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A review by litwithlauren
Ever Cursed by Corey Ann Haydu
2.0
I wanted to love this book so much but I simply couldn't.
While I understand and admire what Corey Ann Haydu was trying to achieve in Ever Cursed, the book itself simply didn't deliver. At the heart of the story, there is a condemnation of the patriarchy and a message about the power women hold, together and apart, but the way the message is written was, to put it bluntly, not great. The pacing never felt right, some characters simply seemed unnecessary, and the compelling side characters weren't given enough screen time. More than anything, though, I think this book is marketed incorrectly - while the world building takes inspiration from fairy tales and tries to subvert them, this is a story about abuse and healing, which creates different expectations going in.
cw: sexual assault, eating disorder
While I understand and admire what Corey Ann Haydu was trying to achieve in Ever Cursed, the book itself simply didn't deliver. At the heart of the story, there is a condemnation of the patriarchy and a message about the power women hold, together and apart, but the way the message is written was, to put it bluntly, not great. The pacing never felt right, some characters simply seemed unnecessary, and the compelling side characters weren't given enough screen time. More than anything, though, I think this book is marketed incorrectly - while the world building takes inspiration from fairy tales and tries to subvert them, this is a story about abuse and healing, which creates different expectations going in.
cw: sexual assault, eating disorder