I was given this as an early review copy via Netgalley. I was excited when I read the Blurb and when I requested it and received it I was totally bouncing.

Give me something that sounds like it could be a fairy tale and I am sold . I was totally pulled into this story from page one.

Evangeline is a wonderful character. She starts out slightly unaware of the world and maybe a bit to trusting in the ide that magick must be real.
Watching her grow and really understand that she has her own magic is brilliant.

However her interactions with Jacks and the other fates are also amazing.

Totally amazing read.

In a bid to save her first love (maybe even her true love) from marrying someone she believes to have cursed him, Evangeline Fox prays to the trickster of fates, the Prince of Hearts, to stop the wedding mere minutes before it’s to take place. Jacks is more than happy to oblige Evangeline, who ultimately gets more than what she bargained for, becoming famous, selected as an emissary of the Empress of Valenda and setting sail to a whole other Kingdom. Evangeline doesn’t know whether she’s got the best or worst of fortunes, but what becomes clear, is the Prince of Hearts has her right where he wants her. Once Upon A Broken Heart spins a tale of untangling a web of secrets, hidden agendas and long buried magic, so that the world as Evangeline knew it, will never be the same again.

I must stress from the offset, I personally found OUABH required reading the Caraval series first. There are umpteen spoilers for the series within, and a lot of context in OUABH is richer by knowing the events of Caraval, particularly Finale, with the likes of the fates and Jacks’ recent heartbreak. So I’ll repeat: read the Caraval books first!

Once Upon A Broken Heart follows the perspective of Evangeline, who is an interesting protagonist, toeing the line of being both a little bit good and a little bad throughout, which completely reeled me in. One minute she annoyed by doing things she knew to be morally wrong, but then she equally felt guilty and cared about the consequences. But most of all she was endlessly hopeful, which won me over again and again. In fact, I’d say Evangeline was like a blend of Caraval’s Tella and Scarlett. She has the hopefulness of Scarlett then the recklessness and charm of Tella.

Then there’s the wicked Fate at the heart of the story. Unfortunately, we don’t follow Jacks perspective, which I really hope changes in the sequel, but I really loved what Garber has done with him here. Jacks was his usual mischievous self, who never shows his hand and does his best to resist his inner soft side that longs for his true love, especially with his recent heartbreak. It was great to be reunited with him. Plus I LOVED his makeover! No spoilers, but gosh I can’t wait to see his fanart.

I could cheerlead about the supporting characters ALLLL DAY. They were awesome! There are newcomers in the form of Evangeline’s cold stepmother and meek cousin, then the cocky Prince Apollo and some as yet unencountered Fates like the Unwed Bride and Chaos, all the while having brief cameos from Scarlett, Tella and Poison.
It’s super impressive how well balanced and developed the new characters were; they have their own stories that appeal just as much as Evangeline and Jacks’, and I’m invested in the answers to them just as much as the main story.

Evangeline and Jacks as a couple is beyond visually pleasing. I’m just itching to see all the fanart that’s going to come in the coming months. Seeing them grow on each other, finding commonality in the pain of previous lost loves, and then their banter and humour, was a joy to read. Garber definitely captured that exciting buzz that blossoming friendships to maybe-something-more *oh so well*. I’ve got the fuzzies people!

The plot was always moving with a lot of strands interwoven well to tie together by the end. It’s my favourite kind of whirlwind, whimsical escapism. I did feel it was not quite as fairground fun as Caraval (as it’s obviously not set in a game) but it still has Garber’s all in all comforting and fairytale style. There’s curses, spells, potions, sparkly castles and people being turned to stone. It was dazzling and beautifully written. Additionally, I really enjoyed the atmosphere of mystery and intrigue throughout the book; too many times I found myself battling with my instincts telling me to believe or not to believe something, yet I still found myself pricking my finger on the spindle wheel, because I still had hope against all better judgement it would turn out rosy.

We are left with a cliffhanger but it’s not the most agonising of ones (thank you, Stephanie!!) instead I’m left excited theorising where the story goes next. There are questions of where characters stand, where characters have went, what mysterious magic is still to be discovered and how that’ll effect Valenda. There’s certainly a lot of doors – arches *wink wink, see what I did there?* - to go through and explore for the sequel.

Once Upon A Broken Heart is an incredibly fun and exciting expansion of Caraval’s world. I couldn’t put it down; I loved the story, the characters, Garber’s lyrical writing and I’m excited, curious and bouncy for more. I can already feel the sequel will be so much fun. I can’t wait to get my hands on a hardback copy! The cover has done the story true justice, well done Hodderscape!

Thank you kindly to Hodder & Stoughton, @readeatretreat and Netgalley for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for this honest review.

Once Upon A Broken Heart quickly envelopes you into this new world and I did not feel like I did not understand things about this universe due to my lack of Caraval knowledge. I absolutely loved how like Evangeline the reader was kept guessing about who was Good or Evil and also that blurry area in between right until the very end of the book. The end of the book nearly had me begging Stephanie Garber to hurry up and write a sequel.


https://pjsandbooks.wordpress.com/onceuponabrokenheart

I've been looking forward to Once Upon a Broken Heart ever since it was first announced.
You don't need to have read the Caraval series to read this one, but I would recommend it, as we get to see a couple of the characters from the series plus you'll know a whole lot more bout Jacks, The Prince of Hearts! Who was one of my favourite characters from the Caraval series and one of my all time favourite villains.

Get ready to step into a fairy-tale, because that's exactly what this book is!
Evangeline Fox is a young girl who falls in love with a boy who is suddenly set to marry Evangeline's step sister.
Heartbroken she turns to the Fates to make a deal to stop the wedding, so she can get her love back and hope for a happy ending. Of course things don't go exactly to Evangeline's plan when she turns to The Prince of Hearts for help. Now she owes a seriously dangerous Fate payment, one that Jacks is determined to claim to further his own agenda.

The Prince of Hearts is everything a villain should be, I love his snarky remarks and that he seems to be carefree and cold. I do hope to see a softer side to him in future books, he is the villain I think we all want to have a happy ending. I know I certainly do.

I've always enjoyed Stephanie's writing style, this one was no different. It was fast paced, surprising and I adored all the new characters. I definitely got some series Cinderella vibes in some parts of this book, wicked step mother, and step sister which I think was really placed. I think this is my favourite book that Stephanie has written, and I feel like this series is only going to get better!

I loved this so much I finished the whole thing in one day! I wasn't expecting the ending at all, which makes me even more eager to have book two. Which I've seen may be released next year (2022), which seems far too long to wait for my next Jacks fix!

I can't wait to get my hands on a hardcopy, the hardbacks look stunning.
Thanks you so much to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an E-arc of this, I will most definitely be hounding you next year for the sequel.

The twists and turns of this story are amazing! Couldn’t stop reading. The characters are complex and I simply loved the action and the romance.

Stephanie’s style of storytelling is amazing and very rich. Jacks and Evangeline are great, loved their dynamics.

Can’t wait for more of Stephanie’s books.

Arc generously provided via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

Where to start reviewing this brilliantly written book by Stephanie Garber - ok lets start there.

THE BOOK WAS BRILLIANT.

Before I start a more in depth review I have a confession, come closer gentle readers, you will be surprised by this but here it goes....

I haven't finished the whole Caraval Series yet - yes I know its bad but I heard you didn't have to read them to read Once Upon a Broken Heart as even though there are SLIGHT spoilers it didn't ruin the Caraval Series as Jacks got a book in his own right.

OK now that you have got over your shock let me tell you a little about Once Upon a Broken Heart and why you all should have it on your TBRs/Pre-Order Lists.

Stephanie Garber's style of writing is captivating, it draws you into the world of Valenda and the North with the Fates, Magic, Witches as well as myths and legends surrounding the North. I loved being in the world and seeing it through Evangeline's eyes and how she navigates it with Jacks.

Ok the Characters - obviously you all know that the main characters are Evangeline Fox and Jacks the Prince of Hearts. We follow Evangeline on her path to find love, but it doesn't go to plan when she makes a deal with the Prince of Hearts. I really liked Evangeline, she grew more as a character throughout the book and you know that something is special about her, its hinted but you don't know. There are things left unsaid throughout the book and you are kept guessing whilst being fed some answers - I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT when a books does this.

So Jacks - I can see why everyone loves him. I don't know 100% what happened with him in the Caraval series but there are hints. It has made me want to finish the series more so I know why I love him so much. He is a Fate yes and meant to be out for what he wants, but you can see that there is some depth to him. There is something that he is searching for and I am hoping that it is something good. He is another Bad Boy that I have added to my favourite list.

So the plot - its following Evangeline on her journey from Valenda to the North after she has been left heartbroken by who she thinks is the love of her life. She takes her stepsister Marisol with her but let me tell you that is a whole other ball game. As I mentioned previously Evangeline has made a deal with Jacks and when she travels to the North he calls in those markers.

As I mentioned I absolutely loved this book. It was fast paced, there was action, humour, friendship, love and the book being slightly mysterious too. I can't wait to unravel what happens next in the next book.

This is my first book by Stephanie Garber and it was so so good!!
I didn’t realise this was a spin-off from her Caraval series, which I haven’t read yet but most definitely will! It just goes to show that you don’t have to have read Caraval to enjoy OUABH!

Love, broken hearts, unrequited love, mystery, vampires, sexy brooding Fates … seriously, what more could you want?

Evangeline Fox grew up with stories and legends about Fates and fairytales. So when she finds out that the love of her life is engaged to be married, she’ll do anything to stop the wedding, even if that means striking a bargain with Jacks, a Fate also known as the Prince of Hearts.
The price? Three kisses.
But of course, it’s not going to be that simple. This will either end with a happily ever after, or in tragedy…

Uugghhh this book!!! It was so beautifully written, the world-building and descriptions made everything so magical and come to life.
Evangeline was such a fun mc! She’s feisty, adventurous, and lives by her own rules. And then there’s Jacks *le sigh*, who is very much the broody, wicked trickster, and I’m so intrigued to find out more about his storyline! Uufff now to wait for book 2!!

(There were some formatting issues with parts of the arc where ‘letters/notes’ were unreadable, but I could guess what was said, and it didn’t stop me from loving this book!)

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an arc copy of this book!*

Was so whimsical and fun - Stephanie has grown so much as a writter and I already can't wait for the next installation- jacks is bae now 😍😍.

Ill be recommending this to anyone who will listen and ive already ordered multiple copies for my collection

A familiar but soooky coming of age fantasy romance which keeps you gripped from the start. If you’ve read Caraval then you’ll love this!! It’s set alongside the same plot by and follows on where the trilogy ends. Hopefully the next instalments are just as good just like the original trilogy

Isn't the cover of the UK edition phenomenal? The story inside lives up to its beauty too! I would describe "Once Upon a Broken Heart" best as a coming of age fantasy romance that feels happily familiar (and sometimes spooky).
There is a more modern vibe to it too as it is more fleshed out than your average fairytale story but it still is written like one and that is pretty entertaining. The plot is connected to the "Caraval" series, which I haven't read (because of reasons). In my opinion, it'll be more exciting if you have but I still really enjoyed myself.

I really wanted to love this book but honestly, it had the potential to be an extremely gripping, don't want to put down book, but it just wasn't for me. I could never quite see where the plot was going, which isn't a bad thing necessarily, but I always felt I was trying to play keep up with this book and work out what was happening and why. Overall I'd say it's well written but I did have to check this was the first book in a series because there's cliffhangers and there's how this book ended. Overall, I'm giving it 3.5 stars rounded down to 3 because I felt a bit let down at the end.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First let me say that when I got this book I immediately went back and read the original Caraval trilogy as I was told you first meet Jacks in that story, and I am glad I did.

This book takes place shortly after the trilogy ends but the focus is on a new main character of Evangeline Fox, a love struck teenager that is convinced her 'one true love' Luc has been bewitched to marry her sister. She makes a deal with the fate, Prince of Hearts - Jacks to stop the wedding.

What follows is a magical journey through the 'North' kingdom where lies and treachery are rife. Evangeline must try to deal with the consequences of her deal with Jacks by working with him towards a mysterious goal.

I will tell you now that I BINGED this book and read it in a day, I was totally and utterly sucked in. The world building, as with all of Garber's books, was fantastic. I could almost see it playing as a movie in my head.

However, I do think the pacing was a little off in this book and I think that is because it is clearly the first book in a series so there was a lot of set up. The first half of the book was slow but the pace built up towards the end, but then it just ended.. definite cliffhanger which means much waiting to find out what happens.

The MC was a touch naive but then 16/17 year olds are naive and I think us cranky oldies forget that! Jacks was his usual self which I loved, he was my favourite character from the original trilogy however I have big fears that Garber may change the whole 'he has only one true love' trope and it will be coincidentally be Evangeline in later books which I really don't want to happen! I could never quite decide through this book whether the 'attraction' was purely his powers and that he is a fate (and they constantly warn throughout these books that they obsess but don't really want humans) or if he is actually having the feelings.

In conclusion I thought this was a good start to the spin-off series and I look forward to reading the next installments and will try to will Garber into writing what I want rather than what she probably has planned!

Oh my goodness where to begin with this book! Stephanie Garber has created a world that is somewhere I just want to jump into and never leave again!
This book is perfect, it has magic, miniature dragons, love and curses, this book has it all! (I mean I was sold as soon as I read the words dragon!)
The characters are flawed and relatable, especially Evangeline the main character, she just wants love and a family and really who can fault that!
After making a deal with a fate named Jacks (despite knowing that is not the wisest decision) to stop the wedding between the man she loves and her stepsister, Evangeline finds herself thrown into the world of magic and fairytales that she has grown up listening to.
This book is nonstop from the start, it’s constantly moving and making you turn the next page as you need to find out what happens next!
One of my favourite characters was LaLa and I genuinely hope we see more of her (I would love to read a spin off about her character!!)
Judging from the cliffhanger of an ending I’m guessing this isn’t the last we will see of Evangeline, Jacks and Apollo and I will definitely be preordering the sequel as soon as it’s announced!! I need more!!
This has been my favourite read of the year so far. Thank you for my advanced copy.

My Rating; 4.5 Stars
Once Upon a Broken Heart is an engrossing tale about Fates toying with mortals and innocents who are nothing but pawns in their game. Talk about a magical book that kept me under its spell from the first word till the last. I never realized that all it took for me to come out of my reading slump was to read this book. Fates did a number on me, and I’m terrified and excited to see what awaits me in the next book, which is not going to be released any time soon.

(Thanks a ton to Hodder & Stoughton, NetGalley, and the author for this DRC!.)

I adore the cover here! As someone without any of the previous books to match up to, I definitely think the UK (with the archway, bright colours and the knights) has blown its competition out of the water in the cover wars.

ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART is the first book I’ve read by Stephanie Garber, and I really enjoyed her writing style. That said, obviously, that means I haven’t read the original CARAVAL trilogy, and I actually didn’t realise ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART was a spin-off/ sequel until after I’d finished reading. Clearly, you can enjoy this without knowing anything from the original books. That said, this has a cliff-hanger ending which left my eager for more, so I might go back and read CARAVAL etc. while I wait for the next instalment. Can any readers of CARAVAL weigh in here? Is it worth reading?

Evangeline is a great heroine. She’s brave and optimistic but makes some truly stupid decisions. She’s impulsive but she does try to think things through, and she does accept her mistakes and d her best to set them right. I really liked her strength and optimism.

I found Jacks an interesting character (and from what I’ve seen now, I’m guessing he was a bit of a favourite in the CARAVAL books?). A little bit of the broody YA male, but in a good way, because he actually has the mysteriousness to back it up. I spent much of the story trying to figure out his angle on what was going on, and how much (and to what ends) he was manipulation Evangeline. I’m still on the fence about his game and his motives, which makes me excited to see where the story goes next.

Something else I didn’t realise when reading (the cover sucked me in and I honestly only skimmed the blurb, okay?) is that ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART is the first in a series. That made the ending a bit of a shock for me as I was expecting a resolution. The ending felt quite the cliff-hanger, but I’m invested enough that I’ll search out the sequel when it’s time.

Firstly, I would like to say a huge thank you to Stephanie Garber and the publicity team at Hodder & Stroughton for sending me this e-ARC of Once Upon A Broken Heart.

There were so many incredible new characters in this book as well as some familiar faces who I was very happy to see again. Evangeline Fox is a captivating main character whom I particularly liked especially due to the fact that she wasn’t a perfect character who always made the right decisions which made her more relatable as likeable. In my previous posts about the Caraval trilogy I have mentioned the allure of Jacks and it was no different here. Whenever Jacks is involved in a chapter I find myself completely bewitched by him and he is possibly the most interesting character I have read about. Although I cannot go into too much detail about the course of this book, I can say that Jacks does not disappoint!

As always, Stephanie Garber’s writing is beautiful particularly in her descriptions of Evangeline’s appearance and the clothing of many of the characters. Despite the beautiful writing style, I did not feel as immersed in the story as I did in the Caraval trilogy. When reading Caraval I felt completely involved and engaged in the atmosphere of the book but unfortunately I did not feel as connected to it in Once Upon A Broken Heart however I still greatly enjoyed the book.

Something I loved about Stephanie’s past books is that nothing is as it seems and this idea continues into this book as she keeps us on our toes throughout the duration of the story with a few excellent plot twists along the way.

I am beyond honoured to have an early look at this incredible book and I cannot wait to see what Stephanie creates next and I am already bursting for more Jacks content! Once Upon A Broken Heart will be published on 28 September this year and I encourage every fantasy lover, whether you’ve read Caraval or not, to get on and pre-order this incredible book.

I really wanted to love Once Upon A Broken Heart, especially considering I really liked the Caraval series, but sadly this one fell a little wide of the mask for me. I didn’t like the main character, and I found the story to be a bit repetitive. There were also some formatting errors which made parts of the book a bit difficult to read.

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber was quite an anticipated read for me simply because I’ve seen so much publicity about this book and a lot of praise for the author in general. However I must say, although regretfully, that this book didn’t quite meet my expectations.

It’s a high quality book in the sense that the writing is good and it’s an interesting plot. Nevertheless, I simply couldn’t stand how naive and clueless the main character appeared. If it had been just every now and then, I could’ve taken it. I’m all for giving characters a chance to grow throughout the book. But this main character took naive to another level and I found it quite easy to predict how the choices she made would turn out. I’m not saying it was easy to predict the plot itself because there sure was some plot twists I didn’t quite seem coming. But I’m afraid that the foolish actions of the main character took away my attention from the events in the book.

I didn’t realize until after reading the book that the events in OUABH may have something to do with whatever happened in Stephanie Garber’s Caraval trilogy which I haven’t read. So, I may have liked the book more had I read her prior books and gotten to know both the world and her way of writing a bit more beforehand.

I’m still planning to read Caraval because I want to give Stephanie Garber’s books another chance. I won’t decide what to thing of an author after reading only one book. But this book in particular was unfortunately not my cup of tea. Not saying I regret reading the book because there were definitely parts I did like.

***I received an ARC of These Hollow Vows through NetGalley (thank you Hodder & Stoughton) in exchange for an honest review.***

5 stars and more!!!!

Welcome to the Magnificent North!!

An breathtakingly phenomenonal story.
Original, Gripping, truly flawless!!
Enthralling and bewitching - can you tell I’m lost for words??

The magic of Caraval and so much more!!! I just can’t praise it enough.

Sounds like a cliche but I just could not stop reading. My favourite tropes; my favourite kind of characters; Vampires! Curses! Fates! Broken hearts and unrequited love; Romance and passion and thrill; Royal intrigue and fantasy - this book has it all. This is a beautiful story based around a young lady, Evangeline who makes a dangerous deal with a fate.

It’s definitely the best book I’ve read all year.

I will come back and write a full review closer to publishing date but highly recommend ore-ordering this phenomenal story about the Villain with a broken heart 💔

Thank you Hodderscape for my Advanced Readers Copy (on NetGalley and physical book) and the gorgeous little Fox pin. Looking forward to all my special editions arriving.

Curses be on you and your cliffhangers.
A peasant girl called Evangeline Fox goes from rags to riches by way of the cursed Fate Jack of Hearts. Along the way, she has to battle love-struck Princes, an evil stepmother and a weird guard who seems to pop up unannounced.
With clever yet realistic characters and a wonderful world back story this is certainly one for fans of epic fairy tales and a heroine who is not a warrior but good and kind at heart.
Loved it.