I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.
Stephanie Garber returns to the magic world of Caraval with a brand new story, Once Upon A Broken Heart. As we all know by now, this story will involve our favorite Fate, Jacks, and new heroine Evangeline. This story takes place after the events of Finale, so new readers can happily read this one without prior knowledge of the original series, but as a fan of the series, I’d still recommend them!
As you probably know by now I am HUGE fan of Stephanie Garber's Caraval series! Returning to this world was a little like returning home. There is just something so magically wonderful about this series, I can't really explain it in words at times. There's just this happy feeling I get when I am reading the words and living the story with Evangeline! This story held me captivated from the very first lines and didn't let me go until I closed the back cover.
We open the story to meeting Evangeline in a state of tears. She had officially became an orphan and now her stepsister was marrying the boy she loves most. She is willing to make a deal with the Prince of Hearts in order to stop the wedding, but of course any deal with Jacks isn’t going to turn out well for anyone other than Jacks. Jacks agrees to her request, but she must kiss three people of his choosing when and where he tells her and Evangeline agrees to his terms. When Evangeline sees the results of her wish come true, and sees her beloved, stepsister and the entire wedding party turned into stone, she takes their place and frees them.
Evangeline wakes up six weeks later with the help of the Fate, Poison, and sees that a lot of things have changed in that time. Luc, her beloved was injured once again and sequestered himself off to heal and refuses to see her or even her stepsister, Marisol. Evangeline and Marisol have a fragile relationship. Evangeline has a somewhat trusting nature and doesn’t believe that Marisol did anything to actually hurt Evangeline, she believes that was more her stepmother’s ideas.
We do get a happy encounter with Evangeline meeting Scarlett and Donatella, no boys sadly. Scarlett was amazed to hear about Evangeline’s sacrifice. She wants Evangeline to attend the Nocte Neverending, a celebration of sorts where the prince in the north, Apollo, will try to find a bride at a series of balls. Evangeline asks for Marisol to join her, for she feels sorry for his stepsister and the way her mother treats her and with what the gossip columns have been saying about her.
Then naturally at the first ball, Evangeline runs into Jacks. The moody, post-Finale Jacks…who now has blue hair! I was a bit curious about the how and why of the color change but since it’s Evangeline’s point of view, we don’t really get that reason. It’s safe to say it was due to what he went through after Finale. Jacks tells her she has to kiss the prince, Apollo. Doesn’t tell her why and Evangeline has no choice but to do it or else, she’ll die. Her kiss magically makes Apollo fall in love with her and Evangeline can’t help but fall a little for him too.
The story really takes off when murder comes into play and Evangeline is the number one suspect and when her life is on the line, Jacks is the one to be there for her. Surprising, yes? The story then evolves more into Jacks’ possible plans. We get an inkling of what he’s after, we know what he’s willing to do to get it, but he still don’t really know what he wants it for.
Stephanie Garber really amps up the magic in this story and I was all for it! There’s talks of fairy tales we have yet to know and how Evangeline was raised on her mother’s stories. There’s also just a very fairy tale like feel in the air of this one from the balls and fancy dresses to even Evangeline’s pink hair! What made this one even more exciting for me was my favorite kind of character popped into this story! If you know Stephanie and how she came to create Jacks, it’s related to that! Otherwise I will leave even that minute detail a surprise for you.
Once Upon A Broken Heart was filled with surprises at every turn! Just when you think things are running smoothly, she shakes things up with a shocking character reveal or a startling backstory. I’m eager to learn more about Jacks and his plans and oh how I wish we could get his point of view! Not only because he was somewhat villainous but because he is such a complex character! You never know what he’s going to do next. Yes, he’s a liar and manipulative and self-serving, but I still think there’s something more to that guy! It’s amazing how one can love the most deplorable characters in books! Despite his dark intentions…I still think he’s going to surprise us in the next book!
Fans of Caraval will rave over this one and it’s a perfect read for fans of fantasies and fairy tales. It’s the right blend of magic and danger. This is a book I ended up cherishing from beginning to end! I loved returning to this magical world, if on the other side of town. Once Upon A Broken Heart will sweep you away into a magical world alongside ours where just about anything is possible!
Overall Rating 5/5 stars
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📣 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗, 𝙱𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 📣💔💘💔💘💔💘💔💘💔💘💔𝔽𝕒𝕧. ℚ𝕦𝕠𝕥𝕖: “𝕊𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕤𝕙𝕖’𝕕 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕜 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕒 𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕒 𝕨𝕖𝕕𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖, 𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕒 𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕖, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖. 𝕊𝕙𝕖 𝕜𝕖𝕡𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕗𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕠𝕣 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕠𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕙.”💔💘💔💘💔💘💔💘💔💘💔How many books have you needed more than one read in order to decide that you like the vibes?So this series I thought I had hung up when I DNF’d Once Upon a Broken Heart back in April. Then, dare I say, FOMO kicked in with the release of A Curse For True Love and all of the beautifully stunning character art and gushing reviews I have been hearing.So naturally I bought them with the intention of possibly reading again at some point only that “at some point” turned into a sooner rather than later.𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚢, 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝙰 𝙲𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚃𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎?Moral of the story is it is okay to not be in the mood for something and to put it away for a better day. It would have also been okay had I tried again and still felt the same but glad I could count this as a win for me.
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This book is gorgeous! I love the cover, the finish, the spine...I just didn't love the story🫣 ok, ok, I enjoyed it for sure, I liked it actually...but is it one I'm going to reccomend? Probably not. I feel like this would make a great movie because it really does feel like your reading something from Disney. It's a fairytale, and has all the fairytale vibes. I loved that aspect of it. I loved the little dragons, and the fancy dresses, but idk if I'll be reading it again. I just had mixed feelings about it is all. Felt a little predictable. Maybe if I read the rest of the series I'll change my mind, but overall, it is beautiful, and a fun read, just not a "drop everything you need to read this now!" book...
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