A Curse for True Love

Absolutely amazing. Great book.

I am in love with this series so much this book was so good! 🫶 But for the price I paid I was disappointed with how it was shipped the book came with marks and dents and it was dirty……

This story made me happy, I always liked Jacks even in Caraval! This story had a lot going on. It was written beautifully. I loved that it was written in multiple points of view. There was action, love, and betrayal. My only wish is that the book was a little longer. Other than that it was the perfect conclusion to a wonderful story!

While this had a happy ever after ending, it was not accomplished how I originally thought. Jacks is my favorite MMC out of this and the caraval series.

What an enjoyable read, finished this in one day, felt all the emotions. Just wonderful storytelling and so romantic. What a beautiful ride.

Wow. Just wow. Went from hating jacks to loving him way too hard. His character development is insane and so beautiful to read. I might think about him daily from now on.

I haven't read much of the fairytale genre since I was a kid but this one was amazing! It definitely opened me up to more books like this one. It was so well written I had to buy the next two books!

Loved it!! Had a rollercoaster of emotions towards Jacks since Caraval 😆 but definitely love how it wrapped up for him.

Loved this one!! So good!! Such a great end. Everything Evangeline went through to find her way back to Jacks. Jacks trying to protected her by sacrificing himself!! Ugh loved loved loved!! This final book made the series worth it. I understand now the need for some much story building in book one.

Ugh! But the apples though!Anyway, well done. Splendid story. This 3rd book was pretty intense. Lots going on and many moving parts. But so well told. And of course there were twists and turns that I didn’t see coming! That’s not easy to do, at least not that I’ve found. So I’m blown away. This story is so poetic and beautiful. It’s modeled so similarly to once upon a time tales, told so colorfully and whimsically and just artfully done. I’ve never read anything like this, how it borrows on tales and lore in a way, yet has its very own telling and very own lore. My favorite part is that it leads you to worry that like tales of old, whether there aren’t such things as happily ever afters. But then again, love is the common theme through all of it, and it makes you look at love in a way that makes you wonder, what is true love? And can love conquer all?You have to wonder as this seems to crop up again and again.I found no mistakes, which that’s a first. The editing on this was well done. Very well done.The characters were so alive and the story rich. Nowhere did it get slow or boring. Nowhere was there too many details or too much dialogue. The descriptions were poetic and the world building was phenomenal for a 3 book series without feeling like too much or too little. It wasn’t rushed, yet it successfully tied most all the threads. Except for the damn apples! I have a theory about them but it was never proven right or wrong.Fun trick, Stephanie Garber. lol.Well done all in all, well done. I don’t dole out five stars often but this was five stars start to finish. Beautiful job. The writing was simply exquisite.

Oh my heart. After the cliffhanger ending of The Ballad of Never After I jumped into A Curse for True Love immediately. Like, I finished and almost simply flipped the next page found book 3 on my Kindle, and just kept reading. I highly recommend having A Curse for True Love to read lined up if you plan to read The Ballad of Never After.So we start with Evangeline having just lost her memory of the last year. She doesn't remember anyone she's met in the Magnificent North. She wakes up to Apollo telling her that he's her husband (true), and then he proceeds to fill in minimal gaps with a few historical rewrites. Evangeline doesn't know the difference. She does have some instinctual, residual feelings. I think this is actually a scientifically proven thing in some ways. Our brains can remember when we've left a task incomplete even if we can't always remember what that task was., Evangeline feels an urgent sense that she needed to tell someone something very important. But she can't remember who and she can't remember what. She has some instinctual feelings about Apollo. She has some instinctual feelings about other characters as well--some she's met before and some she hasn't. I was annoyed that she didn't trust her instincts as much as I wanted her to, yet I could see why she wouldn't.Jacks is heartbroken. He knew Time would take something from him, but he didn't think that something would be taken from Evangeline instead. He blames himself. Yet he's just so relieved that she's still alive--considering he witnessed Chaos murder her out of bloodthirst. He wants so badly for her to remember him and her feelings for him. Yet he also knows that her forgetting is actually less painful for her. But not less painful for him. At the same time, he can't have gone through all of that just for someone else to kill her. And yet it seems she's still being sought after by multiple people trying to harm her. Jacks has a fulltime job trying to keep her alive. And thus they keep getting thrown together.Evangeline has the smallest sparks of remembering when she's near Jacks, and that makes her want to be near him more. I wondered how long the memory loss would drag on. And thankfully, they all came back in one whoosh eventually rather than trickling out over the course of the entire book. But that's all I'll say about that before we spoil too much.Favorite quotes:-Her heart still hurt, as if it had been broken and only jagged bits remained. She put a hand on it, as if to keep more pieces from breaking off. And once again, she was struck with the inescapable feeling that among everything she'd forgotten was one thing more important than all the rest, more important than anything.-...but some things were worth hurting for...-"I do understand, and I hope you understand that as long as you treat me like an untrustworthy captive, I will act like one instead of like your wife."-Instead she was exhilarated. It felt as if she'd found a bit of her old self. And it was one of her favorite pieces. It was the part of herself that loved to hope.-But she wasn't supposed to want to kiss him. It wasn't fair of [...] to hate her a little for it. But feeling hateful was the only thing that made it possible for him to leave. And he really needed to leave.-...the curse had been cast out of terror, and curses that come from a place of fear always turn out a little twisted or become far more terrible than intended.-"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."-"There is never necessary evil, just poor choices, and I fear you're about to make one, boy."-"Being yours does not make you mine."-"I don't believe you, [...]. I might not remember everything about you. But I know you. I know that I know you, and I don't believe there is anything you can't do."-"I know I seem naive," Evangeline pressed on. "I know my faith in love might appear foolish. I also know it might not be enough. But I'm not doing this because I believe I'll win. I'm actually a little afraid I'm going to lose. I no longer think love is a guarantee of victory or of happily ever after. But I think it's a reason to fight for those things. I know my attempt to save [...] could end in a firey explosion, but I'd rather go up in flames with him than watch while he burns."-"I'm not going to hurt you." "I feel as if that's what people always say just before they hurt you."The rest of my favorite quotes spoil too much so I won't include them.A Curse for True Love is a good ending to a fun trilogy. I enjoyed all of the fairytale vibes. I liked the story curse, which was still present and working through this story. I loved Evangeline and Jacks and Lala. And I was happy with how everything ended. My only wish is that we had a little more time where the characters were happy together before it was over. Of course, the ending was ...

This series was whimsical and exciting! The first half of this book was mediocre. It picked back up once Jacks came back in the picture. The happy ending was unsatisfying and lacking. I expected more with Jacks and Evangeline together considering the build up.

The ending is bittersweet - the reader loves it, it is a concrete ending and yet they are sad to see it end!! I loved the character's, the plot and the overall vibe of the story! I can't wait to see what this author does next! I am in the midst of a book hangover and don't know what to read next, what author to read next, what book to move to the top of my list...You need to read the previous books in the series to fully understand what is happening in this one, but you won't be sad that you read the others, as they are amazing and well worth the read! Don't hesitate to add this series to your TBT list and move it to the top!

A Curse for True Love was such a fun and enchanting conclusion to the series. I really enjoyed the journey—there were so many twists, magical moments, and, of course, the incredible dynamic between Evangeline and Jacks. Their relationship was easily my favorite part of the book, and I loved seeing how everything unfolded for them. The ending itself was really satisfying, but I do wish the three epilogues from the exclusive editions had been included in all versions. It feels like they could have added even more depth to the conclusion.That said, I still have a few lingering questions, especially about the Valors—I would love to know more about them, and I’m really hoping Stephanie Garber gives us more books set in this world. Even with those unanswered questions, the story wrapped up beautifully, and the series as a whole was such a great ride. The mix of magic, romance, and adventure made it impossible to put down. Overall, I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves a whimsical, fairytale-like fantasy with a swoon-worthy romance.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75Can I read out of order? You really shouldn't. Read in order.My Overall Thoughts/Impressions: This whole series has had the same frustration for me. After every book, I've thought "This book has so much potential, but while it's good, it's missing something." I've thought that with all three books. So so close to greatness, but just not there. That then makes these hard to rate because there are definite high points and definite low points.Garber has a very whimsical writing style very evocative of the fairy-tale story she's writing. I love a lot about the backdrop and the world, and Evangeline has definitely grown on me as a character. I've always liked Jacks. However, this book didn't have enough Jacks in it for my liking. I still have so many questions about him.I don't mind an open ending, but I do wish things had been a bit more wrapped up here. I also felt some things that happened were convenient. I think she plans to keep going with different characters maybe, so maybe we'll get more answers in other books.Not quite a hit for me, but not a miss either. Just didn't quite meet its potential.Content warnings: This one is solidly back in the YA range. Upper YA.

5 ♾ INFINITY Captivating Stars!OH. MY. GOD. - MY HEART!This was my most anticipated book of the year, and Stephanie Garber did not disappoint!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 had been the moon and she'd been the tide, controlled by his impossible force.What a glorious ride that was. I am so in love with this series and all of the characters! This is the type of story telling I love! The reason I love reading! I laughed, cried, chewed off some finger nails (I'm not even an actual nail biter) , got so angry, and was on the edge of my seat to see how this epic tale was going to come to a close.Let me just get out of the way how well Garber wrote these characters, and I want to touch on ApolloI really can't remember the last time I despised a character so much, I mean EVERYTHING this guy did had me ready to jump into my kindle and just take off his head myself.Bastard. Murderer. Monster.He gives major Tamlin Tampon vibes through the entirety of this book and it gets to be enraging - or well maybe that's just me, but when you read it .. lmk. 😉But let me just gush a little bit about our main man and our main girl here for a min...So, I have seen many people post about Evangeline and how she is so stupid or whatever, but she isn't supposed to be a feisty/stabby character.This is a fairytale setting and she is a character who believes in hope and happily ever after and of true love. I only bring this up now and not in any of my previous reviews because it felt more prominent in this book, her naivety. I do think that for me personally it's because of her lost memory. But all the same I love her and all of her hope. And her growth is amazing."I know I seem naive," Evangeline pressed on."I know my faith in love might appear foolish.I also know it might not be enough. But I'm not doing this because I believe I'll win. I'm actually a little afraid I'm going to lose.I no longer think love is a guarantee of victory or of happily ever after. But I think it's a reason to fight for those things.I know my attempt to save Jacks could end in a fiery explosion, but I'd rather go up in flames with him than watch while he burns"Jacks wasn't safe. He came with no promises of a happily ever after. If anything, he guaranteed the opposite. He didn't believe that heroes got happy endings. Loving Jacks felt doomed from the start.But Evangeline had learned that love was more than a feeling. And it didn't have to be the safe choice, because love was also more powerful than fear.It was the ultimate form of hope. It was stronger than curses.Of course, saving the best for last... Jacks *SWOOOOOOON*" Yes, I am a murderer. I enjoy hurting people. I like blood. I like pain. I am a monster, but whether you remember it or not, I'm your monster, Evangeline."He'd been brokenhearted. Not in the same sense that most people thought of, as if one person had broken his heart. Jacks's heart had been broken over and over again until it was no longer capable of hope and care and love.This story was so wonderful from the first page until the last, not just this book ... but the entire trilogy. The world building was astounding, the writing spectacular, magical, dreamlike and a total page turner.I can without a doubt say that I will read ANYTHING that Stephanie Garber writes. This review is a whole hot mess , considering I'm trying to convey all of my emotions after just finishing the book lol I'll have to come back at a later time to edit.HEAVY SPOILERS BELOW, DON'T READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK!⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ⊹ ۪ ﾟ｡⋆☾ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ｡⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐖⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ⊹ ۪ ﾟ｡⋆☾ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ｡⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ━☆・*。　　・゜　 °。+ * 。　　　　　.・゜　　　　　゜｡ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ。　　　　　　ﾟ。　 　｡ﾟ　　　　　　　ﾟ･｡･ﾟ"I used to wonder if fate was real," she said gently "I used to fear it meant that I had no real choices. Then I secretly hoped fate was real and that you and I were fated, that by some miraculous chance I was your true love. But now I don't care i fate is real-because I don't need it to decide for me. I don't need it to make this choice. I've made my decision, Jacks. It's you. It will always be you, until the end of time. And I'll fight fate or anyone else who tries to tear us apart-including you. You are my choice. You are my love. You are mine. And you are not going to be the end of me, Jacks."His eyes bled more tears, but his hand held tight to the jar. "I'm broken. I like to break things, Sometimes I want to break you.""𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒎𝒆, 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔.""So you'd rather live without me?""I'd rather you live.""I am living, Jacks, and I am not going to die anytime soon."Evangeline closed her eyes and then she kissed him."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.""But you were dying""No," she said, a little embarrassed. "I just forgot to breathe."And ...

THIS REVIEW HAS SPOLIERS FOR ACFTL!!!!The Once Upon a Broken Heart Trilogy is a favorite book series of mine. But I have some disappointments with A Curse For True Love. It left many unanswered questions, loose ends, and some confusion about how things happened the way that they did. The first two books of the series do an excellent job building to the climax and keeping you on your toes. You just have to continue reading to figure out what happens next. In ACFTL, it felt different from the authors books in the past. It didn’t seem to embody any of the excitement from learning the truth like in the first two books. Even the characters didn’t feel truly like themselves. We also had characters who played major roles in the past completely disappear from this book such as Luc, Marisol, and Tiberius. What happened to the librarian that looked as young and old as time then disappeared in a puff of smoke? LaLa and Castor/Chaos didn’t have as much page time as before and neither did Jacks but I have to say, I absolutely adored the romantic tension between LaLa and Chaos. Also the explanation that Chaos isn’t truly a fate made that scene so much better. Continuing on, some of the things mentioned in the previous books seemed like it was going to build up to an exciting moment but was never addressed. How did Evangeline’s parents know so much? It’s inferred that her Dad knew he was going to pass so he rushed a marriage and then died? Why? Who was Jacks first fox? It seemed that it was going to build up to Evangeline being that fox but she’s not? Why does she hear the ticking of time when there’s no clocks around? What happened with LaLa and Dane? If Auroras curse on Jacks was that it’d break if someone who could never love him kissed him then how did Evangeline and Jacks kiss? Was it true love that broke the curse/a back door? What happened with Evangeline’s last debt/broken heart scar? Why wasn’t it paid when she kissed Jacks? How does their relationship work if Jacks is still a Fate and Eva’s just human?I have many more questions but with the few I have written, I hope it could be understood why I felt like A Curse for True Love might have missed its mark. One last thing I want to add is the mini canon epilogue that we got. It just felt like it should’ve been more than what we got. I did love the book but was left with a sour taste in my mouth. Aside from what I disliked, I loved the different POV chapters. I didn’t think I would love the Apollo chapters as much as I did. He was such a complex character and I throughly enjoyed diving deeper into that. Jacks attempting to teach Evangeline how to fight was so out of pocket but also so wholesome and I really appreciated its moment in the book. Jacks seeing the hollow in the Cursed Forest inferring that his best day ever was with her spent there was absolutely gold. The adventure, devastatingly romantic moments, and POV chapters are why I still love this book and series. I definitely would still recommend to any book lover that this series is a must even if I felt like ACFTL could’ve been better.

"It had taken all the heartbreak, all the almost love and the wrong love, to know that this love was true love."Expectations were high for this book, and this often works against its own success. Overall, I think this is a great series, and I don’t regret the effort I made to have the matching UK hardcovers.Stephanie writing is beautiful, and similarly with the previous books in the series, her storytelling abilities shine on the second half of the book, which coincides when we get more of Jacks.They got the HEA they deserved, and my main concern right now is: How will they solve Jack’s being immortal and Evangeline being human?I liked the inclusion of Apollo’s and Jack’s POV, as I see them as more complex characters than Evangeline, and loved to learn about Jack’s curse source, which made a lot of sense considering what we learned in the previous book.The best surprise for me was the role played by Evangeline self letter. Absolutely wonderful!Other general thoughts:While I loved the series, I also feel a bit disappointed with its loose ends.Whereas everyone wanted to know about Jack’s apples, I already had that piece figured out… what I wanted to know was Evangeline heritage. Why did she have a connection with the Valor arches? Why did we get some many pieces of her mother teachings to end up not knowing anything more about her? Why did her mother leave the Magical North? Why did she always tell Evangeline the Ballad of the Fox and the Archer? Was all of this because every curse has a back door? Her being a key was a way out for the Valors curse and for Castor's helmet, not for Jack’s curse… I don’t know.In my mind, Evangeline was the key for the Story curse, but that bit stays the same, and her role was mainly focused on love… which is ok, but I wanted more. (How do you leave something like the story curse open??? 😱)Jack is my favourite character of the series, and I wish we had more of him in every book. I was desperate to see him struggling with his feelings and to see more longing in him. This was particularly important to me because I wasn’t very convinced by his love for Evangeline (excluding the ending of the second book obviously). l understand the ending, and that Jacks was too broken to fight anymore, but I wish he would have fought a bit more for Evangeline, not only save her. He could have had more ownership in breaking his own curse.My disapointment has been increasing, but I’m excited for the possibility of a spin-off about Castor and Lala. I just hope their story can be told in only one book. I don’t think I can handle more series, and I much rather have a longer book, than three that might still leave some questions open.P.S: And the wrist scar... Am I the only one bothered by this?? I was expecting Jacks to claim the last kiss owned as his. How did this not happen??

I'm not even lying when I say that A Curse for True Love was one of my most anticipated releases - definitely this year if not ever? The Once Upon a Broken Heart series has been a favorite. I only recently picked up this series after seeing it all over booktok, but it was so good. The Ballad of Never After is up there as one my favorite books this year. I loved the angst, the yearning and the slow burn between Evangeline and Jacks. I was ready for A Curse for True Love. I needed to know how this series would play out after that ending.In A Curse for True Love Evangeline doesn't remember much. She has bits and pieces of her memories, but she can't recall her handsome husband the Prince and not Lord Jacks who everyone keeps talking about. Soon her life is in danger and it seems that anytime she someone tries to hurt her, a guard named the Archer is there to rescuer. We know that Archer is Jacks himself, but Evangeline doesn't know this and our heart is breaking on Jacks behalf. Does Evangeline regain her memory? Will Jacks and Evangeline get the ending that they deserve?SPOILERS AHEAD*******I had such high hopes for A Curse for True Love, but gah! why so many chapters with Apollo's point of view???? When I discovered that Stephanie Garber was writing this book with three different points of view I was so excited. But I feel like we hardly got any Jacks :(. I loved the banter between Evangeline and Jacks, but I didn't feel as much angst or longing as I did when I read The Ballad of Never After. And yes, I do realize that this book is classified as YA, but I honestly felt like the spicy-ish scenes in the previous two books (the night Jacks was bit and then the hollow) were so much angstier/spicier than any of the scenes in A Curse for True Love.I will still recommend this series and I'm so glad that Evangeline and Jacks got their happily ever after. But there were a lot of plot holes that were answered. Why does Jacks eat the apples? What about the last kiss that Jacks didn't collect? Where was Luc? Is Evangeline still human and Jacks a fate? Why did Jacks become a fate? There were so many directions that this book could have gone to answer any of these questions and it felt like missed opportunities.Maybe Stephanie is setting up Lala's book. There was some delicious tension between Chaos and Lala and I hope that leads to somewhere. I just feel like I was left with a lot of questions - but maybe that's how Stephanie intended for it to be?Now that this series is complete...what will I obsess over now??EvaJacks forever <3.