Not every love is meant to be.
After Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, betrays her, Evangeline Fox swears she’ll never trust him again. Now that she’s discovered her own magic, Evangeline believes she can use it to restore the chance at happily ever after that Jacks stole away.
But when a new terrifying curse is revealed, Evangeline finds herself entering into a tenuous partnership with the Prince of Hearts again. Only this time, the rules have changed. Jacks isn’t the only force Evangeline needs to be wary of. In fact, he might be the only one she can trust, despite her desire to despise him.
Instead of a love spell wreaking havoc on Evangeline’s life, a murderous spell has been cast. To break it, Evangeline and Jacks will have to do battle with old friends, new foes, and a magic that plays with heads and hearts. Evangeline has always trusted her heart, but this time she’s not sure she can…
The fiercely-anticipated sequel to the #1 New York Times bestseller Once Upon a Broken Heart, starring Evangeline Fox and the Prince of Hearts on a new journey of magic, mystery, and heartbreak.
“Dark was for stars and dreams and the magic that took place in between days”
-Pg. 8
My. Heart. Hurts. Not because this book is full of secrets, betrayals, and embers of sparks but because of the love that could be. Or for all puns intended, never after instead of ever after. Stephanie Garber knocked The Ballad of Never After out of the park. Dare I say it was even better than the first book, and I adored Once Upon a Broken Heart.
I usually adore (and give a 5 to) books with tons of spice and I’m not saying TBONA doesn’t have any because there are hot sparks that explode all over the place, but the story is what makes this book. There are so many pieces of a broken puzzle that needs solving and it’s so exciting trying to put it all together. I adore the harshness yet fairy-tale dependent telling of the story. Nothing it quite what it seems.
“There is nothing of equal value to me.”
– Pg. 381
The cruel push and pull of Jacks towards Evangeline is everything. I want to shake him so many times and force him to let out his truths and his feelings. They are all there, you can feel them teetering like on the edge of a knife, yet he refuses to let himself have it. All I’ll say is, “Little Fox”.
Finally, that ending is just gut wrenching. Talk about cheering with eternal joy like, ‘Is this real life?’ to have it all violently ripped away in the most heartbreaking way. It’s as if hope was a candle completely blown out. You think we finally see a shard of something potentially happy, and like that, it’s gone. I need the third book yesterday, because my heart cannot take that ending. I can only hope that all will be righted in the world of the Fates.
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