Chapter summaries A Curse for True Love Stephanie Garber

Chapter 26 Summary: Jacks

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Evangeline attacks Jacks after he stabs Castor, calling him a monster and a murderer. She pins him to the ground and tries to stab him with a dagger. Jacks restrains her and explains that Castor is not truly dead—he will resurrect. Evangeline reveals she saw Jacks’s portrait in scandal sheets detailing killings from the previous night. Jacks admits he killed someone in front of her but argues it was self-defense because Castor was trying to kill her. He confesses that he is a murderer who enjoys pain, yet claims he is her monster. The moment stirs something in Evangeline, but Jacks holds back. A flashback shows Jacks outside the Valory after Evangeline died in his arms; he used the stones to turn back time. He recalls how she asked him to come with her instead of using the stones for Donatella. He believed their story could only end tragically, so he pushed her away. In the present, Jacks decides to keep her close to save her. He jumps up, ties her wrist to his, and prepares to flee before Castor returns.

Key Events

  • Evangeline physically attacks Jacks, calling him a monster and a murderer.
  • Jacks reveals that Castor will come back to life after being stabbed.
  • Evangeline confesses she saw Jacks’s portrait in scandal sheets, learning of his murders.
  • Jacks admits he is a murderer but insists he is protecting Evangeline.
  • A flashback shows Jacks using the Valory stones to reverse time after Evangeline’s death.
  • In the memory, Evangeline pleaded with Jacks to leave with her instead of pursuing Donatella.
  • Jacks ties Evangeline’s wrist to his own, forcing her to flee with him.

Character Development

Jacks

This chapter deepens Jacks’s complexity. He openly acknowledges his monstrous nature (“I am a monster”), yet his actions are driven by love and desperation. The flashback reveals his painful choice: he used the stones not for power but to save Evangeline, then deliberately broke her heart to keep her safe. His internal conflict between wanting her to remember and knowing it will hurt her is raw and tragic. He is selfish enough to hope she recalls their past, but self-aware enough to know that hope is cruel.

Evangeline

Evangeline’s reaction shifts from fury to uncertain vulnerability. She is shaken by the scandal sheet revelations and her own violent response. The moment Jacks declares himself her monster, her flush suggests a flicker of buried memory or emotion. She is no longer blindly trusting; she wields the dagger with intent, but her heartbeat betrays confusion. Her character is at a crossroads: will she fear Jacks or trust the strange connection she cannot fully recall?

Castor

Though seemingly dead, Castor is established as a resurrecting threat. His presence raises stakes and foreshadows future conflict.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Monstrous Love

Jacks embodies the theme of a love that is destructive yet protective. He admits he enjoys blood and pain, yet his entire motivation is keeping Evangeline alive. This echoes a classic “beauty and the beast” dynamic, but with a darker twist: the monster knows he is toxic and still cannot let go.

Memory and Identity

The chapter revolves around what Evangeline has forgotten. Jacks’s flashback directly contrasts her current ignorance with the painful history they share. Her flushed reaction suggests memory may be resurfacing, but the story leaves it ambiguous. Memory loss becomes a barrier to trust and a tool for suspense.

Sacrifice and Selfishness

Jacks’s backstory with the Valory stones shows him sacrificing his own happiness—and Evangeline’s memory—to save her life. Yet in the present, he selfishly ties her to him, unable to fully release her. The tension between selfless sacrifice and possessive love drives his arc.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 26 is a turning point for Jacks’s character and for the emotional core of the story. It provides the first concrete explanation of his past actions (using the stones to turn back time) and confirms that his cruelty was born from love, not malice. The chapter also raises the stakes for the immediate plot: Castor will return, and Jacks must get Evangeline out of the dangerous location. The wrist-tying moment enforces a forced proximity that will likely deepen their connection or conflict. For readers, this chapter recontextualizes everything Jacks has done so far, making his character both more sympathetic and more tragic.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. Why does Jacks say he is “trying very hard to keep [Evangeline] alive”?
    Jacks has already used the Valory stones to reverse time once after Evangeline died in his arms. He believes that if she stays close to him, she will die again, so he tries to push her away—but in this chapter, he cannot bring himself to let go after saving her from Castor.

  2. What does the flashback reveal about Jacks’s feelings for Evangeline?
    The flashback shows that when Evangeline asked him to come with her instead of using the stones for Donatella, Jacks desperately wanted to say yes. He could not remember Donatella’s face, only Evangeline’s. His choice to go through with the plan was driven by a fear of seeing her die again.

  3. How does Evangeline’s knowledge of Jacks’s past affect their interaction?
    Learning from the scandal sheets that Jacks is a murderer confirms her worst fears, yet she hesitates when he claims to be her monster. Her physical flush and delayed action suggest a buried emotional response, setting up a potential recovery of her lost memories.

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