Book Review: Once Upon a Broken Heart Trilogy by Stephanie Garber
Once Upon a Broken Heart
Genres: YA Fantasy, Romance, Fairy Tale, Adventure
Pages / Hours: 416 pages / 11 hrs 35 min
Format: Audiobook
Rating: 
Goodreads summary: 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…
The Ballad of Never After
Genres: YA Fantasy, Romance, Fairy Tale, Adventure
Pages / Hours: 416 pages / 11 hrs 22 min
Format: Audiobook
Rating:
Goodreads summary: 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…
A Curse for True Love
Genres: YA Fantasy, Romance, Fairy Tale, Adventure
Pages / Hours: 400 pages / 10 hrs 27 min
Format: Audiobook
Rating: 
Goodreads summary: Evangeline Fox ventured to the Magnificent North in search of her happy ending, and it seems as if she has it. She’s married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle. But Evangeline has no idea of the devastating price she’s paid for this fairytale. She doesn’t know what she has lost, and her husband is determined to make sure she never finds out . . . but first he must kill Jacks, the Prince of Hearts.
**This review contains spoilers from both the Caraval series and the Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy.**
Initial Thoughts & Expectations
This series had been sitting on my TBR for a while. I read the Caraval series a couple of years ago and remember liking it overall—though the first book was a 3-star read for me, the rest of the series picked up. Going into Once Upon a Broken Heart, I was hoping for a similar experience: something cute, whimsical, romantic, and fairytale-like.
And in that sense, it delivered. Looking back, the vibes reminded me a bit of the TV show Once Upon a Time—whether intentional or not, it fits. There’s a dreamy storybook feel to the entire series, with curses, enchanted objects, magical doors, mysterious kingdoms, and ill-fated love stories.
Worldbuilding & Fairytale Aesthetic
The trilogy has lots of classic fairytale elements—true love, villains, cursed weddings, and deals with dangerous Fates. The first book sets the stage, and the next two layer in twists, myths, and magical lore. I especially loved the use of letters between characters in Book One—a trope I always fall for. Handwritten notes? Enemies-to-lovers banter by mail? Yes, please.
We follow Evangeline Fox, a hopeless romantic who believes in love stories with happily-ever-afters. She’s an orphan living with her evil stepmother and stepsister, I mean aunt and cousin, and she grew up loving the fairytale of the Archer and the Fox that her mother used to always tell to her. Evangeline lives in Valenda (ruled by Caraval’s Scarlett Dragna, with her sister Donatella in court), and her life unravels when her one true love, Luc, decides to marry her cousin Marisol. Is he cursed? Was it a mistake? No matter the reason, in desperation, she turns to the Fate known as the Prince of Hearts—aka Jacks—for help. All she wants is to stop the wedding no matter.
This is where things go wrong and Evangeline learns to be careful with her words when dealing with the Fates. In exchange for three kisses, Jacks grants her wish and stops the wedding……..by turning the entire wedding party to stone. The only way to reverse the spell is for Evangeline to turn herself into stone—and she does. Even though Jacks said he won’t save her and no one else can.
Me personally? I wouldn’t have done it. Yeah, I said it. But Evangeline is a good-natured person, and this was something I noticed throughout the book. Maybe I’m aging out of YA, or maybe as I get older I’m just less self-sacrificing, but I want to see FMCs not make the “good” or “right” choice. I want to see them… let people suffer the consequences. LOL. That sounds terrible but these are fictional worlds I’m talking about—not real life!
She’s eventually revived by a different Fate, and hailed as a hero, and suddenly everyone wants to marry her. Meanwhile, Marisol is now labeled a “cursed bride.” Evangeline feels guilty and brings her along when she’s invited to attend Nocte Everending—a royal celebration in the Magnificent North where Prince Apollo is meant to choose a bride. This seems like a dream come true for Evangeline, her mother used to always tell stories about the Magnificent North.
Naturally, Jacks is there too, pretending to be Apollo’s friend and lurking with unfinished business. And Evangeline? She still owes him three kisses.
Characters & Romantic Tension
Evangeline is sweet, hopeful, and morally driven—but sometimes to a fault. She has such strong “save everyone” energy that I found myself frustrated by her decisions. Still, her goodness is consistent, and she stays true to herself through a chaotic journey. Take Marisol, for example. She was acting sketchy throughout Book One, and even when Jacks warned her, but Evangeline chose to try to see the good in her.
Jacks is a classic morally gray love interest. He wants everyone to believe he’s bad, but he really isn’t. He acts out of anger, he’s selfish, but like any great love story, he’ll protect Evangeline no matter what. Even if he says he won’t and doesn’t care.
From Caraval, we already know that Jacks’s kiss is a curse—deadly to everyone but his true love. This series dives deeper into that lore, and I really liked the twist on it. Evangeline and Jacks have a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance. There’s no spice since it’s YA, but the tension was good.
Plot, Pacing & Twists
This trilogy has a lot going on. Like… a lot. Curses, vampires, alternate timelines, memory loss, undead monarchs, magical artifacts, mythical creatures, and what I can only describe as “infinity stones”—because I honestly forgot what they’re called. What else do you call rocks that people are trying to collect and each has their own power / ability?
Sometimes the story felt original and fresh. Other times, it felt like a remix of things I’ve read before. Some plot points were predictable, others genuinely surprised me. The pacing was uneven for me—books one and two moved slowly at times, but book three delivered much more tension and payoff.
To be honest, it’s a little hard to remember everything that happened—partly because the plot goes in so many directions, and partly because some storylines didn’t fully stick the landing. But the final book picked up the energy and wrapped things up in a satisfying enough way.
Final Thoughts & Rating
Overall, Once Upon a Broken Heart is a charming, magical trilogy with a fairytale heart and dark twists. It’s not one of my favorite series, but I enjoyed it enough and would recommend it to fans of YA fantasy who like:
- Medium-paced romance with magical realism
- Whimsical, storybook-style worldbuilding
- Morally gray love interests
- Grand castles, Fates, and unpredictable magic
It’s not as strong as Caraval in terms of stakes or emotion, but it’s a nice return to Garber’s world. If she writes another fairytale-esque book, I’d probably pick it up. Sometimes you just need a romantic escape with curses, letters, and a prince (or Fate) or two.
Overall Rating: 3.3 deer-stars
