A Curse for True Love By Stephanie Garber

A fantastic conclusion to the Once Upon a Broken Heart series.

Favourite Quote:

From that first day in his church, Jacks had wanted to watch her. He wanted to know what her voice sounded like, what her skin felt like. He’d followed her, listened to her prayer—hated her prayer. It had been one of the most god-awful prayers he’d ever heard. And yet even then he hadn’t been able to walk away. He wanted a piece of her. To keep her. To use her for later.

Stephanie has once again created a series that captivated me from beginning to end. A Curse for True Love just took my breath away. There are just so many things I want to gush about when it comes to this book. I also want to warn you that I am going to be vague in this review because it’s a rather difficult book to talk about without giving too many spoilers away. First, to say that I was excited that Stephanie included Jacks’ POV would be an understatement. I’ve wanted to be inside Jacks’ head right from the moment when I met him. His character is so complex and mysterious that you just can’t help but want to know what he is thinking. Stephanie did not disappoint me. Everything Jacks was thinking and every action he took in this book had my heart racing. I loved finally getting to see the real Jacks. We also get to see Apollo’s POV, who (spoiler from the previous book) is the story’s villain. I could have done without his POV, but that could be because I didn’t like his character, LOL. 

This book picks up right after The Ballad of Never After. Evangeline has had her memories erased by Apollo. She spends most of this book trying to regain those memories that were taken from her. She is also trying to figure out if Jacks, this mysterious man who keeps showing up in her life, is a friend or foe. I like the direction this story went. It still had this fresh and vibrant feel to it. Stephanie continues to keep her readers on their toes by including some pretty big twists and reveals in the plot. I am just amazed at how complex and lush Stephanie’s world-building skills are. As a reader, you can’t help but want to explore the world she has built. I was not disappointed with the final big climax moment at the end of the book. It was everything I wanted it to be. I am also very satisfied with the ending. It made my heart super happy, and there are a few unfinished secondary stories, which I hope means there will be another series in this world. 

This series definitely had a strong romantic element in it. There is a love triangle between Evangeline, Jacks, and Apollo. I’m not always a fan of love triangles, and there were moments when it drove me a bit crazy in this series, but overall, the romantic elements in this story/series were well done. I’ve spent most of this series trying to figure out who Apollo and Jacks really are at their core. Are they good, or are they bad? Both characters have acted questionably in the past. In this book, we finally get to spend time in both characters’ heads and see their true motivations, which I loved. Stephanie also touches upon the topic of true love or fated mates. Only Jacks true love can break the curse that was placed upon him. The problem is that he thought he found his true love in the Caraval series, but it didn’t work out. Jacks character is going through this internal battle; he is afraid to find out if Evangeline can break this curse because she will die if they are wrong. Jacks spends the majority of this book trying to do the right thing and leave Evangeline alone, but he can’t stay away from her. I loved the way Evangeline and Jacks relationship unfolded. It had everything that makes a love story great. 

A Curse for True Love is a breathtaking and addictive story that shows HEA does come true.