Review – A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, Book 3) by Stephanie Garber (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 390 pages
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Release Date: October 24, 2023
ASIN: B0BNYJRY2D
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy
Source: Borrowed on ebook from library
Rating: 4/5 stars
“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.”
Series Info/Source: This is the third and final book in the Once Upon a Broken Heart series. I borrowed this from the library on ebook.
Thoughts: I really enjoyed the first part of this book but felt a bit let down by the end of the book. This book has the same glittery, magical writing style as the previous two books. There are spoilers ahead for those who haven’t read the first two books in the series.
The story starts with Evangeline being swept off by Apollo, her faithful husband, as she struggles to remember anything. She is missing the last year or so of memories. Apollo seems like the perfect doting husband but something just doesn’t seem quite right. Then there is the dashing guard who Evangeline has begun running into with increasing frequency. The return of the Valor family only complicates everything.
I enjoyed the beginning of this book, watching Evangeline fight against her memory loss and struggle with her feelings for the mysterious stranger she keeps running into was intriguing. It was like watching Evangeline and Jacks fall in love all over again. I was so excited for them to find each other again and eager for Evangeline to start remembering her past.
The Valor family plays a huge part in this story and I thought some of this made the plot overly complicated. I also found myself strangely disappointed by the ending. It was so wonderful to see Evangeline and Jacks brought back together, but then the insertion of the whole issue around Apollo and the Soul Tree felt like an interruption. Everything does wrap up nicely but for some reason I was left feeling faintly disappointed.
This was very hard for me to put down and incredible engaging. I love Jack and Evangeline as characters and enjoyed a lot of the side characters as well. I love Garber’s magical, glittery writing style with her luscious descriptions. I did get a bit sick of hearing about how amazing kissing is. I mean yes kissing is good but these characters are a lot older at this point and the over discussion of kissing started to sound pretty juvenile.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this; I especially loved the beginning and middle of this book. The descriptions are beautiful and watching Evangeline and Jacks find each other again was amazing. The ending felt slightly disappointing. We were rushing towards this amazing ending and then it got derailed by a side plot, then when we slid back into the main story it felt like it has lost some momentum. I would definitely recommend reading if you are a fan of this series. I plan on reading future Garber books as well.
