Fantasy readers may expect Laura Morrison’s How To Break An Evil Curse [Black Spot Books, July 6, 2021] to follow the lines of other fantasy epics popular in the genre. However, this humorous take on a fractured fairytale is not just a “cookie cutter” young adult read, but one that will entertain younger readers while still appealing to older audiences with a good sense of humour.
The first in the Chronicles of Fritillary series, How To Break An Evil Curse follows the story of princess Julianna, who was cursed before she was born by an evil wizard looking to fulfil his revenge plot against his old friend who is now the King of Fritillary—and Julianna’s father. With the threat of sunlight taking her life, Julianna has been kept deep in the castle dungeons-turned-princess-suite where no light can reach her, kept company only by the ghosts of former prisoners that inhabit the dungeons. There is only one way Julianna’s curse can be broken and this fate lies in the hands of a young man on a pirate ship with an impossible list of curse-breaking-qualifications.
There is a distinct humorous aspect to the novel, reminiscent of stories told in the style of Monty Python and The Princess Bride; our omniscient narrator appears inside the story to offer sarcastic comments or share additional insight, and footnotes asides that add further context to the story’s fantastical world. A particularly enjoyable comedic aspect is a magical vial of raven’s blood that can talk telepathically to some of the characters. Rather than be a pinpoint of evil magic in the story—it is a talking vial of blood, after all—the snarky dialogue and tongue-in-cheek references to modern slang from the vial earned belly laughs from this reader, making it a star in each of its scenes.
Not just a quirky, humorous modern take on the fractured fairytale, it’s filled with nods to important themes from cover to cover. The ever-important women’s rights movement plays a central role for one of the characters, rebel groups begin to form and plan an attack against the royal family as social unrest bubbles to the surface, and the different predicaments we find our main characters in throughout the novel ring eerily familiar with many of today’s most pressing issues.
While many of the characters are witty, well-rounded, and mysterious enough to want to learn more about them, some are less than fully developed in this first instalment in the series. There are several lingering questions one might ask of our cursed princes—how has the past nineteen years stuck in the dungeons affected her? Did not having any “real” friends affect her? What about her mental health? Has Julianna ever told her parents she wanted to venture outside even if it was an excursion at night? Answering these questions would help support Julianna’s character development in the following instalments in the Chronicles of Fritillary series and really make Julianna a princess to root for.
Overall, How To Break An Evil Curse is a great read for younger fantasy readers who enjoy their fairytales with a good dose of humour and to anyone who may be nervous to tackle some of the more daunting reads already published within the genre.
How To Break An Evil Curse is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of July 6th 2021.
Will you be picking up How To Break An Evil Curse? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Princess Julianna may be cursed to dwell in darkness, but she’s no damsel in distress.
How to Break an Evil Curse is the first book in a fantasy series about a princess who may be cursed to live in darkness, but refuses to let her curse define her life.
The King of the Land of Fritillary has incurred the wrath of his ex-bestie, the evil wizard Farland Phelps. Farland curses the King’s firstborn to die if touched by sunlight, and just like that, Julianna must spend her life in the depths of a castle dungeon (emptied of prisoners and redecorated in the latest fashion, of course). A young woman of infinite resourcefulness, all she needs is a serving spoon, a loose rock in the wall, and eight years of digging, and Julianna is free to explore the city—just not while the sun is out!
Warren Kensington is a member of a seafaring traveling theater troupe and the unwitting magical cure to the curse. When the pirate ship he’s sailing on is damaged in stormy seas, he goes ashore and bumps into Julianna on the streets of the capitol. The pair accidentally set in motion a chain of events that uncovers Farland’s plans to take over the throne. Julianna, Warren, and some friends they meet along the way are the only ones who can save the monarchy.
But the farther they go along their increasingly ludicrous journey, and the more citizens they meet, the more Julianna wonders whether her dad’s throne is worth saving. From an evil and greedy wizard? Well, sure. But from the people of Fritillary who are trying to spark a revolution? The people suffering in poverty, malnutrition, and other forms of medieval-esque peasant hardship? It doesn’t take Julianna long to find that the real world is far more complicated than a black-and-white fairytale.
