Review of ‘How to Break an Evil Curse’

Another excellent fairy tale rendition, How to Break an Evil Curse, is campy and funny, creating a fun atmospheric read with pirates, evil wizards, and a princess determined to save herself.

Campy Storytelling

There are times when How to Break and Evil Curse was reminiscent of Princess Bride and Monty Python and The 10th Kingdom. There is so much humor in the storytelling; the tone and voice are reminiscent of someone telling this story to a group of kids.

Following the curse of an ex-best friend to the prince wizard Farland, Julianna has lived her life in a dungeon. A refurbished and wonderfully decorated dungeon but a dungeon, nonetheless. Cursed to die if sunlight ever touches her skin, Julianna longs to see the world. So, she secretly digs a tunnel out of the dungeon and begins exploring her kingdom by nightfall. Already the reader can see the imagination that has gone into this storytelling.

There is so much humor on every page, filling the reader with joy and laughter as the story expands its range of characters, adding in funny escapades, modern jargon such as “dude” and “man,” give the story its charismatic edge.

How to Break and Evil Curse is a story that should be read aloud because of that tone and how captivating it is. But what is also fun are the anecdotes and footnotes. Honestly, an audiobook version of this novel is probably going to be incredible.

However, there are times when the story kind of drags. The footnotes are funny, but they do not always seem to drive the story forward. Therefore, it would make a great audiobook because as it is being read, the narrator can seamlessly insert those footnotes into their storytelling. Whereas with reading, they are left at the end of the chapter, and the reader sometimes must go back to find where this footnote was to see what it is referencing. Always funny, they do not always seem to be important to the plot and can sometimes be skimmed.

Fun Characters

This is also a fun cast of characters. Princess Julianna can talk to ghosts, and as a princess, she wants to do more than be a princess. It is an admirable quality that does not always work out for her. But it never seems to be a downer for her. She is stubborn and creative, using her imagination to its fullest. The whole cast is fun to follow and read, from the poet and playwright Corrine, to the female doctor Jane, to the Pirate McManlyman, the raven’s blood (yes, I wrote that correctly), former thug and aspiring writer Copernicus, and finally Warren.

These characters balance one another out perfectly, creating a fun cast with quirky traits. But once again, this language here works out perfectly. The tone of each character, the mannerisms, and the detail that Morrison gave her characters worked so well in the story’s favor. They are relatable; they are fun, campy, and charismatic, driving the story forward.

Final Thoughts

How to Break an Evil Curse is a fantastic story. It has humor and action and great characterization that engage the reader from the beginning to the end.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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About the Author

Cynthia Bujnicki graduated from Emerson College with a BA in Writing, Literature and Publishing. She has always loved to read since she was a child. A contributing writer for YA Fantasy Addicts, she is also the Editor-in-Chief for Cyn's Workshop. She lives in sunny South Florida with her husband and son and their two cats, Mr. J the Kitten and Nyx.