Book Review :: A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber

A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber
ISBN: 1529399300
Series: Once Upon a Broken Heart #3
Also in this series: Once Upon A Broken Heart, The Ballad of Never After
Published by Hodder & Stoughton
on 24 October 2023
Genres: Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 401
Goodreads

Two villains, one girl, and a deadly battle for happily ever after.

Evangeline Fox ventured to the Magnificent North in search of her happy ending, and it seems as if she has it. She’s married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle. But Evangeline has no idea of the devastating price she’s paid for this fairytale. She doesn’t know what she has lost, and her husband is determined to make sure she never finds out . . . but first he must kill Jacks, the Prince of Hearts.

Blood will be shed, hearts will be stolen, and true love will be put to the test in A Curse for True Love, the breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Once Upon A Broken Heart trilogy.

Last updated on 22 January 2025

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What is A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber about?

A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber continues the story of Evangeline Fox in the Magnificent North, but after the events of the previous book, The Ballard of Never After, life is a bit different even if Evangeline doesn’t really know it.

Evangeline originally travelled to the Magnificent North in book one, Once Upon a Broken Heart, chasing her dream of a fairytale ending, and it appears she’s finally found it. She’s wed to a charming prince and lives in a pretty castle straight out of a fairytale.

“Once upon a time, a girl who believed in fairytales stole the heart of a prince who had sworn to never love.”

But beneath this picture-perfect life lies a dark truth: Evangeline is unaware of the cost she’s paid for her happily ever after.

Oblivious to what she’s lost, Evangeline remains in the dark—exactly how her husband intends to keep it. Yet his plans won’t be complete without one final thing: getting rid of Jacks, the Prince of Hearts.

My Thoughts on A Curse for True Love

I always forget how stunningly beautiful Stephanie Garber’s books are until I pick up another one. It was a big gap between reading The Ballad of Never After and this, the third and final in this Once Upon a Broken Heart series, so when I pick up A Curse for True Love, I had to go back and re-read the last chapter of book two.

And oof that one ends on a cliffhanger for sure!

As you can see by my 5-star rating of this one, I loved it. I’ve said it before in my previous reviews of these books that the world that Garber has created in these magical stories is so stunning and I both want to live in the book and also don’t want to live in the book.

“I’d rather go up in flames with him than watch while he burns.”

The plot is a little slow in the beginning as Evangeline is trying to piece things together, but it does pick and then clips along at an outrageous pace and I think I ended up reading this in just a few sittings. The characters that we’ve known and loved from the past two books are still brilliant, and those that we hate we end up hating even more (I’m looking at you Apollo).

We also got Jacks’ perspective for the first time which was a long time coming and well worth the wait. I was waiting, however, for more of his perspective, but I’ll take what I can get.

“I am a monster, but whether you remember it or not, I’m your monster, Evangeline.”

There are a lot of squee moments, and a lot of argh moments, and a lot of what-the-heck moments, too. And that’s what makes a good book great.

I had such a fun time with this entire series, and I’m very sad that it’s over. This is definitely one that I would go back and re-read.

Also, at the end, one of the lines is “Other stories were brewing in the Magnificent North…” Hi, Stephanie? Yeah, me here. I’d like to know what other stories please and thank you and sign me the flip up.

Have you read A Curse for True Love? What did you think?

What did you think (without spoilers!) of the whole series?