The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! š
bellebookcorner's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.25
āIt had taken all the heartbreak, all the almost love and the wrong love, to know that this love was true love.ā
Ā
Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy has finally come to an end with this book!Ā
This is one of my anticipated reads of 2023 and Iām quite satisfied with this ending.Ā
Ā
Itās been a wonderful filled with loveable characters, enchanting world building, captivating fairytale vibes that comes with curses, magic, vampires and Fate.Ā
I really enjoy my time following Evangeline right from the 1st book and I admire her for always believing in true love and her heart.Ā
Ā
I also like discovering new information regarding the origin of the curses and also knowing more about the Vale family.Ā
However, this book also comes with new questions without giving direct answers at the end which annoyed me a little bit.Ā
But after reading the epilogue (from various different editions), Iām guessing the author has something up her sleeve for another adventure so I'll let this one slide!Ā
Ā
As much as I like this book, I kinda wish thereās more of Jacksās POV instead of Apollo. It feels like weāre seeing less of Jacks in this story, I wouldāve loved to see more of him and Evangline together.Ā
Ā
Overall, this book serves as a good ending and I absolutely love this trilogy as a whole. My favorite out of all 3 books would be The Ballad of Never After!Ā
While I'm sad that I have to say goodbye to my two favorite characters, Iām glad to see Jacks and Evangeline finally got the ending they deserved.Ā
Ā
āYou are the love of my life.Ā
You are mine, Jacks of the Hollow.Ā
And youāre not going to be the end of me.ā
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Violence and Death
Minor: Torture and Cursing
mistytm's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Loved the book, I felt the other two in the series were significantly better and ACFTL felt very rushed, but any extra pages with jacks and Evangeline (and LaLa!!) are always welcome.Ā
I think this series wouldāve done better as a duologyĀ
with OUABH and Ballad both having a major plot as their focus, ACFTL was mostly tying off loose ends. I think Evangeline losing her memories was unnecessary, we were already familiar with Apollo being quite awful and she didnāt have any character development from losing them so I didnāt see the point. I wish we couldāve gotten more information on the history of the north, of the dates and how jacks and LaLa came to be ones, and exploration of jacks and Evangelineās life as an immortal and a human instead of 200ish pages on the memory plot. Nonetheless I enjoyed the book and had no problem getting through it in 3 days! Ā
I think this series wouldāve done better as a duologyĀ
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing
booktechnerd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This started out better than it ended. The ending sort of fell flat for me and felt so rushed and a bit anti-climactic. Actually, the whole book felt rushed, if I'm being completely honest. I needed more and while I'm excited for another book in the Caraval world, I'm a little disappointed by this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death and Death
Minor: Cursing, Torture, and Death of parent
tays_books's review
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, and Infidelity
Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, Alcohol, Self harm, and Torture
elowynlk3's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Ā Ā Ā >>šš¹š¦spoilersš¦š¹š<<
Jacksās heart adventure was quickly done which I appreciated. We saw LaLa who I love and the Hollow again which I adored. All the little Easter eggs to her memories at the beginning were lovely. we did have to wait a minute to see Jacks again but it was scream-worthy when we did. Appreciated the pacing with Evangelineās memories. Really liked the introduction of new things like vengenceās cuff and the tree of souls because little magical lore based things are some of my favorite parts of Stephanie garbers writing, it just feels so whimsical and magical and a place I would love to visit and explore. I was afraid we would be done with those little lore-based trinkets since it was the last book in the series but she did not disappoint š. Suuuuch a feel good ending with minimal untied ends. THE APPLES GOT ME THOUGH ugh sneaky sneaky steph got me good with this like that was one of the main questions ive had and this girl just leaves us looking at us andĀ smirking and holding up her hands lol. I guess we can dream and wonder abt it ourselves but the lack of finality and clarity with those freaking apples haha. He did say he wonāt need them anymore tho soā¦ā¦..hmm. Poor sweet bby jacks though went through it. His dialogue sometimes tho hIt dIfFeReNt like they were quotable pieces of gold. And aurora being behind his prince of hearts-ness was pure evil I was upset. Good writing choice tho to give us background to that AND tie it to current people yes maāam. LOVED Evangelineās message abt her chasing other peopleās dreams she read about in stories and how those dreams were never hers, they were just collections of dreams sheād heard abt. Poetic masterpiece. This book really took me for an absolutely wonderful, magical, and heat wrenching/warming adventure and I loved it. Great stuff š. This is my favorite series right next to TOG so if that doesnāt say something idk what will. Ty Stephanie for this work of art.
Jacksās heart adventure was quickly done which I appreciated. We saw LaLa who I love and the Hollow again which I adored. All the little Easter eggs to her memories at the beginning were lovely. we did have to wait a minute to see Jacks again but it was scream-worthy when we did. Appreciated the pacing with Evangelineās memories. Really liked the introduction of new things like vengenceās cuff and the tree of souls because little magical lore based things are some of my favorite parts of Stephanie garbers writing, it just feels so whimsical and magical and a place I would love to visit and explore. I was afraid we would be done with those little lore-based trinkets since it was the last book in the series but she did not disappoint š. Suuuuch a feel good ending with minimal untied ends. THE APPLES GOT ME THOUGH ugh sneaky sneaky steph got me good with this like that was one of the main questions ive had and this girl just leaves us looking at us andĀ smirking and holding up her hands lol. I guess we can dream and wonder abt it ourselves but the lack of finality and clarity with those freaking apples haha. He did say he wonāt need them anymore tho soā¦ā¦..hmm. Poor sweet bby jacks though went through it. His dialogue sometimes tho hIt dIfFeReNt like they were quotable pieces of gold. And aurora being behind his prince of hearts-ness was pure evil I was upset. Good writing choice tho to give us background to that AND tie it to current people yes maāam. LOVED Evangelineās message abt her chasing other peopleās dreams she read about in stories and how those dreams were never hers, they were just collections of dreams sheād heard abt. Poetic masterpiece. This book really took me for an absolutely wonderful, magical, and heat wrenching/warming adventure and I loved it. Great stuff š. This is my favorite series right next to TOG so if that doesnāt say something idk what will. Ty Stephanie for this work of art.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Cursing
Nothing too graphic with the violence but there two times throughout this book a vampire kills some people Evangeline finds. As far as cursing, he** is used but in moderation, not many times, and bit** is used I think twicebookishflower's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Self harm
Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Cursing, and Child death
chronicacademia's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Stalking, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Torture, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy
coeecat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Murder, and Cursing
sarah_loves_books's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Blood, Confinement, Animal death, Death of parent, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Torture
eberzy's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This whole series was incredible. Every single book was a binge read for me. Love love love the entire concept of fairy tale with a twist.Ā
I loved all the scenes and the outcome of this last book, but like a lot of others have already saidāit was rushed and there are a lot of unanswered questions. I honestly still donāt understand all of the world and the connection between charactersā¦that could very well be because I didnāt do a reread or recap before this last book. BUT, like fairy tales, I didnāt have to understand it and not everything had to make sense for me to love it. Stephanie is a queen at writing tension and romance without being explicit about it. I had to remind myself constantly that this was YA.Ā
Side noteāthe rush with this book was also apparent with the typos. I found at least three, which is a bit frustrating.Ā
I really hope there will be a spin-off or continuation. I will definitely read it. I finished this series without hating anyone. Like most fairy tales, the motives of the āvillain(s)ā are understandable. I could still potentially root for them!
I loved all the scenes and the outcome of this last book, but like a lot of others have already saidāit was rushed and there are a lot of unanswered questions. I honestly still donāt understand all of the world and the connection between charactersā¦that could very well be because I didnāt do a reread or recap before this last book. BUT, like fairy tales, I didnāt have to understand it and not everything had to make sense for me to love it. Stephanie is a queen at writing tension and romance without being explicit about it. I had to remind myself constantly that this was YA.Ā
Side noteāthe rush with this book was also apparent with the typos. I found at least three, which is a bit frustrating.Ā
I really hope there will be a spin-off or continuation. I will definitely read it. I finished this series without hating anyone. Like most fairy tales, the motives of the āvillain(s)ā are understandable. I could still potentially root for them!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Murder and Blood
Minor: Abandonment, Infidelity, Cursing, Death, and Sexual assault
This whole series was incredible. Every single book was a binge read for me. Love love love the entire concept of fairy tale with a twist. I loved all the scenes and the outcome of this last book, but like a lot of others have already saidāit was rushed and there are a lot of unanswered questions. I honestly still donāt understand all of the world and the connection between charactersā¦that could very well be because I didnāt do a reread or recap before this last book. BUT, like fairy tales, I didnāt have to understand it and not everything had to make sense for me to love it. Stephanie is a queen at writing tension and romance without being explicit about it. I had to remind myself constantly that this was YA. Side noteāthe rush with this book was also apparent with the typos. I found at least three, which is a bit frustrating. I really hope there will be a spin-off or continuation. I will definitely read it. I finished this series without hating anyone. Like most fairy tales, the motives of the āvillain(s)ā are understandable. I could still potentially root for them!