I believe it with all my heart and soul. And there has to be some sort of magic in that (Garber 283)
We return for the finale of the tale of Evangeline and Jacks in A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber. After opening the arch, the Valor family has now been unleashed back into the Magnificent North. Jacks has used the stones to turn back time and bring Evangeline back from the dead. But with her memory stolen by Apollo, Evangeline struggles to figure out her place both within Wolf Hall and beyond. While Jacks masquerades to keep Evangeline close, Apollo launches a search to hunt him down. Throughout all this we dive even deeper into the spectacular world spun by Stephanie Garber.
This was absolutely my favorite installment of the trilogy. The first two were great but to me it all came together in this one. The characters are well-developed and exciting, the details just as enchanting as they always are, and the pacing for the majority of the book was spot on.
The one place I felt the pacing was a bit odd was the ending just before the epilogue. It all seemed to happen very quickly. The content of what happened was very well done and satisfying but I just wanted it to be slowed down just a bit.
An exciting aspect of the book was that in addition to the epilogue, there were three different alternative endings. One in the Barnes and Noble edition, which is the one I purchased. Another is in the OwlCrate special edition, and the final in the Waterstones edition. I have been preordering the Barnes and Noble editions for this series, and my sister the OwlCrate ones. When she heard about the multiple endings she also ordered the Waterstones so that between the two of us we could read all three. Without giving away the content, my thoughts were that 1) whether Stephanie Garber intended it to be this way or not, all three exist together in my mind, just showing different snapshots after Curse ends, and 2) My ranking starting with my most favorite is Barnes and Noble, OwlCrate (though this was the most exciting), and then Waterstones.
The details Stephanie Garber includes in her stories are absolutely breathtaking. I adore the attention she takes to describe the dresses, the smells, and the little quirks and nooks of her worlds. That being said, two things stand out that I didn't like. The first was the inclusion of vampires in Once Upon a Broken Heart. I'm a little more neutral to it now since it has been integrated deeper into the story, especially through Chaos and Luc. And the second was Apollo's tattoo. I hope it was just because he was a villain and was meant to be a little ridiculous. But I think I legitimately rolled my eyes at "Apollo's chest was flawless, smooth and carved in muscles, and over his heart with a name in the center: Evangeline" (Garber 10). Additionally, page 223 had some lovely snippets showcasing just how shallow he is. Apollo laughing at Evangeline wanting to help build (Garber 261) was an immediate, giant red flag. I am so glad that she saw it. I think Apollo's name will now come to mind when the topic of "villains you love to hate" comes up.
I am a bit biased because I love reading multiple perspectives. But what a perfect story to integrate it into the series, with the cliffhanger The Ballad of Never After ended on. Getting glimpses into Jacks' mind is always intriguing and as much as I despise Apollo, hearing his perspective was enthralling and added spectacular suspense. It was a great move for the story to keep up excitement and intrigue.
To set this story apart from other amnesia plotlines, I really enjoyed the details that made Evangeline question whether she is meant to be drawn to Apollo or Jacks. Namely how the book from Madame Voss changes its title, how "prince swore never to love" fits both of them, and of course the Archer.
A Curse for True Love had a delightful array of supporting characters. I thought it was so funnily ironic that the scandal sheet writer might have been the only one who would provide Evangeline with the truth, and am a little sad she never got to catch up with Kristof Knightlinger. I also cheered when Havelock made his entrance. Luc's inclusion, in spite of their tumultuous past and relationship, I also appreciated. Their arc of how Evangeline comes back around to caring for him is very sweet. This trilogy really is one story split into three physical installments. I am constantly wary of authors that have great ideas for a first book and then the rest of the series doesn't quite meet the same level of magic. But this series gave me possibly unfortunate optimism for how well it can actually go.
Evangeline is a very refreshing protagonist in a sea of female leads that can try just a bit too hard to subvert the damsel in distress. Evangeline finds this beautiful balance between the two. She can be that damsel and just want pretty things and to be taken care of. But then someone tells her something she doesn’t agree with, or tries to stifle her curiosity, or shows unkindness and she absolutely comes alive. She is perfectly self-aware in this section, "Now Evangeline had never thought of herself as a reckless person. Others might argue with this. But Evangeline would say to them that she was merely hopeful of what could be, whereas others were fearful as to what could go wrong," (Garber 137).
There are funny moments in Stephanie Garber's books, though I would not necessarily categorize them under humor. But setting up this lovely description of how and why the Cursed Forest is cursed and then “Evangeline was unaware of this history”... that got me. And then the line, "She considered setting the tent on fire and then escaping in the melee," (Garber 276) is delightfully mischievous. The banter with Lala-who I legitimately really enjoyed the role of in this book-was also well done and very entertaining. I felt like I had missed something when Lala and Evangeline became friends in Once Upon a Broken Heart so maybe it was just that now they had enough time together for me to appreciate their friendship. But if no other part, Lala redeemed herself in my eyes just for the scene in the tent.
What can I say? Revenge makes me hopeful (Garber 315)
Evangeline's dreams of fairytale romance make reading this series whimsical and dreamy. Jacks saying "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," (Garber 212) was possibly the most romantic part of the entire series to me. How deeply and sincerely he saw her, both acknowledging the best in her and pushing her to continue that best. Finally hearing Jacks be upfront about how he feels makes it even more momentous. The only section to compete with it for me would be Evangeline's declaration (Garber 284) which I started to copy down lines that I liked before realizing it would just be the entire thing.
This book is a love letter for Stephanie Garber's devotion to storytelling. Through Evangeline's aspirations of a fairytale life with a beautiful happily ever after, she allows readers the daydreams to imagine getting to live one of those tales themselves. Evangeline herself says "Where I’m from, books just sit quietly on shelves… I find this delightful," (Garber 57). And it all goes back to the story of Evangeline and Jacks; "But Evangeline wanted more pages," (Garber 232). These two characters could be placed into any setting and they would still write an epic ballad in their own style.
Obviously, as the third and final book in a trilogy reading the first two are needed to even get to this book. But the story just keeps getting better with each book so it is well worth it (not to say the first two are not amazing on their own, I just liked this one the best of all!). It includes slow burn (the ultimate slow burn for me) romance and Chosen One trope. If you appreciate flowery descriptions and detailed fantasy worlds, you will find it exceedingly easy to fall into any of Stephanie Garber's books. Absolutely one of my favorite reads of the year, and I cannot wait for her new book planned to be released next year.
Everyone has two hearts… there is the heart that beats and keeps you alive. Then there is the other heart, the second heart, the one that breaks instead of beats, the one that loves so that there is a point to all this living (Garber 306)
Comments