as he slowly leaned in closer.
Aurora being one the antagonists in this book felt incredibly predictable the second she was introduced, especially after seeing the Aurora + Jacks in the Hollow. I didn't expect her to have a much larger role in the Archer's curse and Jacks's Fate curse, so that reveal was definitely shocking. I didn't think she would give up so fast, but even she doesn't want Jacks to go through with his plans. I wonder if she'll be the protagonist of the next series, or if it'll be Lala.
It’s not Jacks’s true love who will be immune to his kiss and make his heart beat again. Only a girl who will never love Jacks can survive the kiss. Maybe your love can save his heart, but if you decide to kiss him, you’ll just be one more fox that Jacks has murdered.
I'm not going to lie, I was a bit annoyed when they didn't get their happily ever after right after they kissed, but there would have been a major plot hole if Apollo and his Tree of Souls plan was just dropped. After I saw that there were a few chapters left, I was really excited because that meant a couple more pages of EvaJacks, but alas, it did not pan out that way. Apollo damning himself to the Tree of Souls was something I was not expecting at all. It does make sense that he loves himself more than anyone since in the very first scene when he was introduced, he was seen getting his portrait done. Plus, Apollo mentions that he would have wanted to get his portrait done with the Tree of Souls in the background. I thought that was an odd thing to think.
There were definitely a lot of unanswered questions and plot devices left incomplete.
- Who was trying to kill Evangeline? Was it Belleflower each time?
- Why does Evangeline have powers? Why is she the key?
- Who decimated the Fortuna family? It was obviously a vampire but I don't think it was Chaos.
- How old is Jacks? lol
- It is confirmed that he's human now? I am assuming the Fate characteristics from Caraval have not changed.
- Who is the man in the Owlcrate bonus? It's clearly an in for Aurora's story.
- What is the deal with Evangeline's mom? She was mentioned way too frequently for her to just be a passing thought.
- Does the fact that Evangeline's last name is Fox have an actual deeper meaning on the whole Archer story, or is it just a twisted coincidence?
- Why did Marisol and Luc just disappear off of the face of the planet? This seems more like poor writing than an issue with the plot, however. I missed Luc's doglike behavior.
- What did Jacks write on the Tree of Souls in one of the bonuses?
- What will happen to Evangeline's last heart tattoo? My only justification for it is that Jacks wants her to hold onto it so that he can track her. He does say that he never wants to take his eyes off of her after he confesses.
- What was the point in mentioning the one bed situation without actually following through? This felt like lazy writing.
The key point of this whole series is that Jacks indubitably loves Evangeline. A lot of mysteries were not wrapped up with a pretty, pink bow in this finale, but it was largely enough for me. I don't need everything spelled out in large block letters to read between the lines. The apples are probably one of the most infamous mysteries, but I thought it was pretty obvious that they help Jacks not kiss people. I noticed he didn't eat them that often in this book, but I think it may be because he was too busy saving Evangeline's life every other chapter to think about kissing her. Also, I think the loose ends could have been tied with a 100 more pages, especially since the resolution was too easy. Apollo's fate was too easy after having to read so much of him. One aspect of this entire series that is really funny to me is the fact that the overall theme essentially is love overcomes all, which is very Disney. Of course, that's not a bad message at all, but I thought it was commendable that Stephanie Garber was able to weave that into Evangeline's entire being without it coming off as corny. In fact, I genuinely admired Evangeline for being so courageous and direct in her pursuance of love despite all the anguish and betrayal she's faced. This review was way longer than I intended it to be.
Jacks had so badly wanted to tell her that he couldn’t even remember what Donatella looked like, that Evangeline’s face was the only one he saw whenever he closed his eyes, that he would go with her anywhere … if he could.
But he couldn’t see her die again... Her hope might have been powerful, but it wasn’t magic. It wasn’t enough.
It didn’t matter that moments ago, he’d told her he enjoyed blood and hurt and pain. Those things were on the bottom of the deck. And she didn’t want to reshuffle.
Jacks idly stroked her jaw with his fingers. “I love you,” he said simply. Then his face went abruptly serious. “I’m never going to let you out of my sight.”
“You say that as if it should be a threat.”
He continued to look at her solemnly. “This isn’t just for now, it’s for always, Little Fox.”