Article contributed by Tessa Qi
This book was absolutely magical! As a huge fan of the Caraval series, I was beyond thrilled to hear the announcement of Once Upon a Broken Heart and can’t wait to dive into the astonishing world of Caraval again. For the new readers who haven’t read the Caraval series (although you really should), don’t worry, this book doesn’t contain any major spoilers from the previous series. It is in fact, focused on a brand new character, but also an original character that everyone loved!
Filled with unrequited love, whimsical plot twists, and broken hearts (which you probably have guessed from the title), the tale follows a young girl’s seemingly bad decision to make a deal with a prince who might not exactly be the Prince Charming that she had initially hoped for.
Meet our new character Evangeline Fox and our beloved and wickedly charming Fate Jacks’ in a new story intertwined with magic, romance, and betrayals. After all, what’s a story without spells and broken hearts? Our main character Evangeline is a young woman who believes in love at first sight and indulges in fairytales and wants nothing more than to find her own happily ever after. But like every other heroine, happily ever after doesn’t come easily. After crossing paths with Jacks, the Prince of Heart himself, a bargain was made which led her into a whirlwind of passionate and shocking events. There, Evangeline encountered problems where her decisions will either result in her own happily ever after or perhaps the greatest tragedy of all time. And it all returns to the same question: how far will you go to achieve your happy ending? This really reminded me of Once Upon a Time on some level.
Garber cleverly linked this new book with her previous series without giving too many spoilers, but somehow making Caraval readers feel nostalgia at the same time. Readers of the Caraval series will be delighted to see some familiar faces and cameos from our favourite characters. However, there is the potential of *minor* spoilers (but wouldn’t affect your general reading experience) so I would also recommend reading the trilogy first before diving into the world of Evangeline and Jacks (because why not)!
Evangeline is a strong and bold young woman who cares about others very much. She might seem to be incredibly naïve at first, a girl who desires her one true love and a happy ending. She might come across as childish, but who didn’t once believe in happily ever after? Her character developed a lot throughout the book (love a good character development), and I can’t wait to see how she continues to grow in the next book. Her optimistic attitude is one of the reasons why everyone adores her; she is clear about what she wants in life, and she is not one to shy away from tempting fate. This leads us to our other character, our beloved Fate, Jacks. Still as mischievous and charming as ever. Seemingly to be recovering from a heartbreak, Jacks is already planning his next devious acts. Truth be told, I wasn’t completely a Jacks fan when I first read the Caraval series (sorry Jacks fan), but this book focused on him in more detail since he’s the main character and delved into his character a bit more. We all know there must be something more hidden under that attractive yet poisonous mask, and we got to know more about his story as well. I am pleading to have some POVs from Jacks! They would be so much fun to read! I loved Jacks and Evangeline’s interactions throughout this book. It is so nice to see charismatic Jacks again, but in a whole new light and perspective. Their banter is absolutely delightful to read and you definitely can tell there are some sparks going on over there. Could the Prince of Hearts finally find his one and only Princess?
As always, Garber’s building of the magical world is magnificent. The plot twists were insane to say the least, I can say I definitely did not expect some of them to happen, leaving me shocked to my core. The pace of the story was relatively fast, which I found was nice in general, although there were some bits and pieces which were a bit confusing, but they’ll probably be explained in future books. The writing is fluid, and you won’t even realise that you have already finished half the book once you started. Yet again, we are left with a shocking cliffhanger and it’s going to be another long year before we get to know what happens next—why Stephanie why?! You will probably find me curled up in a corner reading the Caraval series over and over again from now on till the next book comes out to overcome the pain of waiting. Nevertheless, it has been such a pleasure stepping inside this spectacular fairytale and reliving the magical experience once again!
Last but not least, shout out to the gorgeous covers! They are simply breathtaking!
Once Upon A Broken Heart is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of September 28th 2021.
Will you be picking up Once Upon A Broken Heart? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
A new series about love, curses, and the lengths that people will go to for happily ever after.
Evangeline Fox was raised in her beloved father’s curiosity shop, where she grew up on legends about immortals, like the tragic Prince of Hearts. She knows his powers are mythic, his kiss is worth dying for, and that bargains with him rarely end well.
But when Evangeline learns that the love of her life is about to marry another, she becomes desperate enough to offer the Prince of Hearts whatever he wants in exchange for his help to stop the wedding. The prince only asks for three kisses. But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’s pledged. And he has plans for Evangeline that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy…
