Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

11 reviews

noellegrace8's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was a fantastic read and fantastic sequel. 

I will say, the end absolutely stressed me out and makes me worry that book 3 will not be as good because the last chapter of this one introduces some tropes that I don't love. My problems were that, I guess we're not really shown much what Apollo's true self is like up to this point, but having him do what he does to Evangeline is awful, and we're given no context as to how he has power to take memories? Aside from that and a few moments when all the ancient side stories were a bit hard to follow, this installment does not disappoint. There were multiple times that I audibly gasped or exclaimed while reading, both during plot twists and momentary Jacks x Evangeline moments. It is freshly surprising and worth every bit of your time. I'm not even sure how to give it the praise it deserves.

I give Rebecca Soler's performance 4.5/5⭐️. See book one's review for explanation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and War

marg19's review against another edition

Everything is happening at the same time, the characters are annoying and I simply don't care about them. Didn't enjoy the first one, but gave a chance to this one, not worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

I don't recommend for someone who has a "slow brain" and takes time to understand info. Also people with low attention span

zoeelora's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

britwalsh16's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

It was such a good book! Couple things I called, and somethings I was so wrong about! But even then, all the twists at the end, I did not see any of them coming! I probably should have, but damn, they just kept shocking me! And that damn cliffhanger! Where’s book 3 already?! Gahh!!! I need to continue this story already!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Evangeline and Jacks return as wary enemies in this sequel. Even with Evangeline being determined to solve her own issues, it seems that Jacks have other plans. As the twists and revelations unfold, one gets caught up in the twisted love story once again. Garber does a tremendous job of repeatedly warning both the reader and Evangeline not to trust people and placating those fears at the same time. Every twist manages to be a surprise and a knife to the gut. Can't wait for the third book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

anton13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Like always Stephanie manages to deliver a magical, gut wrenching, heartbreaking, heart warming and plot twist full story that keeps you hooked from start to finish. I absolutely love how she writes and this is another stunning example of how amazing her writing is. I love that you get to know more about Jacks in this book and that you see the relationship between him and Evangeline evolve. The ending had me on the edge of my seat. I did not see any of it coming and I was shook. Idk how I’ll survive not knowing what happens till the third book comes out…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Confinement, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

amre23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Classism

Minor: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Alcohol

pooogsz's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It was good, easily read it in half a day

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Torture, Stalking, Abandonment, and War

katvou's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence and Grief

Minor: Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

hazychapters's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

First of all, let me just say that Jacks carried the whole freaking thing all by himself.  Jacks is much more present in this book than in the previous one (this is also why I found the beginning of book 1 a bit long). I adore him, he is truly an exceptional character who remains true to himself. But, I still have a lot of questions about him, his past, the Fates, and a lot of other things. 

The plot is direct and quick, very quick, maybe too much sometimes. I enjoyed the first 80% of the book, but unfortunately, the end felt rushed. Basically, during the whole book, we collected so many questions, and by the end of it, we don't have all the answers. We need answers Steph! I remember I had little trouble with the girly princess aesthetic of the first book; it's still the case with this one, but I enjoyed it a little bit more because I knew I was going back to that atmosphere again. Or maybe because it was a bit darker (not that much but still a lot for this worldbuilding) with all these quests and curses and everything. 

As for the plot, I need more info about the characters. Except for Jacks (but it's because we know him for a while now), the other characters are plain. I didn't like Evangeline for most of the book, because she's too childish for me (and a bit stupid 😬). The only thing I love about her is her relationship with Jacks because each of their interactions was ✨priceless✨ and the angst 🤌🏻 Right now I just need to reread some very precise scenes because I already miss them together 😩

Overall, for me, it's a nice book to read if you have no expectations. Everything is rushed, there's no deep explanation and details about this or that, the characters are okay, and Jacks is THE must of this book (and that's why I'm reading it). But it's a pleasant story if you want to read something light and relaxing 😌

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail