I didn’t immediately realise Once Upon A Broken Heart was a follow on in the Caraval universe and it’s been a while since I read that trilogy so possibly elements of this book were wasted on me. While this book seems to rely on the fans of Caraval, it doesn’t necessarily cater for new readers (or people like me who have the memory of a fish). For example Jacks and Donatella, it’s so vaguely brought up and never really properly discussed, because it relies on the reader already knowing, which can isolate some.

Evangeline is likeable enough but also frustrating at times, she knows to be weary, she knows to be careful, she is warned to be careful, but she still does reckless things and doesn’t listen. That said, I did still like her. Jacks, I’m sorry but I don’t get it. I know mean, moody tortured boys with sculpted bone structure is the thing, but I don’t get it, he might be a sweetie buried deep down but the smug, smirk, leaves a path of distraction and misery to mask the pain, it’s just not a trope I find healthy. I would like to know more about Apollo, we only glimpsed who he was briefly but it’s something I would like to explore and see whether he grows when he’s more ‘fleshed out’. Lala too is someone I really enjoyed and needed more of.
I enjoyed getting to know more about the Fates, the world building and the imagery it presented. I do wish the lack of consent during certain moments could be greater condemned or, y’know, just not included - 2 men are forced into romantic situations without any control or consent, and no, Jacks touching Evangeline but not hurting her when he could, not as romantic as it was made to be :/ The reveal at the end is a little obvious, but this isn’t a thriller or a mystery, it’s fantasy, it’s light escapism.

This book is pleasant and I didn’t enjoy it (and yes I have already preordered the sequel) but I will also say that I don’t know if the book was absolutely necessary. Not enough really happens, it feels distorted and a little aimless at times (I mean, vampires? VAMPIRES??), Jacks doesn’t feel any deeper a character, Evangeline, while nice, isn’t anything new. This is a book for Caraval fans but I don’t know if it adds anything to anyone new readers.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review

We begin our story introducing our main character Evangeline. Evangeline has rose gold hair and she finds out that the love of her life, Luke, is soon to be married to her step sister, Marisol. Evangeline believes that Luke would never do this to her as they both felt the same way, she believes he might be under some kind of spell and so she prays to the Prince of Hearts, Jacks, to stop the wedding. He will do so but in exchange she promises him 3 kisses to whomever he chooses at any point in time. She agrees. However when she gets to the wedding venue, all of the wedding party is turned to stone. Distraught by the sight, she gives herself up and drinks from a goblet that will turn her to stone and release those who are stone from the curse. She does so thinking that Luke will find a way to save her but Jack warns her that Heroes don’t get happy endings.

When she is finally cured from this curse, she thinks not a moment has gone by but finds out that Marisol is pleased and Luke is nowhere to be seen. It seems that in turning herself to stone to save everybody else, she has become something of a folk hero. She has become the country’s sweetheart and as such her step mother has turned uncharacteristically nice to her due to the fame that Evangeline has brought upon the family. Evangeline starts to feel guilty however because she was the one that initially turned them all to stone in the first place and now she is being in the spotlight for something she feels awful about.

Evangeline and Marisol eventually catch up with each other and Marisol tells Evangeline that she and Luke tried to marry two weeks after the disaster happened and Luke was mauled by a wolf and has not been the same since. Because of these failures that were known to be her weddings, she is now known as the cursed bride and her reputation follows her wherever she goes.

Due to her new fame, she is invited to court to meet the newly anointed Empress Scarlett Dragna and her sister Princess Donatella. They reveal that they actually have a favour to ask of her. That she might go to the north lands and represent them as Prince Apollo is looking for a Bride. Evangeline agrees, hoping for a new life away from her old one and starts to look forward to a new start. She invites her step sister along feeling guilty about her role in her becoming the cursed bride and hopes that this may be a new start for them both.

When they arrive in the North Lands, the press decide that she is a wildcard in the bid for the Prince's heart. Evangeline is eventually reminded that the North is where the Fates reside but she isn’t too worried about seeing Jack here but alas, he is there and makes it a point to see her. He tells her it is time for her to repay him and that she must kiss the prince but before doing so, he paints her lips with his blood and tells her that it has magic in it, so she must kiss Apollo. Evangeline eventually gets the time to introduce herself to the Prince but he seems very dismissive of her. But she makes it clear that he will give her the time of day and so she kisses him. Prince Apollo ends up kissing her back. Apollo proposes to her the next day.

Jack takes Evangeline to her next kiss, an old matron. Once again, Evangeline has to agree to kiss the old lady on the hand and now the matron is under Jack’s power. He forces her to take them to the vault and show them a particular item. Once the matron shows him what he is looking for, the magic starts to wear off and she immediately snaps at Evangeline that she must be stopped at any means from opening the gates.

Evangeline wants answers to what the kiss does. Jack confirms her suspicion that the kiss makes them love and obsess over her. She worries about her wedding and marriage to Apollo and wonders if he really does love her or if it's magic. She tells him to break the magic but he refuses. He relents though and tells her, once she goes through with it he’ll break the magic but tells her that Apollo will not thank her for doing so and the heartbreak will destroy him.

They get married and after this happens, she goes in search of Jack and tells him to break the magic. He gives her the means to do so with a kiss and reminds her that Apollo will not thank her for this. Evangeline heads to their marriage suite and finds Apollo in bed ready. She takes a drink and finds it very bitter. Upon kissing him, he slowly snaps out of it and yells at her asking what she has done. He kneels over and collapses, feeling his heart she notices it is still and she screams for the guards. The guards burst in and come to the conclusion that she murdered the Prince so she is taken to a cell, her husband is dead and she helped Jacks do it.

Jacks finds her and tells her this was not his doing and that she herself was poisoned as well. Now they must find out a couple of things, the oil that Prince Apollo used, was it poisoned? Who poisoned the decanter full of wine that she drank? and who the real murderer was. They head to the local vampire clan and pay them a visit to see if they can help but they are in the middle of an initiation ceremony. And guess who they find there, Luke, the ex lover of Evangeline and Marisol. It is revealed by Luke that Marisol gave him something to drink and when he did indeed drink it, he became obsessed with her but the true person he loves is Evangeline. He begs Evangeline to let him out of his cage. Evangeline lets him out despite Jack's warnings and Luke goes after her but bites Jack in her stead.

They go to a mausoleum to hide out, and if he can make it till sunrise and not feed, he won’t turn into a vampire. Jack tells Evangeline to leave but she cannot just leave him there. They talk the night through to both get their minds off of things. They make it through the other side and head to Jack’s house where Jack falls asleep. She picks up the morning newspaper and reads that Crown Prince Tiberius has fallen in love with Marisol at first sight and that they were to be married the next day. Evangeline starts to put the pieces together and realises that Marisol used a love potion on both Luke and now Tiberius.

Evangeline failing to wake up Jack, she runs over to the Palace and finds Marisol in her old rooms, and Marisol hides her. They eventually talk and Marisol promises that she had nothing to do with Prince Apollo’s death. Believing her sister, she decides to come clean about what happened with her wedding to Luke and how her and Jack were involved. Marisol loses it and screams for the guards saying that Evangeline admitted to killing Apollo despite Marisol just saying that she would never give her up.

Tiberius takes her in for questioning. Luckily though, Evangeline has an antidote for the love potion and he takes it but in addition to that, it also becomes a truth serum. Tiberius reveals that he knows that she didn’t kill Apollo because he did. He was trying to kill Evangeline and not his brother but now he must find a way to put the blame on her. He is a part of the society that prevents the gates that the matron was talking about from opening. She asks Tiberius for one last thing, not to kill her himself as Apollo would not have wanted it. He calls for the guards but Evangeline asks him to tell the truth about Apollo’s murder, he does so because truth serum and the guards take him away.

Evangeline essentially becomes acting Queen of the North Lands and one of Apollo’s guards tells her that he is not dead but instead in some sort of stasis. He reveals that he had a magician try to pull Apollo’s memories but he could not, meaning that Apollo was still alive. Evangeline comes to the conclusion that this is what Jacks had wanted. He wanted her to become Queen, he planned Apollo’s fake death and made her feel guilt over it. He was responsible for everything that had just happened to her and now she will no longer be his pupper and vows to find a way to save Apollo and get retribution for him.
This book was a great read. I read this via audiobook and I found that the narration really brought me into this world. Having read Stephanie Garber’s previous series, Caraval it was nice to see Scarlett and Donatella even if it was for a short while. I loved that we got a more involved story with Jacks coming out of it. I always knew that Marisol was up to no good and it turns out my instincts were right to not believe a word that she said.

Overall, 4 out of 5 stars.

I loved Stephanie Garber's previous series so I thought I would give this a go, and I really loved it!

The only thing is that the formatting on NetGalley was really off, which made it a little harder to read.

This book was beautifully written, with lyrical descriptions and lots of emotions. The plot was very well structured, and you could see everything coming together in the end. But that cliffhanger! I need the sequel asap

Honestly…this was a slight let-down given how popular this author and the character Jacks seem to be. I’m not really into circus themes so I didn’t read ‘Caraval’, but OUABH sounded amazing, and when I checked it out I found so many people getting excited about a Jacks spin-off. So, I guess I had quite high expectations.

There were so many great ideas and lovely magical touches that were the precise brand of whimsy that I love. These amazing aspects just got overshadowed by more annoying features, such as frequent bouts of clunky writing. This was particularly frustrating because there were plenty of other passages that clearly show Garber can write well. There was also the odd metaphor that made no sense no matter how many times I read it.

Evangeline’s narrative voice was also very repetitive and both her and Jacks’ character developments felt a bit limited, especially given how long the book is. (I also could not stop cringing at Jacks calling Evangeline ‘Little Fox’.) A side character named Lala was really interesting though!

Plot-wise, there were some big surprises and I was genuinely enjoying the book at times, but other parts felt a little predictable or just overlong. The pacing was a bit uneven, mostly near the end where it felt like everything suddenly piled on. I totally thought I was only at 60-70% worth of plot but then spotted my Kindle progress bar at 94%! Is there too much for a standalone? Who knows. I’m interested in the sequel (out Sep 2022) – as I said, there were some genuinely great surprises and passages of lovely writing – but I don’t know if I’m invested enough to read it in the immediate future.

Overall, OUABH wasn’t really what I’d hoped for but I know plenty of people enjoyed this one! It’s intriguing and if you enjoy inventive whimsical magic, potions and characters who aren’t what they seem, you’ll likely have a good time.

Trust me when I say I'm incredibly embarrassed about how long it took me to read and review this book. I'm so sorry.

I think I kept putting this one off because I adored the Caraval trilogy. I own multiple copies and that series holds a special place in my heart so I was so apprehensive going into this new series in case I over hyped it.

I loved this book and I wish I had read it sooner, the only thing I have going for me is that I don't have to wait too long for the sequel haha.

These characters and Stephanie's writing style are just perfect. It grabs hold of you and has you never wanting it to let you go.

Easiest 5 stars I've given in a while.

FIVE STARS!! I am a huge Stephanie Garber fan and this new book did not dissapoint!!

Not only does she give us a story that we can really sink our teeth into but the covers are absolutely gorgeous!! They are definitely books you need on your shelves.

Once upon a Broken Heart is full of magic and action and twists and turns that have you reeling.

After finishing this book I have been left with the biggest book hangover and can not wait to read the next installment.

Once Upon A Broken Heart is such an addictive read. It's not one you can think oh I'll just read a chapter and come back to it tomorrow. It lures you in and captivates you mind and soul so you read the entire thing in one sitting and then still want more. Absolutely spellbinding.

Enjoyable but not as good as the previous trilogy. I found that main character was quite annoying and this was off putting.

I really enjoyed the Caraval series, so I was excited to be gifted an eARC of Garber's new book that is set in the same world.
Overall, I thought it was an okay read. It felt very whimsical and I enjoyed the fairy tale feel to it. However, everything seemed too convenient for me. It was great that we got to meet Scarlett and Donatella again though!

It was a fun read but I didn't enjoy it as much as the Caraval series. II think it would be a good fit for younger YA readers.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Firstly do not read this book if you haven’t read the Caraval trilogy and plan to as the ending is given away very early on.

My thoughts on this book, it offered the magic I was looking for in the Caraval series so in that respect I found it more enjoyable. However I found the writing to be repetitive at times, we could have a lot more story if that was cut out.

At the time of reading I was expecting more from it so felt let down. On reflection this book was light-hearted and fun. It had elements I never expected and now look forward to the second book.

I absolutely adored every single thing about this book and simply can‘t wait for the next! The writing, world building and characters we’re superb and I quite honestly couldn‘t put it down! this is one for the favourites shelf for sure!

This book was very nice - and I know it has since found a loving audience in the YA Romantic Fantasy genre. However, I need higher stakes and more tension in my novels (regardless of age). I never truly believed anyone was in trouble, or that anyone was romantically linked, as it all felt incredibly safe.

I had similar thoughts regarding Caraval, and I've since decided Garber is probably just not the author for me.

Love love loved this book!!!!!
Stephanie Garber does it again, I absolutely cannot wait for the second novel!

I wish I could give more stars for this book. I loved this book so so much!!! It was completely enchanting and I didn’t want to stop reading it.

After the Caraval trilogy I didn't think I could ever read anything like that again. Jacks definitely wasn't my favorite character, but he is amazing. I loved seeing things about Scarlett and Donatella.

Anyway, the story. I love that there was more magic, and something new aswell. i loved the writing as I did with the Caraval trilogy. I guess all I can say is just, read this if you loved the other books, and enjoy the ride!

“Hope is a difficult thing to kill, just a spark of it can start a fire.” 

- intricate & unique magical system
- morally grey-ish hero

There’s a whimsy and a singular magic about this world that makes me eager to read the Caraval series. Jacks and Evangeline are sweet enough and give a compelling love story that is lyrical and intriguing filled with adventure, discovery, mystery, betrayal, deception, and magic.

I was very disappointed with this book.

After reading and enjoying the Caraval series, I expected to enjoy this one but I just didn't. The pacing was off, I thought that it seemed to be written for a younger audience than intended and the main character was incredibly naive and just did not learn from her mistakes.

I don't think that I will be reading any more YA books from this author

Once Upon A Broken Heart is a fairy tale-like YA fantasy set in magical world.
The good: It's very fast-paced and dynamic, there's no draging, not many descriptions.
The bad: The magic is a little vague. I wish it all had more context. The side characters are one-dimensional, very much fairy tale-like, and the main character is so naiive that it was painful to read. The banter is a bit cheesy and the whole story felt kind of rushed. I found the character's names too sugestive.
All in all, quick and fun, but with no depth.

I haven’t binge read books in a while but when I picked up OUABH I just couldn’t put it down! I missed Jacks (he was my favourite in Caraval) so much!

It caught me a bit off guard that the story began just before the events in Caraval and then continued after the end of Caraval with the Fates being exiled. I had not realised that all 3 Caraval books took place in only 2 months!

This being said, I was happy that there wasn’t any insta love between Jacks and Evangeline, especially because Jacks was still recovering from getting his heart broken by Tella.

I loved their relationship and the ending of the book left me upset I didn’t have book 2 already! So many things happened in the last third of the book and I really can’t wait for the sequel to come out!