- A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart)

I thought I hated Once Upon a Broken Heart the first time I read it. I hated Evangeline’s delicate nature, I hated how hopeful and kind she was to people who were clearly going to wrong her. I disliked her forgiving nature and I couldn’t stand her naïveté. And then I found myself reading it again. And again. My heart raced when I realized there would be a second book. The Ballad of Never After broke my reluctant, cold heart into shattered pixie dust just as I realized why I kept rereading a story I claimed to hate. I wept in a way I’ve never wept over a book when I read those final few pages. I made other people read the series just so I had company in my suffering. It was at the end of Ballad that I realized that Evangeline was not a weak character. Being sweet and flowery and lovely and liking pretty things does not make one a weak character. A forgiving nature and sweetness don’t make a person weak. Someone who can remain kind in this cold world is much stronger than the cruelest warrior. Finally, after weeks of suffering, Stephanie put us all out of our misery and admitted there would be a third book. I put a countdown on my phone so I wouldn’t lose track of this final installment. Over the past few years I went from hating Evangeline’s gentle nature to fully loving her and loving who Jacks has become to suit her. She made him a better character and he made her a better character. As it turns out, I have loved this series from start to finish. No matter how harshly I criticized it in the beginning. I was only jealous of Evangeline for staying so kind while I had let myself become cold under similar pressures. This last book really tied it all together with a gauzy pink bow. It was part adventure, part fairytale, but my favorite part is the one where there is no true ending. Because that is the reality of true love. The truth is, I have my own Jacks. He has bright witty blue eyes that change in depth with his moods and curly blonde hair that turns white at the edges in the sun and a quicksilver smile that could trick the devil himself into selling his soul. My husband is my one true love, and after ten years of marriage and two kids I still feel the flutter in my heart every time I catch him staring at me over his cup of coffee when he should be paying attention to a work meeting. Much like Evangeline and Jacks, we write new pages to our love story every day. Our story didn’t end when we got married, it didn’t end with our first kiss or our first “I love you” or one of our many big fights. Because a true love story is continuous and the ending changes all of the time. Stephanie’s message was clear to me as someone who fought against the odds for true love even when it felt impossible at times. We battled social norms as two loony college kids in love and followed each other across the country from military bases to colleges and then to the alter to say our vows at only 22. The love that was written really struck me as an accurate depiction of what true love really takes: hard work and fortitude. You roll with the punches and make magic out of the small moments when the world feels too heavy. You love each other through every season, good and bad. Cruelty begets cruelty. Only love can help to thaw this cold, indifferent world. My advice? Fall in love, hard; and let it take you to the next page, and the next, and the next…

Overall rating: 4/5 Spice: 0.5/5 Narrator: 3/5 Cliffhanger: 1/5 I hate to say this, I really loved the first two books in the series, but this one was a bit of a mess. A decent amount was a beautiful mess, but other parts…just a mess. Stop reading here if you haven’t finished the previous books. This book picks up directly after The Ballad of Never After, Jacks has just gone back in time to save Evangeline, then walked away from her to save her from his curse. Just when Evangeline decides to follow him and fight for their love, her husband (who she barely knows) shows up and steals her memories. As the amnesic wife to the resurrected crown prince, Evangeline is treated like gold, except when someone is trying to kill her, which is always. Apollo is running around trying to destroy Jacks and keep Evangeline, while Jacks is just focused on keeping her alive. The good news is that we finally get Jacks pov. The bad news is we also get Apollo’s. I can say that I loved every moment in Jacks head and every moment that Jacks and Evangeline were together. If only we had more time with both those things. Instead, we were subjected to Apollo’s pov, a character who is immensely unlikeable and we lost all the tension and mystery. He laid out way too much of the plot in a straightforward and rather boring way. It felt like the author only had half a book left in Evangeline and Jacks’ story, so she started an entirely new series in the remaining pages. The half that was Eva and Jacks was fantastic. Everything tied back to the beginning nicely. They ever explained the whole Tella as his True Love in a very satisfying way. Then there was everything else. Old characters and plot threads were ignored and new ones were introduced and left dangling. If that next series that it seemed to be promised was in the works I may feel different, but as it was it felt weird and unfinished. Cautions: This book has more violence and more disturbing imagery than the previous books. I recommend it for teens and up. It’s a rare preteen that this would be good for. Overall, it was a somewhat disappointing last book to what otherwise is an amazing series. If you can find it, I recommend reading the bonus scenes the author put out. The first one in particular makes the ending even better.

5 ♾ INFINITY Captivating Stars! OH. MY. GOD. - MY HEART! This was my most anticipated book of the year, and Stephanie Garber did not disappoint! He would carry her through more than just freezing waters. He would pull her through fire if he had to, haul her from the clutches of war, from falling cities and breaking worlds... Jacks had been the moon and she'd been the tide, controlled by his impossible force. What a glorious ride that was. I am so in love with this series and all of the characters! This is the type of story telling I love! The reason I love reading! I laughed, cried, chewed off some finger nails (I'm not even an actual nail biter) , got so angry, and was on the edge of my seat to see how this epic tale was going to come to a close. Let me just get out of the way how well Garber wrote these characters, and I want to touch on Apollo I really can't remember the last time I despised a character so much, I mean EVERYTHING this guy did had me ready to jump into my kindle and just take off his head myself. Bastard. Murderer. Monster. He gives major Tamlin Tampon vibes through the entirety of this book and it gets to be enraging - or well maybe that's just me, but when you read it .. lmk. 😉 But let me just gush a little bit about our main man and our main girl here for a min... So, I have seen many people post about Evangeline and how she is so stupid or whatever, but she isn't supposed to be a feisty/stabby character. This is a fairytale setting and she is a character who believes in hope and happily ever after and of true love. I only bring this up now and not in any of my previous reviews because it felt more prominent in this book, her naivety. I do think that for me personally it's because of her lost memory. But all the same I love her and all of her hope. And her growth is amazing. "I know I seem naive," Evangeline pressed on. "I know my faith in love might appear foolish. I also know it might not be enough. But I'm not doing this because I believe I'll win. I'm actually a little afraid I'm going to lose. I no longer think love is a guarantee of victory or of happily ever after. But I think it's a reason to fight for those things. I know my attempt to save Jacks could end in a fiery explosion, but I'd rather go up in flames with him than watch while he burns" Jacks wasn't safe. He came with no promises of a happily ever after. If anything, he guaranteed the opposite. He didn't believe that heroes got happy endings. Loving Jacks felt doomed from the start. But Evangeline had learned that love was more than a feeling. And it didn't have to be the safe choice, because love was also more powerful than fear. It was the ultimate form of hope. It was stronger than curses. Of course, saving the best for last... Jacks *SWOOOOOOON* " Yes, I am a murderer. I enjoy hurting people. I like blood. I like pain. I am a monster, but whether you remember it or not, I'm your monster, Evangeline." He'd been brokenhearted. Not in the same sense that most people thought of, as if one person had broken his heart. Jacks's heart had been broken over and over again until it was no longer capable of hope and care and love. This story was so wonderful from the first page until the last, not just this book ... but the entire trilogy. The world building was astounding, the writing spectacular, magical, dreamlike and a total page turner. I can without a doubt say that I will read ANYTHING that Stephanie Garber writes. This review is a whole hot mess , considering I'm trying to convey all of my emotions after just finishing the book lol I'll have to come back at a later time to edit. HEAVY SPOILERS BELOW, DON'T READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK! ⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ⊹ ۪ ﾟ｡⋆☾ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ｡⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐖⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ⊹ ۪ ﾟ｡⋆☾ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ｡⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ ━☆・*。 ・゜ °。+ * 。 .・゜ ゜｡ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ。 ﾟ。 ｡ﾟ ﾟ･｡･ﾟ "I used to wonder if fate was real," she said gently "I used to fear it meant that I had no real choices. Then I secretly hoped fate was real and that you and I were fated, that by some miraculous chance I was your true love. But now I don't care i fate is real-because I don't need it to decide for me. I don't need it to make this choice. I've made my decision, Jacks. It's you. It will always be you, until the end of time. And I'll fight fate or anyone else who tries to tear us apart-including you. You are my choice. You are my love. You are mine. And you are not going to be the end of me, Jacks." His eyes bled more tears, but his hand held tight to the jar. "I'm broken. I like to break things, Sometimes I want to break you." "𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒎𝒆, 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔." "So you'd rather live without me?" "I'd rather you live." "I am living, Jacks, and I am not going to die anytime soon." Evangeline closed her eyes and then she kissed him. "I already told you. You are the love of my life. You are mine, Jacks of the Hollow. And you're not going to be the end of me." "But you were dying" "No," she said, a little embarrassed. "I just forgot to breathe." And he loved her. He loved her. He loved her. He loved her. He loved her so much he'd rewritten history. He'd given up what he had believed was his only chance at love. And now he had finally broken the spell that he never thought he'd escape.

Ugh! But the apples though! Anyway, well done. Splendid story. This 3rd book was pretty intense. Lots going on and many moving parts. But so well told. And of course there were twists and turns that I didn’t see coming! That’s not easy to do, at least not that I’ve found. So I’m blown away. This story is so poetic and beautiful. It’s modeled so similarly to once upon a time tales, told so colorfully and whimsically and just artfully done. I’ve never read anything like this, how it borrows on tales and lore in a way, yet has its very own telling and very own lore. My favorite part is that it leads you to worry that like tales of old, whether there aren’t such things as happily ever afters. But then again, love is the common theme through all of it, and it makes you look at love in a way that makes you wonder, what is true love? And can love conquer all? You have to wonder as this seems to crop up again and again. I found no mistakes, which that’s a first. The editing on this was well done. Very well done. The characters were so alive and the story rich. Nowhere did it get slow or boring. Nowhere was there too many details or too much dialogue. The descriptions were poetic and the world building was phenomenal for a 3 book series without feeling like too much or too little. It wasn’t rushed, yet it successfully tied most all the threads. Except for the damn apples! I have a theory about them but it was never proven right or wrong. Fun trick, Stephanie Garber. lol. Well done all in all, well done. I don’t dole out five stars often but this was five stars start to finish. Beautiful job. The writing was simply exquisite.

I had loved the first two books in the ouabk series but this third book was a mess. There were many unanswered questions. It felt like the entire storyline was rushed and a bit lazy. A lot of holes in the plots, too. Where was the deeper character development of Jacks? He felt like a side character who pops in and disappears whenever it’s convenient especially with the random Apollo POVs in the book. Apollo got way more face time than he should. Who cares about him? I came for Jacks and Evangeline’s story and not the villain arc of Apollo who turns so sour and vile and cannot be redeemed. He reeks of bad breaths that I want to avoid. 1. Who sent the assassin to kill Evangeline? What’s the motive? 2. What about the last broken heart tattoo? It was never used. Shouldn’t Jacks asked for that third kiss? It would have been a lot more interesting if that was explored. 3. How did the curse break? So, is Evangeline really Jacks’s true love and vice versa? There was no clear explanation. She doesn’t die so it’s okay. That’s it. What? Really? What happens ro the glass cuffs? 4. Where is the backstory of the first fox? Is Evangeline the actual fox? Is there a connection between them? The backstory of Eva would have been nice, too. Her mom’s side? How did she get rose gold hair? 5. Is Jacks still immortal after breaking the curse? Eva is mortal so how’s that going to last. Problem! 6. Where is Jacks declaration of angst and love for Eva? His confession was so flat. If he has waited hundreds of years for his true love and finally found it (after going through so many dying kisses), shouldn’t he be saying that she is to him. There is like no mention of her being his true love. Just a flat “I love you”? Don’t even get me started about THE kiss between Jacks and Eva (that we all been waiting for). My anticipation deflated in seconds after reading it. Seriously? This is it? No climatic and heart wrenching scene here at all. 7. What’s up with the epilogue, too? It has such little detail. I had to search B&N and other places to read different epilogues. Is this a new thing? Why couldn’t it be all in one book? There are so many other unexplained plot lines about why Castor starts killing off all these families, Luc, Marisol, the Valors being trapped and their backstories, and the different colored apples that Jacks keep eating. The list keeps piling up. I also feel that the book should have been a lot longer in pages to tie up all the loose ends or add two more books to also fully develop the characters especially Jacks. Yes, especially him! I feel like the depth and complexity of Jacks was not explored fully. His POVs should have been dominant in the third book or completely. Then I would have enjoyed it more. Overall, I did really liked the series and the author’s writing but I believe that the last book could have been far better!

I'm not even lying when I say that A Curse for True Love was one of my most anticipated releases - definitely this year if not ever? The Once Upon a Broken Heart series has been a favorite. I only recently picked up this series after seeing it all over booktok, but it was so good. The Ballad of Never After is up there as one my favorite books this year. I loved the angst, the yearning and the slow burn between Evangeline and Jacks. I was ready for A Curse for True Love. I needed to know how this series would play out after that ending. In A Curse for True Love Evangeline doesn't remember much. She has bits and pieces of her memories, but she can't recall her handsome husband the Prince and not Lord Jacks who everyone keeps talking about. Soon her life is in danger and it seems that anytime she someone tries to hurt her, a guard named the Archer is there to rescuer. We know that Archer is Jacks himself, but Evangeline doesn't know this and our heart is breaking on Jacks behalf. Does Evangeline regain her memory? Will Jacks and Evangeline get the ending that they deserve? SPOILERS AHEAD * * * * * * * I had such high hopes for A Curse for True Love, but gah! why so many chapters with Apollo's point of view???? When I discovered that Stephanie Garber was writing this book with three different points of view I was so excited. But I feel like we hardly got any Jacks :(. I loved the banter between Evangeline and Jacks, but I didn't feel as much angst or longing as I did when I read The Ballad of Never After. And yes, I do realize that this book is classified as YA, but I honestly felt like the spicy-ish scenes in the previous two books (the night Jacks was bit and then the hollow) were so much angstier/spicier than any of the scenes in A Curse for True Love. I will still recommend this series and I'm so glad that Evangeline and Jacks got their happily ever after. But there were a lot of plot holes that were answered. Why does Jacks eat the apples? What about the last kiss that Jacks didn't collect? Where was Luc? Is Evangeline still human and Jacks a fate? Why did Jacks become a fate? There were so many directions that this book could have gone to answer any of these questions and it felt like missed opportunities. Maybe Stephanie is setting up Lala's book. There was some delicious tension between Chaos and Lala and I hope that leads to somewhere. I just feel like I was left with a lot of questions - but maybe that's how Stephanie intended for it to be? Now that this series is complete...what will I obsess over now?? EvaJacks forever <3.

it came without any damage, and i really loved the ending it was really cute!! i would definitely recommend this if you’ve enjoyed the series up to this point, it definitely still keeps that fairytale-ish charm that made the other books stand out (at least to me). def one of my favorite series <33

This series made me laugh, squirm, scream in excitement, and even want to kiss the electronic pages I was turning, anxious to read what came next. I loved it and I’m sad it ended even when I wanted to listen more to Jacks’s secrets and explanations. I wanted to be the characters in this story and hope others feel the same as well. It was intoxicating and I quite literally stayed up very far past my bedtime to finish it. I read the ending 12 times before I decided to leave a review. I can’t wait to get my hands on whatever comes next because I don’t think any book I’ll read next this year will come close to being as amazing as Caraval and this series. Thank you Stephanie Garber.

Muito lindo, e novinho Agora minha coleção edicao uk esta completa

haven't read it yet, but beautiful cover. the only thing though is that it isn't the same height as the other books of the series

This is a brilliant sequel. Great characters, interesting story Definitely worth a read

damaged