How to Break an Evil Curse is marketed as The Princess Bride meets Monty Python and I definitely got those vibes from this book. This is the story of Princess Julianna and the land of Fritillary. Princess Julianna has been cursed and cannot go outside in the sun or she will die. But she is definitely tired of letting the curse define her. She was cursed by the evil wizard, Farland Phelps, who used to be her father's (the King) best friend. Juliana has spent her life living in the castle dungeon along with her friends that are of the ghostly variety. She decides enough and is enough and slowly uses a serving spoon to escape her underground home.

We also follow Farland (the evil wizard) as he has been searching and trying to eliminate the counter-curse for Julianna's curse. The counter-curse just happens to be a boy who is allergic to asparagus and plays specific instruments among other things.

Warren just happens to be this boy and has stumbled right into town. Julianna and Warren of course end up running into each other, but nothing can ever just be that simple. There is also something just not right going on in the kingdom.

I did enjoy this book but had a very hard time getting into it at first. The first 50 percent unfortunately kind of drug for me, but I was hooked once got past that point. I liked the silly humor and the characters were all fun and crazy. The talked vial of raven's blood also just really cracked me up, it was a great addition. This book is a bit wonky and weird, but also a good time and had really cool world building. I only gave it 3 stars since it took me a while to really get into, however, I look forward to reading the next book and seeing what is next for the wiley cast of characters of Fritillary.

How to Break an Evil Curse is a clever, funny twist on the cursed and/or imprisoned princess fairytale trope.

I was reminded a little of Sir Terry Pratchett’s writing style, especially in the footnotes and the sarcastic, dry commentary from the narrator as events unfold.

The plot is very busy, with everything packed in from pirates and witches, ghosts and revolutions, to royal plots and women’s rights – it felt a little like an entire series worth of fairytale/fantasy ideas jostling for their place in this first novel. As a result, some promising story threads fell away after only a brief inclusion (ghosts, raven’s blood, Mortimer), but as this is the first book in a planned series, I assume further books might pick up some of the ideas left behind.

And the ending does lead perfectly towards a sequel, which I will definitely be looking out for.

A fun, light-hearted read, not to be taken too seriously. I look forward to more adventures from the Land of Fritillary, and hope that the worldbuilding and characters get more chance to breathe and develop as the series unfolds.

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

This was such a fun light read! Its done from the POV of a narrator who tends to comment on the story as its being told which was quite humorous. There wasn't too much character development, but you do see them grow closer together, which was nice as well. The ending was great as well.

About 2.5 stars. I don't think I realized it was a middle grade book when I was reading it. I just felt like the characters weren't very well written or realistic, but I think that has more to do with the audience and style than any fault of the author. I think others would enjoy it, and maybe if I give it another try with its younger audience in mind I might enjoy it more as well.

How to Break an Evil Curse is without a doubt a humorous book considerably reminiscent of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The writing ability is there for Morrison, especially when it comes to their world-building, but the book often suffers from extreme excess. This book at times feels insufferably long and full of unnecessary detail, which ultimately led to me enjoying the book much less than I originally expected to. This book has a great foundation but needed more work on the actual whole of it.

DNF @ 47%
Meh, sadly. this was not just for me.I did not enjoy much of the writing or the characters.
The cover and the blurb was interesting.

2.5 stars.

This book had a very promising beginning. It reminded me of the Lady Janies series. Unfortunately, the longer it went on, the more disappointing it became. I was sad to see that Mirabella, the most interesting character, had such a short page time. My biggest criticism for this book was that the author did not have any faith in readers being able to figure out things on their own... Every little thing was spelled out to you, in case you somehow missed the obvious. I'm still confused as to who is supposed to be a target audience for this book, but even if it was supposed to be a middle grade, have some faith in our children! They are intelligent enough to piece the two and two together.

Thank you for Black Spot Books for an advanced reading copy.

If you love magic, pirates, royals and fantasy reads, then this one is for you. I very much enjoyed the multiple povs that were used in this story as while as the several storylines it followed. There were lots of fun and exciting moments and it definitely leaves you wanting more. I also liked how it didn’t quite fit the standard read of where you expected it to end up.

I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!

I love a good story that is full of snark and humor.
This was a fun quirky read, perfect for middle graders who are looking for something a little different.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for an honest review. This was fun, but I found the pace of the story to be awkward and found myself confused at times.

So, this book isn't high fantasy and when I started reading it, that is what it was marketed as. It has an interesting concept and I did like the book, but I didn't enjoy it.

This is one of those books that I wouldn't have picked up if I didn't receive an ARC of it. I tried reading it a handful of times before I got all the way through it. It could have been because I wasn't in the mood for a book like this, but I honestly can't remember any details of the book itself.

Pretty cool concept, I loved the start of the book, but then it declined a bit, still, amazing premise.

This book was so strange. It was weird. I’m honestly taken aback and shook.
Yet, I was entertained. So obviously something worked.

How to Break an Evil Curse by Laura Morrison is about a princess who has been, spoiler alert, cursed! She is forced to live out her days in her fancy, used-to-be-a-dungeon, castle rooms. But after 19 years of life, most of them spent literally digging her way to some semblance of freedom, she is finally ready to take the first step outside. Only at night of course.

This book had everything, no cap. Pirates, revolution, curses, witches and wizards, magic, ghosts, asparagus lore and the weirdest thing of all: footnotes. Yes. Footnotes. Lengthy footnotes. Footnotes that would continue on to the next page because they just did not fit onto one page.

I was under the impression that this book was targeted towards preteen or even middle school grade. But all the characters are 19 years older in their 20s. So that was my first line of confusion. Also, every time a character said “dude” or “bro” (which was an alarming amount actually) was also very jarring and confusing for me.
I also found that it took half the book for things to truly get interesting for me. I was kind of slogging my way through that first half, but once a certain event happened things started finally happening plot-wise.

Because of the weirdness of the entire story, the humour was actually pretty good. And there are some plot lines I did not expect and I was pleasantly surprised. The characters are ok. Because of the omniscient third person point of view it was kind of hard to really understand any of the side characters deeply. Morrison did do a decent job in trying to portray a bunch of different perspectives though.

I am actually interested to read the sequel to this book. As weird as it was (and it was weird) there’s something about it that just kept me entertained.

I was really hoping to love this book but it just wasn’t as great as I was hoping it was going to be.

This book felt like I imagine an LSD trip would. Disjointed and fractured, with seemingly random plot elements.

Although cute, like a cupcake cute, at times, it didn't provide me with the emotionally satisfying character arcs and evolution I find I need. This is a delightful surface read if you are looking for the tried and true tropes deployed in almost every YA Fantasy published in the last five years --- but it's boring if you want more from your read.

This was a fun and entertaining read. There were many times I was laughing out loud and getting strange looks from those around me. There were a few times the story felt a little slow but then it picked right back up. The characters are hilarious and sarcastic. If you like fairytales and are looking for a fun read then this is definitely the book to pick.

Dnf at the moment. I started this book a while ago but have been putting off this book for awhile and I think i just need to be honest with myself and say I probably wont be picking this book up just yet. I quite enjoyed the amount of the book that I had read but at the place that I am I just can't force myself to continue. If I ever do pick it up again and I suspect I will, I'll write a proper review.

For my thoughts of what I had read I really liked it. I put 3 stars but depending on how the story goes I could see it being a 4 or 5 stars. I love books that use fairy tale elements and the concept was something that was right up my alley. The writing is good and witty though I know it wasn't for everyone. Honestly I feel like the could work really well as a movie and I'd watch the hell out of it.

You definitely get some Tangled vibes in this fractured fairy tale adventure as a secluded Princess escapes her dungeon to see the world.

A quick, easy and fun read. Probably aimed more at younger YA readers but there is still enough in there to keep readers of all ages interested. Too many unresolved plot threads that have very little relevance to this story kinda makes it feel like click-bait to get you interested in future installments instead of enhancing this story. The main villain was a bit weak. Needed more evil twin!

In spite of those minor foibles, I would still pick up the next book - so yeah, the click-bait works, dammit!

Recommended for fans of Darkwood, the sisters Grimm the fairytale detectives, Cogheart, Serafina and the Black Cloak

Thank you to Netgalley and Black Spot Books for the ARC.

We love a woman that can rise from the darkness and take charge of her own life curse or not. It was a entertaining and kept me hooked..