How to Break an Evil Curse

Laura Morrison, Black Spot Books (JUL 6) Softcover $18.95 (410pp), 978-1-73359-948-1, FICTION

In the epic fantasy novel How to Break An Evil Curse, a princess languishes after an evil sorcerer curses her: if she is touched by sunlight, certain death awaits.

Princess Juliana is kept in the dungeon for the first nineteen years of her life. After eight years of digging, she creates a tunnel to freedom. Her intentions are to leave, accompanied by Dexter, one of the three ghosts who kept her company since birth, so that she can explore the world.

Juliana’s only chance is a true love to counter the curse, but specific requirements were put in place by the wizard who cast it. Her true love must be “a person who … spent their whole life at sea, whose parents were once part of a traveling theater troupe, who can play banjo and accordion and harpsichord, and who is allergic to asparagus.” As she searches for such a rescuer, Juliana encounters ghosts, pirates, and secret chambers.

Sarcastic and snarky, the book addresses readers in a direct manner to explain the exile of Mirabella, the evil witch resigned to the Forest of Looming Death, where other criminals lurk after the witch’s twin pardoned all prisoners in order to redecorate the dungeon. As a result of the ensuing lawlessness, tensions are high as Juliana comes of age and first ventures out to free herself from her curse.

Misadventure abounds, whether by sea, tunnel, or forest. Juliana uses her wits, and her ghost, to defy those trying to capture her. The story switches between Warren, the seafaring potential curse breaker, and the princess as they wind their ways closer to each other.

How to Break an Evil Curse is a fun fantasy that packs a lot of action into its young feminist princess’s quest for sunlight and freedom. CAMILLE-YVETTE WELSCH