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Once Upon A Broken Heart



[A Quick Note: I have multiple copies of this book and the other books in this trilogy. I just couldnโ€™t resist getting the special dust jackets. Please donโ€™t judge me. LOL. To be fair, I adore Stephanie Garber. I would buy anything she writes at this point. If you havenโ€™t read Caraval, I would recommend reading that trilogy before this one. You can find a review for the first book in that trilogy HERE.]


โ€œ๐‘ฐ ๐’ƒ๐’†๐’๐’Š๐’†๐’—๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’†๐’“๐’† ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’‡๐’‚๐’“ ๐’Ž๐’๐’“๐’† ๐’‘๐’๐’”๐’”๐’Š๐’ƒ๐’Š๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’Š๐’†๐’” ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’ ๐’‰๐’‚๐’‘๐’‘๐’Š๐’๐’š ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’“ ๐’‚๐’‡๐’•๐’†๐’“ ๐’๐’“ ๐’•๐’“๐’‚๐’ˆ๐’†๐’…๐’š. ๐‘ฌ๐’—๐’†๐’“๐’š ๐’”๐’•๐’๐’“๐’š ๐’‰๐’‚๐’” ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’‘๐’๐’•๐’†๐’๐’•๐’Š๐’‚๐’ ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’Š๐’๐’‡๐’Š๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’† ๐’†๐’๐’…๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ๐’”.โ€โ€”Stephanie Garber

Jacks. Jacks. Jacks.

*sigh*

I feel like that could be my entire review? Just me repeating Jacksโ€™ name over and over again? Haha. Okay, but all joking aside, this book reads like a fairytale. Itโ€™s magical and whimsical and has all the vibes. It was difficult to put down. I probably could have read it in one sitting.


I read this after reading the Caraval trilogy, so I was introduced to Jacks beforehand. After Caraval, I was DESPERATE for more of him. His character intrigued me SO MUCH. My heart broke for him, despite how morally gray he was, and I knew I was going to need MORE of him. Iโ€™m so glad I read Caraval first, because I feel like it enhanced my reading experience. I was able to understand exactly what made him how he is in OUABH.

I know some people say you can read either trilogy first butโ€ฆI do not recommend.


But yes, back to Jacks. His character was, once again, perfect. He is morally gray to perfection. You hardly know what heโ€™s thinking, or what heโ€™d going to do because heโ€™s unpredictable and he always surprises you. He could literally be the worst and Iโ€™d still love him.

Okay, maybe youโ€™re sick of hearing about him soโ€ฆon to the rest of my review.

Ready to be transported?? Welcome to the Magnificent North. Evangeline journeys there by ship to attend a special event known as Norte Neverending, where the prince must find a bride. If that doesnโ€™t scream charming romance, I donโ€™t know what does!! This new setting was a nice change to Caraval and helped enhance the world building overall. Stephanie has a way of writing that makes every location in her books vibrant and lush. From Fortuna Castle, to Wolf Hall, to the Spires, to the graveyard den of the vampires where Chaosโ€™s underground kingdom lives I was absolutely wowโ€™d.


Evangeline has a big heart and a drive to do the right thing. It doesnโ€™t always turn out the way she hopes. Itโ€™s her optimism that makes her so special and untarnished. While her character arc isnโ€™t HUGE in this book, she does have a slight arc. She goes from being super gullible toโ€ฆslightly less gullible. As in, she finally starts to think more strategically against Jacks, and mistrust him more than she does in the beginning. Soโ€ฆhey, thatโ€™s progress right??


I think thereโ€™s a reason this book is so popular. It really is a solid YA story that can be enjoyed by all audiences. While I didnโ€™t love it quite as much as the books in the Caraval trilogy *sigh* I still really enjoyed it and canโ€™t wait to dive into the rest of the series.

๐‘ด๐’€ ๐‘น๐‘จ๐‘ป๐‘ฐ๐‘ต๐‘ฎ: ๐Ÿ’โญ๏ธ

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