Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Ballad of Never After

I very much enjoyed this book. I think there’s still quite a few holes which need filling and the writing style itself is still quite YA with short sentences. Sometimes I find that Evangeline’s thoughts and actions can feel innocent and feeble and I feel myself shoot back to picturing her as just a girl when I want to picture her as a woman. But having said that I do think this book ventured into darker and more grown-up territory in the best ways whilst remaining in YA status. I felt I was able to imagine the characters as older, ✨hotter✨, and a bit more well established than what I imagined in the first book. There’s more flirting, more skin to skin contact, and more ✨feelings✨in this book which I am so here for. I also enjoyed Evangeline’s character more in this book, I felt like she was just better and had a little bit more summin’ summin’ about her, though still needs a bit more development in my opinion. I’m obsessed with Jacks’ character, ugh, I love. Though he has gold hair in this book rather than his midnight blue from book one which I ✨struggled✨ with.
The plot is decent, it kept me engaged, there’s a quest vibe to it which I liked. We get lots of answers in this book but as I said earlier it also opens up lots of unanswered questions and leaves behind holes. Various plot points happen in the story which we just don’t seem to hear about again and I find that annoying. I’m really hoping all the loose ends get tied up in book three as I would be very appreciative of that.
The ending was great and Jacks’ decision of how to use the stones made my little heart extremely happy. The whole thing was left on a cliffhanger which I’m always a sucker for so I enjoyed that a lot!
Overall it was a great read, I just think in terms of writing style, narrative depth and character development I don’t get how so many people give this a 5 star rating.

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kassidyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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maisaaismail1's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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anneliedip's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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leahlovesloslibros's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I enjoyed this book much more than Once Upon a Broken Heart (#1 in this series). That book felt somewhat disjointed, especially with the vampire section in the middle. This book had plenty of vampire action as well, which I typically don't like, but it actually fit with the storyline so seamlessly that it didn't bother me like it did in OUABH.

I found myself stealing little snippets of time to read as often as possible, and when I could, I would just sit down and devour whole sections, because Stephanie Garber has - yet again - written an absolutely enchanting book.

A few random thoughts: I did not expect Evangeline to be capable of killing someone! I was shocked when she murdered Petra, and I was totally here for the darkness of it all. The Hollow was my favorite area of The Magnificent North, I think. I was so upset when Evangeline took the mirth stone and the magic all disappeared and it essentially went to shambles. I'm still a little confused on the whole, Jacks is the Archer thing. Who was the original Fox? Not Donatella, right?

The slow burn between Jacks and Evangeline was great, and that ending....oof. Can't wait for book 3!

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