Cursed Ever After by Andy C. Naranjo * * * * *
The story follows Risa Porto, a young woman who has spent her entire life believing she's cursed with bad luck simply because she was born on an unlucky day. When she finds herself escorting Prince Javi, the seventh son of the royal family, to his wedding in a neighbouring kingdom, what should have been a straightforward journey quickly turns into something far more complicated. Their quest becomes a road trip through a colourful magical world filled with witches, curses, strange creatures, and unexpected allies.
One of my favourite aspects of the book was how happily it plays with classic fairy tale expectations. Here, the prince is very much the damsel in distress, while Risa becomes the knight in shining armour. Even the visual clichés get turned upside down. At one point, Javi is magically transformed into the stereotypical fairy tale prince with blond hair, and he's absolutely horrified. He insists he looks ugly, which became one of my favourite jokes.
The world itself is wonderfully eclectic. At first, I wasn't entirely sure what to make of it because characters casually mention things like insurance fraud or store credit alongside princes and magical curses. It briefly pulled me out of the fantasy setting. But the further I read, the more it became clear that this strange blend is intentional. This is a world where witches, guns, airships, fairy tales, and even a Western town all exist together. Somehow it never feels random because the story commits fully to its own internal logic. Every new location adds another layer of personality rather than making the world feel inconsistent.
The adventure reminded me quite a bit of the first Percy Jackson novel. There's the same sense of constantly moving towards one clear objective while stumbling into unexpected places, meeting eccentric characters, and surviving increasingly bizarre situations along the way. The tone is similarly playful for much of the book, making it an easy, fast read that never takes itself too seriously.
What surprised me most, though, was how much emotional depth appeared near the end. Beneath all the humour and adventure, the story explores ideas about self fulfilling prophecies, confirmation bias, and the damage caused by believing what everyone expects of you. If you're constantly told you're unlucky, broken, or dangerous, eventually you begin seeing evidence everywhere that confirms those beliefs. The novel also explores learning to trust other people enough to let yourself be loved and accepted.
I also found myself relating to Risa in ways I hadn't expected. Her experience reminded me a great deal of what many neurodivergent people go through. She is judged before people really know her, defined by reputation rather than by who she actually is, and convinced that meaningful friendships simply aren't possible for someone like her. Watching her slowly discover people who genuinely accepted her felt surprisingly heartfelt and became one of the strongest parts of the novel for me.
I listened to the audiobook in a single sitting because I simply didn't want to stop. The narration also preserves the Spanish woven naturally throughout the dialogue. Since I know some Spanish, I didn't have any trouble following those sections, although I'm not entirely sure how they appear in the printed edition. Either way, they helped strengthen the book's Latin American inspired identity and gave the dialogue an added sense of authenticity.
Overall, Cursed Ever After was a delightful surprise. It's funny, adventurous, imaginative, and full of charm, while still finding room for genuinely thoughtful themes beneath its playful surface. It's also an impressively confident debut, and after finishing it I immediately added Andy C. Naranjo to my list of authors to watch. If this is what she can do with a first novel, I'm very curious to see where she goes next.
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