Love and Curses

Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

Publication Date: September 28, 2021

Summary from NetGalley:

For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings…until she learns that the love of her life will marry another.

Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic, but wicked, Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.

But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game — and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy…

ARC provided by Flatiron Books via NetGalley for an honest review.

Confession:

I did end up liking this book quite a bit, but I did struggle with it a bit too. I think some of that was on me though, as I was reading it when I was a bit stressed out about work and so probably didn’t give it the attention I should have. But I do think that if you liked the Caraval books than you will like this one too.

Evangeline is an interesting character. She is in some ways nieve, but also smart and brave when she needs to be. I’m not sure she always makes the best decisions, but she also owns up to that fact herself. I did like her with Jacks and with Prince Apollo. I haven’t really decided which one to root for in the next book.

Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, continues to be his sly and enigmatic self, just like in the Caraval books. I was kind of hoping that we would get some of the story from his point of view, but alas it was not meant to be. I still enjoy him whenever he is on the page though. Not sure what he is really up to with Evangeline, but I have had fun trying to figure it out.

We do meet some more of the Fates, as well as having cameos of ones we have met before. I loved LaLa, the Unwed Bride, who was a hoot whenever she appeared. I hope to see more of her. Chaos was also a fun time. He is a very interesting Fate, and I would love to learn more about him.

The story itself was pretty good, but it seemed to be missing that special something that made the other books so good. Again, this could just be me and my mood while I was reading it, but I never felt truly connected or swept up by this story. I did like the setting though, it was fun to go to a different part of this world. I don’t think you really need to read the other books to enjoy this one, but it would help. I didn’t feel that the world is explained enough in this book for anyone who hasn’t read the others, which may prove confusing. Also the ending was a bit abrupt. I kept thinking I was missing pages or I skipped a few, but no, the book just sort of stops. Hopefully this gets fixed, but if not that’s ok too.

Overall, I did like the book, and I do recommend it to you especially if you liked the Caraval books. I also recommend it to those of you that like fairy tales and happily ever afters. I’m not positive that Evangeline will get hers, but I will be rooting for her in the next book.