Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Once Upon a Broken Heart

The story is exicting. It has fairy tale vibes. I don't know if it's because I didn't read the caraval series but I had to force myself a little to read until chapter three, after that I couldn't put the book down. There are a few plot holes you have to ignore but it's generally very good. The main character is very sweet, innocent and optimistic and sometimes makes impulsive decisions but fit her personality very well.

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irb0red's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

2.0

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bookfilledcottage's review

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

This was my very first Steohanie Garber and I think I love her!

The book had a beautiful, vivid and whimsical setting that came to life with her descriptions and the characters’ voices.

The main cast was both adorable, and felt really humane: like someone you could have met in real life, put into a world filled with magic.

I found Evangeline very realistic and easy to relate to: someone lovely and brave, who gets pushed ariund by her own feelings, but wants to always see the good in people even though it’s proving increasingly difficult as her circumstances change.

I knew Jacks was big on the bookish sphere and I do understand he has a certain magnetism and charm that jump out of the book to you, which makes it hard not to fall for him.

I felt like the plot was pretty well-crafted, and like it was an exciting and sweet start to a very promising trilogy.

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georga's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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

4.25

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ameydireads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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

Okay, I really liked the dedication!

“For anyone who has ever made a bad decision because of a broken heart.”

Overall, I liked how this book is written. I learned a lot of new words from it. It’s easy to read mainly due to the short chapters and the writing style. The characters are entertaining most of the time. It mainly focuses on Evangeline, Jacks AKA The Prince of Hearts, and Apollo. Evangeline is a heart-broken and naive girl. As she’s also a little insecure, her thoughts are everywhere which kind of frustrated me. Anyway, she goes to the Prince of Hearts to strike a deal to stop her ex from marrying her step-sister. But dealing with a Fate is tricky and in return Jacks wants Evangeline to kiss three people of his choosing and when he says so. Jacks is a very mysterious and quite selfish it seems. One thing that annoyed me was that Jacks’ nickname for Evangeline was ‘pet’. Later on, fortunately, he starts calling her Little Fox which was so much better!

At first, I didn’t understand where this story was going. Some characters get introduced, such as Marisol and Evangeline’s stepmother, and I expected them to have a bigger role in the story but that was not the case. I also feel like the story had some continuity problems which made it hard for me to visualise the story. For example, how can Apollo go on one knee and then take Evangeline’s hands after which he looks down on her? Perhaps Apollo is the tallest guy in the universe? This book is clearly a romance book set in a fantasy world. But I don’t feel like I’ve learned a lot about the background of this magical world, so the worldbuilding could have been better. For example, we don’t get an explanation on how one becomes a Fate. I’m not sure if this will be explained later on or if this was already explained in the ‘Caraval’ series.

It looks like Evangeline’s moving towards her happily ever after, fairy tale love story. But Fate seems to have other plans.

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mssealey8's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was generally pretty good. The main character can be a bit dense at times, and the author really draws out the characters thoughts when solving the minor “mystery” of the story. However, the one major mystery is never given much attention and we are left knowing just as little about the prophecy at the end of the book as we are in the first half. Jacks is definitely the most likeable character despite being the stereotyped “villain”. Hoping the second book not only has better dialogue (some of it did not come across as natural speech at all— very flowery and I’m looking at you Marisol), but gives us some more answers about the prophecy.

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kal517's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-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

4.0

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juliesleseecke's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

Habe alles an diesem Buch geliebt. Ich verstehe, wenn Evangeline für manche ein wenig nervig ist, weil sie so naiv und manchmal etwas leichtgläubig ist. Aber gerade das fand ich total erfrischend und schön und es passte einfach zur Geschichte. Außerdem habe ich die Atmosphäre des Buches geliebt, irgendwie hat es mir den Vibe von Alice im Wunderland und Barbie im Nussknacker gegeben, so schön verwunschen. Ein absolutes Jahreshighlight! Und weil ich nicht warten konnte, habe ich mir jetzt die Folgebände auf englisch bestellt.

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