Book Review :: Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
ISBN: 152938091X
Series: Once Upon A Broken Heart #1
Also in this series: The Ballad of Never After, A Curse for True Love
Published by Hachette, Hachette NZ
on 2021-09-28
Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Young Adult
Source: Hachette Publishing NZ
Find at Hachette NZ
Goodreads

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…

Last updated on 13 February 2023

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Once Upon a Broken Heart is a magical joy.

Much like the wonders of Caraval, Once Upon a Broken Heart was a magical ride. Somehow Stepanie Garber takes fantasy to a new place; it’s not high fantasy, it doesn’t often involve blood, guts, or heavy romance. It’s a delicate fantasy, with quirky features, storybook elements and creative settings, without losing the action, the intrigue, the mystery and the spectacular characters.

In Once Upon a Broken Heart, protagonist Evangeline makes a deal with the Prince of Hearts, Jacks. He’ll stop the wedding of her true love to her step-sister if she kisses three different people, at the time of Jacks’ choosing. She makes the deal. The wedding of Luc and Marisol is stopped but at a price.

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

When Evangeline is revived from 6-weeks as a stone statue (the price), her courage and compassion are recognised by the Princesses of the land, and she’s sent to the Magnificent North to be their ambassador. Luc has disappeared, so Marisol tags along, and the two step-sisters are wrapped up in a world of magical balls, chipmunk-sized dragons, fairytale castles and, of course, Jacks and the rest of the fabled Fates.

Once Upon a Broken Heart follows Evangeline as she and Jacks keep coming in contact with each other, as she starts to make good on her side of the deal, as she meets Princes and vampires, all while trying to uncover the real reason Jacks needs her.

My thoughts on Once Upon a Broken Heart

Well, I loved it. I think I read it in three sittings.

One of my favourite things about Stephanie Garber books is the creative ways she uses conventions that we all know – magic, dragons, fairytale elements, Fates, lore – and somehow turns them into something fresh and new. The plot of Once Upon a Broken Heart is twisty and turn-y and you never quite know what you’re going to get.

The characters were superb and I actually liked Evangeline. Jacks was * phoar * and villain-esque but lovable at the same time. Is he evil and manipulative? Yeah. But is he also a cinnamon roll? I mean, it’s too early to say, but quite possibly.

“Heroes don’t get happy endings. They give them to other people.”

The map in the front of the book is beautifully drawn (shout out to the cartographer!), and I loved flipping to it every so often to reimagine the setting and the places that Evangeline and Jacks were adventuring off to. The magic in this book is so much fun, too, and while I didn’t think it was that intricate, it was fairytale-like and somehow that made it all the more wonderful to read. Its simplicity made it more magical.

Also, the dragons the size of chipmunks really got me. How do I get one?

If you’re into Young Adult fantasy,  magic, fairytales or mini-dragons (disclaimer: they don’t actually feature that much), then pick up Once Upon a Broken Heart! And if you’ve read the Caraval series, then you’ll recognise the world and some of the characters, too. Though you don’t have to have read Caraval to read this.

Have you read Once Upon a Broken Heart? What did you think?

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Thank you to Hachette NZ for this review copy, which I received for free. This does not affect my review, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.