Once Upon A Broken Heart

"Love it!! I need book 2 immediately! This story was amazing, love the characters, such an easy read. I was flying through because I was so intrigued! There was so many pieces to puzzle through to make the big picture. Can I say that I fell in love with Jacks the first moment I met him?🤭. Great read! Highly recommend, especially if you like a school for good and evil, just because it gave off similar "vibes" in my opinion."

"In a world where fates reside among humans, I’ll-fated Evangeline request help from the prince of hearts, Jax. As Evangeline searches for true love, the prince of hearts is anything but the help she wished for. As her life goes from bad to worse, rose-golden haired Evangeline discovers there may be much more she needs to worry about than true love . "

"Where do I begin? This story had all sorts of layers which makes it interesting at times, but at others it took away from the overall plot. The characters seem to act a lot younger than their age, which makes them pretty unlikeable at times. I found myself rolling my eyes at behaviors and comments the characters would make throughout the book quite often. While I did mostly enjoy the story, I will admit that I decided to read this book purely because my friend ripped apart the story so much, I wanted to have a go at it myself. We start off this fairytale with Evangeline, a girl who lost her father and is forced to live with her nasty step mother and step sister. (Sound a little familiar?) Evangeline quickly decides her love interest is cursed, as he proposes to her stepsister Marisol. Without putting much thought into the decision, she makes a deal with a Fate named Jacks, who will in exchange for her kissing 3 individuals of his choice, put a stop to the wedding. Once the deal is made, Evangeline isn’t pleased with how Jacks intervenes and decides to drink a small vile labeled “Do Not Drink” (again, sound familiar?). Throughout the story you follow Evangeline in a story that seems to align itself closely with many familiar Disney tales. While the story borrows some familiar fairytale concepts, it still takes on its own storyline that gives a very young adult vibe. The drama and overarching message behind the story I believe is directed to a younger audience, but I still found it entertaining since some of the events are so outlandish. One of the plot points I found to be most interesting was the idea behind the Magnificent North (yes, that’s actually what it is called). All stories told of the people and events in the Magnificent North are made of both truths and lies, meaning that both fairytales and history are one and the same. Fairytales were cursed, which meant that they could not be written down without catching fire and they couldn’t leave the North. One way to prevent them from leaving the North is that every time the stories were shared, they would change ever so slightly. Some would even forget what they were saying as they were telling the tale. This becomes important throughout the story, because as Evangeline tries to reveal why Jacks is asking for these 3 kisses, she is able to uncover that there is some sort of prophecy she may be involved in. However, she’s unable to get reliable information, due to the curses present in the North. When Evangeline has her first kiss, she shortly forgets about her life she left behind and gets swept up in the fairytale life should could have if she were to be with this new character. However, of course Jacks has more tricks up his sleeve as Evangeline unravels more information as to why Jacks had her share this first kiss. What is he getting out of this arrangement you may ask? Well it’ll take you until about 40% of the book to start getting any clues at to what he is up to behind the scenes. Does he want the fling to last? Was the fling unexpected or is it all a ruse? Just when you think there isn’t room for any other pawns on the table, the author throws in vampires. It’s almost as if this book is supposed to be a compilation of all the themes teenagers growing up in the early 2000s read about, all in one. We have fairytales, magic, vampires, love triangles, forbidden love, all that was missing was werewolves! Well, a character does mysteriously get mauled by a wolf, so maybe we can cross that one off too? The overarching theme in this story is betrayal. There is a decent amount of trickery, back stabbing, withholding of information, and old fashioned betrayal. Every character at some point will betray someone, making it hard to root for any one character in particular along their journey. While I read, I felt like I was reading a gossip column in a teenage magazine. Although it felt so high school, I had to know what was next and how the story ended. Which of course since there’s a sons book and plans for a third, we all know I have to keep reading. Stay tuned."

"Finished January 22nd. Audiobook. "

"⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’ve waited and waited for this to come and it exceeded expectations. Must read but if you want to read Caraval read that first because this has very minor spoilers. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3CxkB03v4d3Ysbb8dUhqMa?si=EWoYYWCqTnq_iNlm2ypQ6Q"

"I’ve waited and waited for this to come and it exceeded expectations. Must read but if you want to read Caraval read that first because this has very minor spoilers.<br/><br/>https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3CxkB03v4d3Ysbb8dUhqMa?si=EWoYYWCqTnq_iNlm2ypQ6Q"

"I absolutely love this series! 10/10 would recommend!"

"This book is best described as a mysterious fairytale. Although it’s supposed to be romantic, it really isn’t… yet (book 2 will determine this). The main character doesn’t learn from her mistakes and questions build, more than answers are found, as you read. I am starting book 2 next. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 "

"This book is a must read for lovers of the caraval series. It was just as magical and has one of everyone's favorite characters (The prince of hearts) in it. so excited to read the second book!💞"

"⭐️⭐️⭐️ - for a fast paced book this couldn’t be more boring to be honest, though I enjoyed Jack and Eva’s dynamic there was just no movement in the plot. I’m surprised at the hype, the book only got interesting at the very end. I shall try ballad of the never after"