Once Upon a Broken Heart

I am happy that this book was not as predictable as I thought it was going to be. I was so sure it was going to go the route of oh so many enemy to lovers romantasies, but thankfully it didn't. (Though I still think she is going to end up with Jacks at some point) I also thought some things were so obviously Marisol's Mom (wrong again). I loved the magic in the North. I loved the different curses of the fates. I loved that the plot involved a prophesy. I did feel that Evangeline's character was a little underdeveloped, but maybe that is bc this is a young adult book. I have to keep in mind that at 45, I am not the target audience and some things will be a little young for me. That said, I did really enjoy the magic of this novel! Looking forward to Book 2.

“For anyone who has ever made a bad decision because of a broken heart” I felt that dedication in my soul. No really though this book delivers incredibly well on its premise, that you can make terrible choices chasing the idea of love while missing out on the real thing. I adore the slow-burn with Evangeline and Jacks, they remind me so much of Howl and Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle (the Ghibli film not the book). His light teasing of her while actually saying what she needed to hear and would help her was such a good way to keep him from being the usual abusive mmc dressed up as sexy brooding aloof guy. And while I get some people’s take that Evangeline is weak, I don’t agree. Even she comes to realize she’s chasing the wrong thing, idealism and not reality and her hopefulness is a sweet characteristic if wrongly placed at times. She’s endearing and I like that she embraces her femininity and love for fairytales and romanticism instead of shunning it like so many fmcs in today’s genres. Is this the best written book I’ve ever read? Probably not. Are there some holes here or there? Sure and yes there’s convenient plot points that put characters in situations that seem forced (the poisonings to get proximity for EvaJacks) but honestly this is simply a good book to read and not analyze too much. It’s cotton candy fantasy. It’s like reading through lots of your favorite fairytales all jumbled together and seeing what it would be like to actually live in that world. For me it was entertaining enough and I’m excited to see what the next book has in store.

Interesting story, with different takes on fairytales. But it’s kind of slow and disjointed until the end and it just ends. Definitely want to read the next book but a little frustrated with how it ends

My new favorite series I love Eva and jacks so much, and have bought all the other books. There’s just so many twists that you never get bored and has very good world building.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ Evangeline Fox is a hopeless romantic who bargains with the notorious Prince of Hearts, Jacks, to stop her true love’s wedding. ★ World-building The world building was my favourite part of this story. The setting is incredible. Stephanie Garber makes worlds that feel like magic. The descriptions, the creativity—I was absolutely obsessed with the language she honed in order to make a fairytale real. ★ Characters In an interview, Garber stated “Humans and characters, we’re defined by what we believe.” Jacks and Evangeline are both hard-to-forget characters. You are truly able to see human vulnerability in the dreams and nightmares behind both characters. Evangeline is a hopeless romantic searching for love. In a way, Jacks is too. ★ Stakes Since Evangeline deeply craves a love made for fairytales, it makes sense to see her willing to sacrifice everything on the chance of finding true love. She ‘sells her soul to the devil’ for what she deeply desires, and each page pulled me in deeper. I wanted Evangeline to win! ★ The extra polish Stephanie knows how to add that ✨ extra magic ✨ to her books. It is laced into the language, infused into the characters darkest desires. This is why she is a bestseller. ☆ Plot The plot of this first book felt a bit slow in the beginning and picked up in the middle. I understand it was necessary to start with background context and the consequences of Evangeline’s choices, but some parts of the plot felt slow. From the middle onwards, the pace picked up and then I could not put it down! I highly recommend the read! One of my favourite books because of the setting and, of course, Jacks.

Simply loved this novel and cannot wait to start the next. Learning more about Jacks has been very interesting in this series.

This book definitely surprised me. It was nothing that I thought it would be . It was a great twist on “once upon a time” and fantasy . Very whimsical and this author did a great job of incorporating fae characters without going all over the place . She took her time to let us discover each piece of the story. I recommend this book to people who are just getting into fantasy or to people who don’t like extensive world building but still want a piece of it . Great flow, no filler words , and no crazy repetition . This was written in 3rd person . I’m excited for the next read . I docked the point because I never really give 5 stars and I think the beginning of the book was a bit confusing but after the first few chapters I was locked in ❤️

Stephanie Garber astounds readers with her ability to craft a sequel to an already iconic series. Against all odds, where many have faltered in continuing cherished storylines, Stephanie Garber emerges triumphant. “Once Upon a Broken Heart” not only broadens the horizons of Caraval’s universe but also stands as a masterpiece in its own right!

Good start of the series. Loved it. And I love the new cover design!

Ok

The story: The writing is very easy to read which is what I enjoyed most about this book but the storyline is all over the place and nothing really makes any sense...there is no world builing and you are kind of just thrown into a story with 0 context, it took me awhile to figure it out...not worth the hype IMO. I'm not going to bother reading the remaining books in this series. Cosmetics: the font used in this book is very small which is unappealing. The cover is only really relevant to a small few lines in the book again, not enough world building to justify this cover. The book arrived damaged which was disappointing.

It is a very nice with the fanstasy one.

I have been hold off diving into this series for a while cause I thought that you had to read her frist series before going I to this one. But after reading the reviews I figured out that it wasn't necessary and that this story takes place in the same world but it's a completely different story. So don't let the frist series hold you back from reading this one. I also had no glue what this story was about before going in or how magical it was gonna get, which surprised me. It gave me Alice in Wonderland kinda vibes at times. So, where do I even begin to describe how much I loved this book? I loved that it had short chapters, it made time pass by so quickly. The story got me hooked from the beginning and at some point I was reading chapter after chapter never wanting to put the book down. I never felt like the world building happened cause she twisted it into the story so, so perfectly and suddenly the world is just right there. Loved all the twist and turns this story took you through, it was some what predictable but I never got bored and I still feel like I'm gonna be surprised after that ending. It was so, so magical and wonderful and I can't wait to read the second book. Got the last book pre-ordered aswell 🤭