Stephanie Garber- Once upon a broken heart and The Ballad of Never After

By Amie Kealy

*Beware, spoilers ahead. Tread carefully, those who dare to read.*

Where do I begin with this book review, other than with the fact that I CAN’T WAIT for 24th October when the final instalment of the trilogy is released! 

Having never read any Stephanie Garber books before, I was looking forward to reading a new author. Once Upon a Broken Heart was such a refreshing read, with its fairytale-esqueworld that made me nostalgic for my days as a child. It had just enough whimsy that it felt like reading a children’s book, but enough intrigue and intensity between the characters that my adult passion for reading was decadently satisfied. Filled with sizzling chemistry, a lovers-enemies relationship, Fates, vampires, royalty and magic, this series is a MUST for any fantasy lovers with a penchant for brooding male leads and a slow burn romance.

Although I will say the first book in the series was a little slow to get into, I couldn’t put the second book down. Short of pulling an all-nighter, I stayed up late into the early hours to finish The Ballad of Never Ever. And as someone who loves their sleep, sacrificing hours of sleep needing to know how the book ended, is compliment of the highest calibre. The juicy tension between Jacks and Evangeline was enough to make me want to throw my book out the window in anticipation. I admit, their time spent in The Hollow, a secluded little village where Jacks takes Evangeline to recover, was filled with so much wistful longing, that my own heart started to ache alongside Evangeline’s in her desire for Jacks. 

And who wouldn’t desire Jacks, the handsome, cold yet intriguing Prince of Hearts, with a tragic backstory and centuries of unrequited love? For a character who seems determined to hate, and be hated by, our female heroine Evangeline, his continual search for his one true love makes us all that much more devastated when he sacrifices his second chance at true love to bring Evangeline back to life at the end of book two. This particular scene had me sat on the end of my bed, wishing I had my own set of arch stones so that I could wish that Jacks and Evangeline would finally confess their love for each other. I mean, you don’t bring someone back from the dead unless you feel some type of way about them, at least. If you know you know.

Needless to say, I am (not so) patiently waiting for A Curse for True Love to come out, the third, and final, book in this trilogy where the fates of all the characters will finally play out, once and for all. And I can’t be the only one secretly hoping for Apollo, Evangeline’s previously cursed husband, to meet the fate he deserves after making Evangeline forget her time in the North (and therefore Jacks!). I’m also hoping that Stephanie will finally reveal the reason for Jacks’ constant diet of apples of varying colours. Roll on 24th October, where hopefully all my wishes will come true.