52 pages • 1 hour read
A Curse for True Love
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Symbols & Motifs
The Story Curse
The story curse is a motif throughout the novel and one of the most powerful and well-known spells in the Magnificent North. As revealed in A Curse for True Love, the story curse was cast by the Valors centuries ago to protect Castor. After Castor died, the Valors brought him back to life, which turned him into a vampire. Not wanting people to fear him or discover what they’d done, initially the Valors cast the curse to affect only stories about vampires. However, the inherent magic of the North expanded the curse, and it now affects all written tales. The story curse connects to The Foundations of Power, highlighting how whoever controls a narrative has the power to shape it.
Yet the story curse also subverts this notion by giving the power to shape the story to the curse itself. In A Curse for True Love, the story curse first appears when it sets fire to a scroll Apollo tries to read, as well as when it tries to tell the truth of Evangeline’s love with Jacks, rather than Apollo. In the latter case, the curse fundamentally changes Evangeline’s history depending on which version of the story it shows. The tale of Evangeline’s love with Jacks is told as Evangeline and Jacks navigate betrayals, misunderstandings, and villains toward their happy ending. By contrast, the tale of Evangeline’s love with Apollo is an entirely different story happening in a parallel timeline. In the Epilogue, the story curse decides to leave Evangeline and Jacks alone because they have found their happily ever after, and this part of their story has come to an end.
Trees/Forests
Within A Curse for True Love, the Cursed Forest, Phoenix Tree, and Tree of Souls all operate as a motif of trees and forests that connect to the theme of The Foundations of Power. The Cursed Forest is so named because it turned dark and dangerous after the Valors disappeared. Those who enter will partially relive the best day of their life, meaning they will be transported to that day but never be able to find the happiness they felt then. Evangeline’s and Jacks’s experiences in the Cursed Forest suggest a link between magic and memory. Evangeline relives the day before her 12th birthday, and Jacks relives a day he spent with Evangeline at the Hollow in a previous novel. The fact that the forest gives each person the best day of their life without the accompanying happiness illustrates the depths of the forest’s power. It also shows how, as with many other magical entities in the novel, although its gifts seem to be positive, they always contain a hidden disadvantage.
The Phoenix Tree and Tree of Souls also illustrate this dichotomy, possessing the power of both good and evil. The Phoenix Tree grows until its leaves turn gold, offering riches. However, if a single leaf is plucked before this point, the entire tree will burn, much like the creature for which the tree is named. In addition, fire is the only thing powerful enough to destroy a loving heart. Whereas the Phoenix Tree appears as a thing of beauty, the Tree of Souls is a dark force that feeds off greed. The tree’s trunk is composed of horrified faces belonging to those who have been sacrificed to the tree before, serving as a warning to those who would drink from the tree. Although it purports to offer the power of immortality, those who seek its power can never truly grasp it because they love themselves above all. Apollo wants the strength of immortality, but he can never have it because of his narcissism.
The Slaughterwood Cuff
The Slaughterwood Cuff symbolizes the power of love and sacrifice, protecting the wearer from those who would harm them by redirecting the pain back to the person who intends to do the harm. The cuff itself does not discriminate based on intention or thoughts, harming both Apollo and Jacks equally. When the cuff hurts Apollo the first time, it does so even as Apollo thinks he is only pulling Evangeline painfully close to protect her. Similarly, when the cuff hurts Jacks for trying to kiss Evangeline, it does not care that Evangeline loves Jacks and that Jacks’s kiss may not actually be deadly. It only recognizes Jacks’s kiss as a potential threat and protects Evangeline accordingly. Later, when Evangeline chooses to kiss Jacks, the cuff doesn’t harm him because it recognizes that Jacks’s kiss is not a threat.
The cuff also symbolizes Jacks’s dedication to Evangeline, keeping her safe from anyone who would harm her, including himself. Jacks willingly trades his loving heart to Aurora in exchange for the cuff, even knowing that he can’t trust Aurora. This shows that Jacks cares more about Evangeline than he does for himself, as he is willing to put himself in danger to keep Evangeline safe. However, the cuff also represents Jacks’s tendency to make choices for Evangeline. Rather than letting Evangeline assess the risks Jacks poses herself, Jacks chooses for her by putting the cuff on her and then leaving, sending the message that she needs to stay safe. This reveals Jacks’s overprotective nature, as his concern is based in fear because he has lost her, and other girls he’s loved, to events outside his control. While Jacks has good intentions to protect Evangeline, he is also trying to protect himself from the pain of loss. In this way, the cuff shows how no action is completely selfless. Jacks using the cuff to protect Evangeline serves him just as much as it protects her.
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