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

Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

18 reviews

justinekorson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed this sequel more than the first one but I still have a lot to say about it.

1. AGAIN WITH THE TIME TRAVEL!!! This is part of the reason I hated Finale!!! I think I've mentioned this before in the Caraval series review but... Stephanie likes to add really random lore at odd times. (In the last book vampires were suddenly real and in the Caraval series, specifically Finale, there was a lot of added plot points that I hated. Scarlett being magical for one of them and the addition of her father). The lore always feels like it comes out of left field for me. I'd totally forgotten that time travel had happened until I went back to read my old review of Finale.

2. Jack's reasoning for wanting to use the stones to time travel IS NOT BELIEVABLE. When he first told Evangeline about it all I could think was "That's it? that's the stupidest reason I've ever heard." It didn't make sense to me that that was something he wanted, especially if I'm meant to believe that he's supposed to really love Evangeline. If he really cared for her, he wouldn't want that. SO WHEN HE LITERALLY GOES BACK IN TIME TO SAVE EVANGELINE AND NOT CHASE AFTER DONATELLA AGAIN I WAS PISSED. He kept saying he didn't care for her but he clearly did. I think this story would've been improved with a POV of Jacks throughout it but... whatever.

3. And while on the topic of Jacks loving Evangeline... I don't believe Evangeline loves Jacks. She talks all the time about this attraction between them but... attraction doesn't equate love. In my opinion, Evangeline craves love so badly she's willing to look for it in ANYONE. It was first in Luc, then Apollo, and now Jacks. I don't think she even knows what it means to be in love if she can move her feelings from boy to boy so quickly.

4. Lala's apology... and Evangeline accepting it... felt so fake and so forced. Why the hell would Evangeline EVER trust Lala again?? Why would she say "I can forgive you I just need to know why" (I'm paraphrasing here). This just reminds me of how Donatella lied/manipulated Scarlett all throughout Caraval and how I would have HATED my sister if she did that to me MUCH LESS HAVING A FRIEND PUT A CURSE ON ME AND LIE TO ME ABOUT HER TRUE INTENTIONS WITH BEFRIENDING ME. I would never trust Lala again if I was Evangeline.

5. Also.... Apollo suddenly has powers??? What the hell did he do to Evangeline.

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anni_swanilda's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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zoeelora's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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deluna's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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prashiie's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

“Love would always win as long as they never stopped fighting for it.”

Evangeline had been naive enough to think that Jacks really wanted to help her, but she discovers that Jacks is manipulating whoever he needs to in order to finally open the Valory arch. But she goes from trusting Jacks to not trusting Jacks and oscillates between the two states often. Very frustrating! Apollo is alive in a suspended state and someone placed another curse on them! Curses upon curses. What I didn’t understand is how

nobody sees Apollo when he’s riding around looking for Evangeline. You would think that a prince is very recognisable, right? They are also stealing these Valory arch stones from the Great Houses. How do they not know these stones are missing? They are described as being important and well-guarded by the Great Houses. And one of the stones is with the girl who is said to be the first key. I really wondered if she also had some kind of powers like Evangeline. But we don’t get much information about her, only that she faked her death so that she can keep that one particular stone.

Also, I wished to see Marisol in this book, but her story does not continue. It’s like these characters are tossed out as soon as their purpose has been fulfilled.

And oh my god, the ending…

I always thought Apollo was vain but I never expected him be the villain in this story. I even felt sorry for him because it seemed like Evangeline was cheating on him when she realises she has feelings for Jacks. How can he take Evangeline’s memories!! But I really liked Jacks at the ending when he decided to save Evangeline instead of going back to fix things with Donatella. He finally realises where to find his true love.

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britwalsh16's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

It was such a good book! Couple things I called, and somethings I was so wrong about! But even then, all the twists at the end, I did not see any of them coming! I probably should have, but damn, they just kept shocking me! And that damn cliffhanger! Where’s book 3 already?! Gahh!!! I need to continue this story already!!!

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abicaro17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious slow-paced

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

4.75

Evangeline and Jacks return as wary enemies in this sequel. Even with Evangeline being determined to solve her own issues, it seems that Jacks have other plans. As the twists and revelations unfold, one gets caught up in the twisted love story once again. Garber does a tremendous job of repeatedly warning both the reader and Evangeline not to trust people and placating those fears at the same time. Every twist manages to be a surprise and a knife to the gut. Can't wait for the third book!

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