Ever Cursed

by Corey Ann Haydu

Incisive and lyrical feminist fairy tale about a princess determined to save her sisters from a curse.

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, this insightful twist of a fairy tale explores power in a patriarchal kingdom not unlike our own.

• ISBN10: 1534437037
• ISBN13: 9781534437036
• Publish Date: 17 September 2020 (first published 28 July 2020)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 8 February 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

I adored the feminist messages that Ever Cursed set forth. The story itself fell a bit short for me from time to time, but I absolutely appreciated the themes the author was incorporating into the book. So let's break down what I enjoyed versus what I did not so much.

What I Loved:

• • Obviously, the "I am woman, hear me roar" chant is strong with this book! After so very long of being used, abused, and treated as lesser citizens, the women in this story rise up to stop the mistreatment and that is clearly fantastic.



• • Getting the perspective of both parties, witch and princess, was pretty great. This way, we got to see why each character made the choices they did, and took the actions they had.



• • The spells were intriguing, especially watching each of the princesses try to navigate life with them. Plus, the stakes felt certainly high, as many of them would have died had the spells become permanent.



• • This is a dark book. So please do beware, there is a lot of triggering content (which is addressed by the author before the book begins). I do love me a dark story though, especially because that level of awful can be a very powerful motivator for change, and change is what the women in this book seek.

What I Didn't:

• • I found the world-building to be lacking. I think maybe that was purposeful, so please keep that in mind (in the sense that "Ever" could be anywhere, if you will), but I am just too curious to not know more. That is on me, but here we are. If that isn't a huge issue for you, then you'll be fine!



• • I didn't connect deeply to the characters. Of course they were going through a lot and it's probably hard to get to know someone when they're hangry from not eating for half a decade, but still. I just didn't get a sense of who they were, other than the hurt and wrong that had been done to them, which is obviously awful and provoked my sympathy, but not necessarily a true connection to them as individuals.



• • Sometimes I felt like things were dragging a bit. Like- obviously there was a particular endgame at play in the plot, which was "uncurse the cursed".  Beyond that, and the message of the atrocities done to so many people in the kingdom, there wasn't much else happening.

Bottom Line: Awesome message with a slightly less awesome execution, it's still worth a read if you can handle the tough subject matter.