REVIEW : Once Upon A Broken Heart By Stephanie Garber



BOOK :- Once Upon A Broken Heart (Once Upon A Broken Heart#1)
GENRE:- YA Fantasy Romance
RATING:-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (*)
PURCHASE:- UK Cover Edition 
ADD TO : Goodreads 

(*) :- Rating affected by my treacherous emotions and heart but you will get an honest opinion and criticism in review.

SYNOPSIS:-

How far would you go for happily ever after?

For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings . . . until she learns that the love of her life will marry another.

Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic but wicked Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.

But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game—and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after or the most exquisite tragedy. . . . 

REVIEW:- 

Isn't it the most amazing feeling ever when an author announces a spin off series for you favourite character from one of their previous series? Luckily , I was on the recieving end of that happiness many times but there was just something more special about Jacks The Prince Of Hearts from Caraval Series, getting his own spin off with Once Upon A Broken Heart Series.

For everyone familiar with Stephanie Garber's Caraval Series, Jacks is not someone who needs introduction. His kiss is deadly to everyone except his One True Love. Hate him or Love him , he was the guy that intrigued everyone. No one could figure him out. Not even the readers because Stephanie stubbornly refuses to bless us with his POV😂 honestly it is a Pandora box i would love to open any day.
*I could be two feet into my grave and i would still haunt Miss Garber for Jacks POV.*

Moving on before i confuse non-Caraval readers more than i already did.

Once Upon A Broken Heart is about a girl named Evangeline Fox, who makes a deal with A Fate to save her first love from what she believes to be a spell someone put him under. One should never make a deal with a fate, for, it would never end well. But.. Evangeline Fox was a girl who believed in fighting for her Happily Ever After. She is willing to make a deal with The Prince Of Hearts, because she believed he was the only one who could understand her pain and rightfully so. The problem is, any bargain made with Jacks The Prince Of Hearts, makes one pay more than what they bargained for. 

The fates weren't dangerous because they were evil; the fates were dangerous because they couldn't tell the difference between evil and good.

Evangeline Fox is unlike any other main female fantasy characters. I would say she's the fantasy version of what a Disney Princess would be like. Hopeful, Romantic, Strong-minded, Polite, Brave and Curious. She radiates such main character energy as the story progresses 😂one thing leads to another and she's suddenly a princess and another thing leads to another and she's now a fugitive. I am impressed Stephanie Garber wrote all those sequences with such a natural flow and they never seem overwhelming. 

I believe there are far more possibilities than happily ever after or tragedy. Every story has the potential for infinite endings.

As much as I love Eva, Jacks is the one who lights up Once Upon A Broken Heart. Whenever Jacks appears on page,the book just gets so much better and so damn entertaining. His sarcasm, his wit, his nochalance, his elusive behaviour and ofcourse his hidden intentions, everything about his entire existence breathes that much needed action into OUBAH. I mean,we the readers,try to figure out why he EATS APPLES? We know many things about Jacks but we don't know a single story behind it or even the why he does what he does? We don't know anything about Jacks except that everything he does is to find his One True Love. Even that is an assumption,because we don't have any other explanation for anything he does. 

Jacks gave her a smile that was all sharp edges. A drop of blood fell from the corner of his mouth, and something godforsaken washed over his expression. "Hurt is what made me."

We needed more of Jacks than we got. He was criminally underused as he always is. I just hope we see him used to him complete potential in The Ballad Of Never After.

The scenes that truly made OUBAH a 5 Star read are the scenes between Evajacks. OH.MY.GOD. Their Dynamic? Delicious. Their Chemistry? Contrastingly Beautiful. Their Comedy? GOLD. They have such an old school dynamic but there is a dash of uniqueness that sets them apart. They elude such chaotic energy that it left me in splits 🤣 They are what a Disney Princess× Disney Villain would be.

If you think I'm jealous because someone else got to stab you, then you're right.

Stephanie Garber's writing as always is beautiful and magical. She doesn't try to dump you in a Fantasy world , she tries to fascinate you with little details and then lures you in with a thin thread. Once Upon A Broken Heart takes place in the same universe as Caraval Series. The new readers can enjoy OUBAH without wondering about anything else and the old readers are introduced to a different part of the caraval world which is unlike everything we have known previously and it made sense. Even in real world, the regions differ despite being a part of same nation. We do see a few characters from The Caraval Series and some of them are the cameos that made me pat myself in the back for catching them😼

We explore The Magnificent North , which was a place teased in Caraval Series. And it was magnificent alright. I can't particularly declare i love The Magnificent North. The place is shady,no doubt about it and it hides too many of its tales. I did enjoy the imaginary of The Magnificent North. Stephanie Garber grew so much as a writer as apparent in OUBAH. 

As entertaining as the plots Stephanie Garber writes, i truly believe her books are in a dire need of second lead couples. Most Fantasy Romance books have it and it would add so much more for people who might not be interested in the main characters, but are interested in the plot. The supporting characters all made their impression and i am looking forward to them playing a bigger role in the next book. Especially Choas because i couldn't believe we now have Vampires in this world lol. That was a pleasent surprise indeed 

Once Upon A Broken Heart is a tale of Heartbreak, Deceit, Secrets, hidden intentions and everything is not what it seems.


THAT CLIFFHANGER made me question my entire existence. I quite literally re-read the book 3 more times as soon as I finished it so i can wrap my head around it and how do you think that went? Spoiler Alert:- It didn't work. I am still questioning my entire existence.


The Cover is absolutely stunning.



Comments

Post a Comment