[Lisa’s Review]: Ever Cursed by Corey Ann Haydu

The Princesses of Ever are beloved by the kingdom and their father, the King. They are cherished, admired.

Cursed.

Jane, Alice, Nora, Grace, and Eden carry the burden of being punished for a crime they did not commit, or even know about. They are each cursed to be Without one essential thing—the ability to eat, sleep, love, remember, or hope. And their mother, the Queen, is imprisoned, frozen in time in an unbreakable glass box.

But when Eden’s curse sets in on her thirteenth birthday, the princesses are given the opportunity to break the curse, preventing it from becoming a True Spell and dooming the princesses for life. To do this, they must confront the one who cast the spell—Reagan, a young witch who might not be the villain they thought—as well as the wickedness plaguing their own kingdom…and family.

Told through the eyes of Reagan and Jane—the witch and the bewitched—this insightful twist of a fairy tale explores power in a patriarchal kingdom not unlike our own.

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Every once in a while, we stumble over a book that holds all the promise in the world; cursed princesses, witches, and an impossible task, and yet for some reason, we don’t connect with the story or the characters at all. Unfortunately, this exactly what happened to me with this book.

While the idea behind the story was genius – the curse and how it manifests differently in each of the princesses and the world of the witches and the price they pay for every spell – the story didn’t captivate me at all. I had a hard time finding into the story as not much was happening in the beginning, and an even harder time connecting with the characters. I feel like the book was supposed to be more character-driven as the plot was somewhat predictable and straightforward, but there was not much to the characters, really. In my opinion, there’s not much depth to them except their revenge and their eventual betrayal. Reagan is intriguing, but her entire character is built around the revenge for her mother and the spell of without. Jane is the counter point-of-view and aims to provide the other side of the story, but I felt like pieces were missing as none of the other princesses had a part in it. Admittedly, a princess that can’t remember anything can’t possibly be one of the characters leading the story – we’d never get anywhere. Still, I would have loved to get the others’ insight.

Ever Cursed thematizes difficult, serious, and yet important topics, and portrays them straightforward and real. I feel the situation in Ever fits the situation in our world right now, where nothing is what it seems, and enemies end up being unlikely allies and friends. In my opinion, the story honestly isn’t about the characters or their world; its about learning a lesson. A bit like a fable, maybe. It’s about the ending. It’s about opening your eyes and knowing better next time.

So, I’m sad to say, Ever Cursed was not my cup of tea from an entertainment standpoint, but honestly, a lot of that might be personal preference. For me, characters and plot have to be balanced equally. And the world has to be detailed and vivid. If character-driven stories are your thing and you enjoy fantasy, give it a try, maybe it works better for you than it did for me.

Lisa

Hi! I’m Lisa. I’m twenty-three, a college student and a book lover. I spend every free minute, and most of my lectures, reading all kinds of books, which is how I ended up here. While I particularly enjoy books of the young and new adult variety, I also love historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, all things romance, and one or the other classic as well. If I’m not reading, I’m either working, sleeping, binge-watching my newest obsession on Netflix, or on my way to Starbucks, to satisfy my slight caffeine addiction.