Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart)

I'm in my 40s but I'm a big fan of YA fiction and fantasy fiction - however, Once Upon a Broken Heart reads like a book written for nine year olds. It's entirely possible to create magical worlds in a sophisticated way (The Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman proves that). But the writing here is just not very good - alternately syrupy, simplistic, childish and, sometimes, just plain bad. As an example: 'And Evangaline hated to consider what else Agnes might do. If her stepmother tossed her out onto the streets, Evangaline had nowhere to go. Evangaline probably should have thought about that before she turned away the suitors'. We get it - her name is Evangaline! The repetition and clunky wording gets irritating very quickly. There's a lack of worldbuilding and it reads like 'and this happened, and then this happened.' Another example: 'I'd always hoped Nocte Neverending was real,' Evangaline said. 'But I was never sure.' 'Well it is, and we want you to go.' It's the sort of dialogue you get in children's books. To be honest, I gave up as it was boring me to tears - something a book about magic and romance shouldn't really do.

Blown away. That's all i can say! Thank you so much to @HODDERBOOKS and @netgalley for the chance to read this book in advance of its release. I had preordered this title long before I saw it on NetGalley and was intrigued. Once upon a broken heart is filled with twists and turns that I never saw coming and that not sure I'll recover from anytime soon! My first foray into the world created by @stephanie_garber was an incredibly successful one and I have a feeling that she has just jumped her way into the category of one of my favourite authors. Her writing style is witty and beautifully descriptive, pulling together the image in your head with ease. The ending has floored me and I legitimately face palmed when I realised it was the end, I wasn't ready for it! I need more Jacks in my life! 🍏

I went into this book with fairly neutral expectations and I finished it within 2 days, I loved this book and I just couldn’t put it down. Jacks was by far my favourite character in the Caraval series and I’m so glad he’s now getting his own books. Unlike the Caraval series, I really enjoyed both the characters and the storyline of this book. I found the story continued to flow throughout the book and I was always eager for what was around the corner, I also feel like more of the characters in this book had promise, they were more interesting and I actually enjoyed reading their parts and wanted more of them. I don’t think there were many things I disliked about this book, I’m really not a fan of the love triangle, I find that to be overused so much these days that it just annoys me now. There isn’t necessarily a love triangle in this book but I felt in my heart there was and in the next book, I hope the couple I like either get closer or that any possibility is just knocked on the head before I get too invested in them. I don’t think you need to read the Caraval series to read this book, but it does give you a good insight into what has happened to Jacks just before you first read of him in Once Upon A Broken Heart. I have absolutely no problem giving this book 5 stars. From a couple of chapters in I just knew this was going to be one of my favourite books. I would completely recommend this book to anyone who loves to read Fantasy Romance. It’s such a good book.

I thought this might be a fun easy read but it was quite embarrassingly badly written. I haven’t finished it but got a fair way through, maybe because the text was so large. I think I might be criticising because my expectations were different and I thought it might be kind of YA fantasy but this I would have enjoyed more at the age of ten. So if you’re ten, go for it! But not for me.

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.