Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
Published: September 28, 2021
Evangeline Fox was raised in her beloved father’s curiosity shop, where she grew up on legends about immortals, like the tragic Prince of Hearts. She knows his powers are mythic, his kiss is worth dying for, and that bargains with him rarely end well.
But when Evangeline learns that the love of her life is about to marry another, she becomes desperate enough to offer the Prince of Hearts whatever he wants in exchange for his help to stop the wedding. The prince only asks for three kisses. But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’s pledged. And he has plans for Evangeline that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy…
OK, I’m hooked. I’m actually reading the second book already, and I had no clue there was a third until yesterday and now I’m INVESTED. I read Caraval a while ago, like, when it first released and I really enjoyed it. Stephanie Garber does a great job with world building, descriptive writing and keeping readers wanting more more more. Which makes me think I should go back and read the rest of the Caraval series.
But anyway, we’re here to talk about Once Upon A Broken Heart. This book really sunk it’s nails into me and just held me in it’s clutches from start to finish. There were so many great twists and turns, a lot of wonderful plot points and building to climaxes and just really taking the reader on this great whimsical journey.
I had a hard time enjoying Evangeline as the MC she bothered me a TINY bit, but overall I think the story really brought everything together and to life and the way the narrative, plot and writing style all melded together for me at least, characters came secondary in this scenario. The one thing I did enjoy about Evangeline though was that she did feel…more real than other MC’s I’ve read in fantasy. I feel like most fantasy MC’s are broody, sad, mad at the world. But Evangeline had this impulsiveness and just made mistakes like anyone else would.
I have to say, I am extremely glad I started this with two books out, because the way this book ended I could dive right into the second book, and boy howdy am I glad I didn’t have to wait. All of you who had to wait for The Ballad of Never After, I AM SORRY. I’m so sorry you had to wait to continue. In closing…RUN don’t walk to go get this book. It’s WORTH IT.
Rating: 5/5 Stars
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