Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber Book Review

 

Title: Once Upon a Broken Heart
Author: Stephanie Garber
Publish Date: September 28th, 2021
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Source: Huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy for review!

A new series about love, curses, and the lengths that people will go to for happily ever after.

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…

Penelope's Review

So I'm actually glad that I waited a few days before sitting down to write this review... because now I can tell you how this story will sit in your mind and slowly take over every piece of it until all you can think about is what's going to happen next and if what you wish would happen is what's going to happen, and how all of this thinking and wishing will slowly drive you mad. The first book hasn't even officially been released yet and all I can think about is getting my hands on the second!

That being said, let's get down to reviewing this book. 

Evangeline. First off, love the name - I think it fits her character perfectly. She was so full of hope and whimsical notions and love and my heart just... 💘 Ugh she put into words what every hopeless romantic feels on a daily basis and it was everything I needed and more.

Jacks. Omigod. Need I say more?! Well yes, clearly I do lol. The Prince of Hearts was the sexy, morally grey villain that I NEEDED in my life. I didn't know whether to love him or hate him, root for him or kick him to the curb... I loved EVERY. SINGLE. SECOND. of his character in this book. Mostly because I loved him even when I wasn't sure if I was supposed to love him??? I still have no idea what is truly going on in his head, and it's driving me insane. Props to Ms. Garber for this one - Jacks is one of the best written characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading about.

On that note, I have to add that I have to read the Caraval series - they've been sitting on my TBR for YEARS but I just always seem to pick something else up. Phew let me tell you that is about to change. I am so impressed with Stephanie's writing style and art for storytelling. This world she's created, this fairytale she's spun, these characters she has invested her blood, sweat, and tears into... it was all worth it. A brilliant book from a brilliant author. 

The only thing I can say is that there seems to be this incredible magic system in this world and I just wish that it had been explored more in this book! It absolutely has it's moments at the forefront but I feel like I could have delved deeper. Overall, really excellent book and I can't wait for the next!

Rating: 4.5/5 Devils!