Review: A Curse for True Love (Once Upon A Broken Hearts #3)
A Curse for True Love, Book 3 in the Once Upon A Broken Heart Trilogy by Stephanie Garber
Published By: Hodder and Stoughton
Publication Date: October 24, 2023
Date Read: March 24, 2025
Genre: YA – Fantasy / Romantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 385
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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.
“I am a monster, but whether you remember it or not, I’m your monster, Evangeline.”
As soon as I finished reading The Ballad of Never After, I couldn’t help but dive straight into A Curse for True Love. I have never been much of a binge reader, but after the ending of Ballad, I was so glad that this one was already released so I could dive straight in. Despite me being very excited to see how it all ends, I have to admit that I was a little bit nervous about this one. I had heard that a lot of people were really disappointed in this one and that it was a big let-down. Well, I don’t know what they’re talking about as I really enjoyed this one. I feel like this one was just as strong as the previous two instalments in the series.
A Curse for True Love picks right up where The Ballad of Never After left off, with Evangeline having lost all of her memories, and married to Prince Apollo. But as she starts to live her day to day life as a Princess, something just feels ‘off’ about the whole thing. Evangeline is determined to get her memories back… even if it kills her.
This book is told in multiple point of view, which is slightly different from the previous books in the series. I personally really liked this, particularly when we got to see inside Jacks’ head. Jacks is just a complex character, and I really enjoyed seeing more of what makes him tick. Unfortunately, we also got some perspective chapters from Apollo, which I really disliked. As I was listening to the audiobook, I don’t know if I’d have potentially liked his chapters more if Apollo and Jacks had a different narrator, but they didn’t. It was the same guy who did both guys, and I feel like it would have enhanced the reading experience if they had been different voices. In addition to that, I just dislike Apollo as a character and his POV chapters made me dislike him even more. Every time an Apollo chapter started I just remember going ‘urgh here we go again’. I was dying to see him get his comeuppance, and for me, it took far, far too long for us to see that. That was my one gripe about this book, it took too long for what happened at the end of the previous book to get sorted out, and that made the ending feel a tad bit rushed to me. I’d have liked to see a little bit less of Evangeline without her memories, and more of what happens when she got them back.
A Curse For True Love was a fantastic ending to this trilogy. Once again, I just admire Stephanie Garber all over again. I love her magical writing, and I can’t wait to read more. At the risk of sounding repetitive from my reviews of the previous books, I truly see Stephanie as the writer of the modern day fairy tales, her writing is so whimsical and beautiful. This book left me hopeful that she might go back to this world and tell more stories for different characters, and I definitely hope that she does as I just love this world. It’s so rich and enticing, and there’s so much potential for world expansions. I definitely recommend giving this series a go if you haven’t read it yet. It’s truly magical.
“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.”
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I’m Kayleigh, a teacher and blogger who is obsessed with all things bookish. I love reading YA books of all genres and I am happiest when sharing my love and passion for books.