Once Upon A Broken Heart: Discover the global bestselling fairytale sensation from the author of Caraval

“All stories are made of both truths and lies, [...] What matters is the way that we believe in them.” A magical and bewitching story that took me into a fantasy world that I didn’t want to leave. Enchanting and mysterious. A story complete with fascinating characters, a dazzling world and intriguing plot twists that created so much discord and harmony among the main characters. Some things are not meant to be broken. Fate is not something that should be tampered with, and the universe that is steeped in magic and curses is to be the playground for this dark fairy tale. The plot - Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, and Evangeline, a young girl, with rose gold hair, brought up working in a curiosity shop are the two characters whose stories, lives and wishes would become entwined in this spellbinding story. Jacks overhears Evangeline make a wish to end the engagement of her stepsister who is about to marry Luc, the man Evangeline is in love with. “She wasn't making love choices, she was making compromising choices because she wanted love. Luc wasn't her weakness- love was. Not even just love but the idea of it.” Now the bond is broken, Evangeline must suffer the consequences of this spell in exchange for her wish. Although is she part of the prophecy…. “You will know her because she will be crowned in rose gold. She will be both peasant and princess.” In true Cinderella style, Evangeline is asked to go North to attend a ball held by Prince Apollo, who is seeking a wife. It is then the book picks up another gear and you are immersed in every bit of the story. The twists are numerous, the action is relentless, and the danger accretive and perpetuating. Review and Comments - I loved the characters individually and the chemistry between them. Teasing us and each other through so many dazzling scenes made this fascinating. The world building is superb. The backdrop of the forbidden places and the eternal curses made this story what it was. In all, enchanting and spellbinding with such intriguing subplots. Vivid imagery, teasing dialogue, and an unforgettable retelling of a Cinderella type fairy tale. “I believe there are far more possibilities than happily ever after or tragedy. Every story has the potential for infinite endings.” Although this one was perfect.

I’ve just finished the first book and have already started the second. The author’s imagination is truly remarkable, and the plot has so much promise! The writing is neat and engaging, and I especially loved the cover design. That said, I personally felt that the story moved a little too quickly at times. It gave me the impression that the author had a wonderful outline of events but condensed them into fewer books, which may have left less room for emotional depth and connection between characters. While there were moments that could have been truly breathtaking, they sometimes passed by without much build-up or emotional resonance—almost like reading a fascinating history book rather than a story that keeps you turning pages late into the night. I believe the author has incredible potential, and with a slower pace and deeper emotional layers, the characters could truly shine. In fact, I could easily imagine this trilogy expanded into six books, allowing the reader to savour each moment. I’m looking forward to seeing what the author creates next and hope future works explore more emotional connections alongside the already excellent storytelling

Once Upon a Broken is an enchanting and captivating story following Evangeline and her quest for true love, except it’s not as simple as she hoped it would be. After making a deal with the famed and deadly Prince of Hearts, she sets out on an adventure beyond her imagination. The book is full of magic, curses, and deals with morally grey characters. The world is so beautifully illustrated, full of whimsical imagery and magical scenery akin to the Caraval trilogy. Even though it’s not necessary to read Caraval I’d highly encourage that you do. While this is a separate story to the original trilogy, there is a lot of context, especially at the beginning that is briefly mentioned but not explained in detail - as it is featured in the trilogy. As someone who has read the original trilogy, I loved reading all of the mentions of what happened before this book and I feel like it would be a shame to miss it, and be spoiled for it if you haven’t read it yet. As for the characters, the Prince of Hearts has to be my favourite. Jacks is such an interesting character and I was delighted to see Garber delve deeper into his personality and motives in this book. I love morally grey characters, and Jacks is a perfect reflection of that. His choices are not always orthodox but that is exactly what makes him such a compelling and exciting character. I cannot wait to the sequel to see where the story takes him next. 5/5 stars!

Great idea - but could be better executed. The plot feels a bit muddled at times. Hopefully book 2 will be better.

Once Upon a Broken Heart is a lush, magical fairytale that sweeps you up in its glittering world from page one. Stephanie Garber delivers all the whimsy, mystery, and rich atmosphere she’s known for, and Evangeline’s journey is full of wonder, danger, and swoony tension with the ever-enticing Prince of Hearts. I loved the fairy-tale charm woven through the story—the curses, bargains, enchanted settings, and beautifully dramatic stakes all made it feel like stepping into a sparkling new myth. Jacks, as always, is irresistible in his morally ambiguous, chaos-drenched way. My only criticisms are small ones. There were moments when Evangeline felt a bit younger than her age, with some emotional beats and internal thoughts leaning more YA-naive than the story needed. A few lines and sentiments were also repeated in ways that slightly slowed the otherwise immersive pacing. But overall, this was a delightful, atmospheric read with enchanting worldbuilding, addictive twists, and romance that had me eagerly reaching for the next book. A magical start to a captivating series.

Bel libro, preso come regalo e la copertina è davvero bella

The story: The writing is very easy to read which is what I enjoyed most about this book but the storyline is all over the place and nothing really makes any sense...there is no world builing and you are kind of just thrown into a story with 0 context, it took me awhile to figure it out...not worth the hype IMO. I'm not going to bother reading the remaining books in this series. Cosmetics: the font used in this book is very small which is unappealing. The cover is only really relevant to a small few lines in the book again, not enough world building to justify this cover. The book arrived damaged which was disappointing.

Got it in great condition!

I have been hold off diving into this series for a while cause I thought that you had to read her frist series before going I to this one. But after reading the reviews I figured out that it wasn't necessary and that this story takes place in the same world but it's a completely different story. So don't let the frist series hold you back from reading this one. I also had no glue what this story was about before going in or how magical it was gonna get, which surprised me. It gave me Alice in Wonderland kinda vibes at times. So, where do I even begin to describe how much I loved this book? I loved that it had short chapters, it made time pass by so quickly. The story got me hooked from the beginning and at some point I was reading chapter after chapter never wanting to put the book down. I never felt like the world building happened cause she twisted it into the story so, so perfectly and suddenly the world is just right there. Loved all the twist and turns this story took you through, it was some what predictable but I never got bored and I still feel like I'm gonna be surprised after that ending. It was so, so magical and wonderful and I can't wait to read the second book. Got the last book pre-ordered aswell 🤭

Ich war schon nach dem ersten Kapitel hin und weg. Es ist eine so schöne und märchenhafte Geschichte. Durch den detailreichen & bildhaften Schreibstil bin ich während dem lesen regelrecht in der Welt versunken. Die Welt von „Once upon a broken heart“ ist sehr märchenhaft und das World-building ist ein Traum. Trotz eines eher ruhigeren Tempos bleibt die Geschichte spannend und man wird oft überrascht von Twist & gelüfteten Geheimnissen. Mir gefielen die Zeitungsausschnitte mit den neusten Gerüchten, die am Kapitelanfang eingebaut sind sehr. Das hat dem ganzen nochmal etwas Witz gegeben. Generell gab es viele humorvolle Stellen und ich musste oft schmunzeln. Nicht zuletzt bei den Unterhaltungen zwischen Evangeline und Jacks. Ich finde die beiden als Charaktere zwar grundverschieden, aber beide sind auf ihre eigene Weise so interessant und gut geschrieben. Auch die Nebenfiguren waren alle total toll! Für mich ein wahnsinnig guter Reihen-Auftakt die ich vom Herzen empfehlen kann! Ich habe die Caraval-Reihe davor übrigens nicht gelesen und ich finde es auch nicht unbedingt nötig, da die „Once upon a broken heart“-Trilogie für sich alleine steht. Wer aber mehr von Jacks wissen will wird dort aber auf jeden Fall fündig werden.. Auch ein Grund warum ich die Caraval-Reihe auf jeden Fall noch lesen möchte..