❣️ A Curse for True Love spoilers ❣️
I’m gonna put a warning right now and say that I did love the book but it was definitely lacking something. I don’t want hate because I 100% support Stephanie and love all of her books and her imagination and her writing style but here is what I was hoping for in the final book (please remember this is my opinion and feel free to disagree but do it respectfully):
I wish that Jacks had known it was Apollo who stole Evangeline’s memories from much earlier in the book. I think it would have made such an interesting plot point and I imagine he would have wanted to murder Apollo but he’d be far more focused on begging and pleading and trying everything he could to get Evangeline to remember him.
I really thought that the letter Evangeline wrote to herself in the beginning on Ballad would have played a more significant role in ACFTL because it never appeared again in the second book. I assumed after she had her memories erased that Apollo would frame Jacks or at least try to ruin Jacks in Evangeline’s eyes and then when she found that letter in her room Apollo’s stories would have only been confirmed. This would have made it ever harder for Jacks to convince her he is not the villain and harder for her to trust her memories.
I didn’t like that Jacks masqueraded as “Archer” I thought it was a pretty weak plot point. I know he couldn’t tell her his name but as a reader and avid lover of Jacks, it felt weird.
I loved that trees played such a significant role in the story but I do wish that magical trees would have been mentioned at least once before they became a main plot point. Like anything, even a story Evangeline could have come across in the library about all the magical trees in the Magnificent North.
I wish Evangeline did more digging. I felt her sitting there trying to remember wasn’t really enough. I think it would have been interesting to see if she looked through old copies of The Daily Rumour and (I actually can’t remember what happened to Kutlass so correct me if I’m wrong) but she didn’t end up going to see him after he gave her his card right? I know she wasn’t allowed to leave but it was just kind of forgotten.
I was very happy to see a Jacks pov it’s what I always wanted but I did like the mystery of not knowing what he was thinking or feeling. This one’s not a complaint or anything I just missed the mystery that was Jacks of the Hollow in TBONA.
I was shocked when she used the word “bitch”. I mean she’s never used it before in the OUABH trilogy and for me it set ACFTL even more apart from it’s prequels. As many others have noted the third book did have an entirely different vibe from the first two. And while I loved it it was quite an adjustment because I re-read them before diving into ACFTL.
There were many missing characters and underdeveloped/unnecessary characters. I hate Marisol but I at least wanted to know if Luc ended up doing away with her or what even happened to Luc. I felt he was quite relevant even as a side character. I felt like Belleflower (was that his name? Something like that) just appeared and then disappeared just as quickly. And was he the one who sent that man to kill Evangeline slowly and painfully? That was never confirmed but I assume so. And then the man with the bird who bit Evangeline. I think his name was Garett but please do correct me because I can’t really remember. Him and his whole band of guards had soooo much potential, but as with a lot of things in this book I feel they were underdeveloped. If she’d just etched them out a bit more or made them do something very relevant to the story it might have made all the difference.
There may be more and if there are I will edit this. But for now, this is my list of wishes for what the story could have been. I rate it a solid 4/5 because I loved it regardless of these points and I loved the ending and was so happy that Jacks finally found his true love and that Eva got her happily ever after.
Soon I’ll make a post of everything I loved in the book ! It will be a very long post ;)
