Once Upon a Broken Heart

I can't believe it took me so long to get to this book! It has been waiting on my shelf for a year and a half. First of all, this book is a fast read. Simply because once you start, you can't put it down. You need to know what happens next, and since the chapters usually end with cliffhangers, you just have to continue. But now for the story... The story has three parts. Each one focuses on a different part of Evangeline's journey. We follow Evangeline Fox, a girl who believes in happily ever after and love at first sight. At least until the love of her life, Luc suddenly decides to marry her stepsister. In desperation, she prays to Prince of Hearts, a Fate, to stop the wedding. To do that, she strikes a deal with him. But the bargains with Fates never end well and aren't without a price. The price, in this case, is three kisses given to the people of Prince of Hearts' choosing at the time and place he decides. This puts in motion a series of events Evangeline never saw coming. The first part - The Tale of Evangeline Fox, focuses on the deal with Jacks, Prince of Hearts, and puts the ground for the story. The second part - The Magnificent North, follows Evangeline on her journey as an ambassador to the kingdom, The Magnificent North, where prince Apollo searches for a bride at the Nocte Neverending ball. It's also where Jacks chooses the first person Evangeline has to kiss. That kiss has unexpected results, and the secrets of The Magnificent North start to unravel for Evangeline. She once again realizes that the deals with Fates aren't simple and without the price. The third part - Chaos, focuses on searching for the truth behind the horrible events from part two. While searching for the answers that can prove her innocence, Evangeline also uncovers the betrayal from more than one person. I loved the dynamic between Evangeline and Jacks. And I can't wait to see how this dynamic changes even more as the story continues in the sequel books. Jacks has to be my favourite character. He's mysterious, full of secrets, handsome, and morally grey. This book is a perfect choice for fans of The Folk of the Air series. The first book in this fast-paced fairytale-like story ends with a cliffhanger! The only reason why I'm happy I waited a year and a half to read this book is that I don't have to wait for the sequel. It came out in autumn, and it's waiting on my shelf. (Because I'm sure I would pull all my hair out if I had to wait for a sequel). I just hope the second book doesn't end with a cliffhanger too. At least the third book comes out in a few months.

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 ❤️

This was fantastical and fun, and also a little bit creepy at times. It’s been a couple years since I actually brought the book, so I went in pretty blind, not remembering much of the premise. So everything felt new and interesting, and each twist came as a genuine surprise to me. In the middle things got a little convoluted, and I thought I might need to jump ship, but I’m really glad that I didn’t. The story ultimately was compelling enough that I was pulled through to the end… Needing to know what was going to happen. And that’s still the vibe with the rest of the series.

Stephanie Garber (author of the amazing Caravel series!!!!) manages to bring back some magic in a twisting romance with flair of action and suspense. Evangeline Fox is a true believe in the fairy tails, in happy endings, and in true love. Of course, this kind of hits a hard reality when the man she believed was her true love to going to marry someone else...namely her step-sister (I know, but it is not that cliché!). In order to stop it, she turns to one of the fairy tails, namely the one of the Fates. She believes the Prince of Hearts can help her stop the wedding and her get the true love of her life back. But, as Alice Copper said multiple times, nothing is free. The Prince requires payment in the form of three kisses at whatever time and to whomever he chooses and soon discovers that when you make a bargain with a Fate, your fate may be very different than what you had planned. Much like the world-building that Garber accomplished with Caravel, she creates another dynamic set of areas and characters for the reader to step into, explore and meet. Some of the characters and aspects of the story feel eerily similar to her previous ones (Jacks excluded of course as he is the same character in both series) but this is not necessarily a bad thing. How many times has Stephen King characters shown back up, or at least different versions of the same character? While the characters sound modern, their dress and world is an older one more in line with a true fantasy story, down to curses, dragons, magic and, well, vampires? OK, I admit, she threw me off when vampires came into the story, but they were fun (yes vampires can be fun). Garber provides much needed action and mystery with twists to go along with plenty of romance in the story, allowing there to just be enough of the rest for this not to fall into the teen girl category while still holding a strong appeal to your hardcore romance aficionados. The cliffhanger ending to lead into the inevitable trilogy does well to leave you clamoring for more. Stephanie Garber has hit gold and will continue with her unique blend of fantasy, magic, unique characters and romance in this new series, a must-read for her fans and something anyone should pull off the shelf at least once.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 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.

I LOVE this book! My only complaint is that the last book’s ending is lackluster compared to the rest of the series, but it is definitely still worth the read! Stephanie Garber does a spectacular job of making this story feel magical.

“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.

I really enjoyed this book. It has such a whimsical, fairytale like feel, but with a darker, emotional edge that keeps it interesting. The characters pull you in quickly, and the story has that kind of magic that makes it hard to put down. There’s romance, longing, and a bit of heartbreak mixed in, which I loved. It feels dreamy but still keeps you hooked with twists along the way. Definitely a good read if you like fantasy with emotion and a touch of chaos.