aspeights's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
i wanted to like this book. i thought it had an interesting premise, magic system, and world building. I saw what the author was trying to accomplish but it felt clunky and overly preachy. the “character development” felt forced and entirely too quick and the resolution felt entirely too neat for the story they were trying to tell.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, and Cursing
taliatalksbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Ever Cursed by Corey Ann Haydu was a fun, on the nose fantasy novel and I devoured it. It was funny, had a unique magic system, and interesting characters. This was definitely a story using fantasy archetypes to make its point, but I honestly loved it all the same. I thought the names of locations were comical, and while it did annoy me at first I think it prevents distraction from the overall message of this story. I also love that the author provided a message at the beginning of this book for anyone who may be triggered by its contents, though I will add that there is nothing too overly graphic. Overall I really loved this book and the message(s) it held regarding grief, healing, power and forgiveness.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Sexual assault
purplehulk713's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was ingenious. Five princesses can each not do one essential thing and are kept alive (if their lack should typically kill them) by the magic of this curse until its caster turns eighteen. While a fascinating premise in and of itself, upon closer examination, each of these individual deficiencies is a perfect allegory for a specific mental disorder and the struggles that accompany it. Jane, the eldest and one of the two narrators, is Without eating or drinking, equitable to anorexia. Her sister Alice is Without sleep, comparable to insomnia. Their sister Nora is Without the ability to love, which could be considered similar to certain personality disorders. Their sister Grace is Without remembering, and her circular questioning patterns make her a dead ringer for a victim of dementia. And their littlest sister Eden is Without hope; her attitude of despair made me immediately think of depression. The book therefore is a great vehicle for understanding and empathizing with mental illness, but especially the circumstances that give rise to it. Reagan, a young witch, casts the curse on these princesses in an attempt to make their father, a toxic, egotistical king, suffer for his sins, but especially for his rape of her mother. This ultimately fails because the king (who is never given a name to denote the ubiquitous nature of this sort of figure) would rather let his daughters die than admit he was wrong and he appreciates that the witch made them weaker this way, because it makes him “stronger” by comparison. Actions and consequences are thus another big theme of this novel, but especially in regards to power, because magic in this reality can be sapped from women (and people across the gender spectrum, and some men, but there are very few male witches) if they feel threatened or frightened or despairing, etc. So men can drain women’s power literally from them with their abuse (and this book writes abuse and toxicity really well, expressing all of the complexities and multiple levels of feelings about the people who perpetrate these crimes). Magic is poetic and glorious in this novel, literal and figurative power manifesting the implicit barriers present in society (literal boxes around women, for example). Reagan’s Spell of Without, also, when taken metaphorically, can be thought of the princesses’ mental struggle once they reach adolescence (the curses all take hold of them on their Thirteenth Birthdays) and can finally realize the horrors of the castle in which they live and the father who supposedly loves them. I also loved how Haydu would pepper in support for the LGBTQ+ community like the implications that Alice is a trans woman and Grace is a lesbian. But the greatest thing about this book is that it is not simple, just as the issues it describes are not, just as its magic system isn’t, and that it is magic in and of itself in that its staggeringly poignant portrayals of injustice (silence, outright denials, claims of hysteria, half-truths, turning away, etc. etc.) compel you to rise up onto your feet and cast your own Spells (carefully) to unravel this evil. A clock from the oldest, tears from the saddest, a lock of hair from the most beautiful, and a crown from the richest cannot Undo the foulest curse upon the kingdom of Ever… but can a princess and a witch?
“What I know is that though some men are witches, it is only men who are not witches.”
“I look for something beneath the shame and beneath the hunger and beneath all the ways I've ever learned to be a princess and a someday queen. I don't know the word for what I find there.
Or I do know the word, but it can't possibly be true.
Magic.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Body shaming, Infidelity, and Body horror
Moderate: Rape and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: War
andatherrin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Grief, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Trafficking
allie_schick's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Eating disorder
ainsley_j5's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Minor: Eating disorder
theprincessreads's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The author had a strong message which was clear throughout the book however it left the characters flat. It took cue as “my mother” to understand which point of view we were reading. It also took about two third of the book to finally ‘start’ the story and I do love a slow pace however the world was not filled enough to entertain the reader during the slow pace.
It is a three stars for me, with an addition of 0,25 for the fairy tale ending.
I did appreciate the content warnings at the beginning of the book.
It is a three stars for me, with an addition of 0,25 for the fairy tale ending.
I did appreciate the content warnings at the beginning of the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder
Minor: Rape
ihaveaproblem's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
this book is the definition of childhood fairytale with a modern and dark twist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Gaslighting and Misogyny
soccergirl0024's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I honestly did not like this book due to the fact that it was not as fairy-tale like as I thought. The summary really misguides the reader as to what the book is about. The characters weren’t lovable nor were they that developing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
sweetsweetroad's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I really enjoyed the book and thought it was interesting magic system.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault