A review by literaryland_livin
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

5.0

Evangeline Fox may have found out that not every fairytale ends in happily ever after. Yet she still manages to be more determined than ever to change that. The Prince of Hearts is the cause of her present complicated story. He has managed to become  Evangeline‘s tormentor and also her savior. Against everything she has learned these past days she once again finds herself in a partnership with Jacks battling magic. The new magic gripping Evangeline is nothing like her previously experienced love spell. No, not at all. This new spell is a deadly curse with Evangeline right in its crosshairs. 

To put this simply I absolutely adored this entire book! When I first picked this up I had no intention of completing it in one day, let alone in a matter of hours! But I nonetheless did. Garber without a doubt brought all the whimsical wonder to this world in this installment. Jacks and Eva continue to shine as main characters. Evangeline while still being deeply a believer in love, has managed to lose a tad bit of her naivety. However, she still trusts far too easily. Lucky for her, she has our morally gray Prince of Hearts ready and willing to slay anyone who dares harm her. Jacks continues to give the reader emotional whiplash with his hot and cold demeanor. He’s unapologetically flawed and self serving, but would kill for Eva and I love him for it. The tension between the two absolutely pulls you in and keeps you flipping pages waiting for the slow burn to catch fire. The added depth and development we are given of these characters’ through the pasts exploration drew me deeper into this world. The new revelations and plot points showcased their long held trauma and heartbreak. This transfers over to the reader as the ending leaves you broken and craving for that happily ever after that Jacks keeps saying doesn’t exist. I much like Eva refuse to submit to this fact! Just give me book 3 and answers now!