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| Once upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber |
Book title:
Once upon a Broken Heart
Author:
Stephanie Garber
Genre: YA
fantasy
Published: September
28, 2021
408 pages
My rating:
4/5
All
stories are made of both truths and lies, she used to say. What matters is the way
that we believe in them.
Evangeline Fox has always believed in happily ever after – but then the love of her life chooses to marry someone else. Desperate to stop the wedding, she strikes a deal with Jacks, an immortal Fate known as the Prince of Hearts. In exchange, he wants her to give three kisses to three people of his choosing. Evangeline agrees, but after the first kiss, she learns that Jacks wants more from her than she is willing to give.
Once upon a Broken Heart is the first book in Stephanie Garber’s young adult fantasy trilogy. The novel is set in the same world as Garber’s Caraval trilogy which I read last year. For some reason, I expected this series to be a prequel to Caraval, but I must have misread some review. It’s actually a sequel and the events take place immediately after the end of the last book of the Caraval trilogy, Finale. Nevertheless, you can easily follow the plot of Once upon a Broken Heart even if you haven’t read the other trilogy, although it is easier to understand some aspects of the world building if you’re familiar with the world and some of the recurring characters.
Garber’s writing style leans heavily into imagery, and especially smells and tastes are at times described in ways that don’t quite make sense – for example “forest-green cakes that tasted like luck and love” or “darkness that smelled of tears and tulle.” While reading Caraval, I found the writing style somewhat distracting, but either this series didn’t lean quite so heavily on weird imagery or I had gotten used to it, because I wasn’t as distracted now as I was a year ago. In any case, I can easily see that Garber’s style might not be for everyone. If you’ve read Caraval and loved the style, you’ll probably enjoy this book as well, and vice versa.
The biggest problem with this book is the plot. Evangeline heads to the Magnificent North to heal her broken heart and to find true love, but she might actually be heading there because Jacks needs her to be there to fulfill a prophecy and open a mysterious Valory Arch which hides a treasure or secrets or monsters (no one knows). Because of all the different plots and subplots, I wasn’t sure where this book was heading until well after the midpoint. I also briefly lost interest when vampires were introduced in the story, but that’s mostly because I don’t care for vampires. A lot happens and the story has a nice fast pace, but as this book has clearly been designed to be the first book of a trilogy, it doesn’t feel like a complete story.
The story itself doesn’t offer many surprises. Evangeline’s and Jacks’s relationship progresses slowly but steadily from enemies to almost friends, potentially lovers. There is a hint of a love triangle, although it’s not really certain any of the characters truly loves the others. Evangeline is a typical feisty YA heroine, but she is also a very trusting and naïve character who often makes questionable decisions. Your mileage may vary whether you find her endearing or frustrating. And Jacks… I’ve said it before and I say it again: I’m not a fan of morally gray love interests. The next two books in the series have a lot to do to make me care for Jacks, because right now I just want him to go away.
I still rather enjoyed this book, and I’m curious to see how the trilogy continues. I’m giving this book four stars. If you like YA fantasy with fairytale-esque worldbuilding, vivid imagery, ancient curses and prophecies, and pretty dresses and morally gray love interests, you might enjoy Once Upon a Broken Heart.
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