Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Once Upon a Broken Heart

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

32 reviews

vj_thompson's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Solid start to the series. The writing is BEAUTIFUL and magical. The beginning scene about the bell being described with humanistic concerns is a good example. The ending was a lot to process. Wow wow wow.

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yananhai's review against another edition

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fast-paced

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

5.0

this was PERFECT!
I honestly didn't think I would enjoy this book that much, but the whole banter between Evangeline and Jacks had me giggling 🤭

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faduma's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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britwalsh16's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Wait… that’s it? My exact thought when I finished this book. Usually I’m keeping track of & keep looking at the time I have left in a book when I’m on my kindle. But this book… it got to a point where I just forgot to look… and when I turned the last page I was like wait what?
I love me a morally grey villain, but jacks is something else, & I am here for it! Marisol annoys me, but Evangeline is *chefs kiss*, just amazing! I can’t believe it took me this long to read this book! But also I’m glad cause I won’t have to wait long to read the 3rd book. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to start the 2nd book now. 😁

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abicaro17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Evangaline and Jacks present a promising start to a trilogy. With twists and turns in the most unexpected of places, this fairytale of fairytales presents the question of who to trust and when? The best part of the story so far seems to be that Evangeline is immune to Jacks charms literally and can hold her own in a sticky situation. The part that prevents this from being 5 stars however is the fact that shes so desperate to be loved that shes vulnerable to manipulation and is easily won over by pretty much any man who gives her affection. This was annoying in the beginning with Luc and continued throughout the remainder of the book. Hopefully she is less susceptible to this in the following two books.

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undercovertidalwave's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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m4rtt4's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

The beginning was promising, but then the story felt dragging, and all of a sudden there was this action-packed ending where too much happened yet it felt too convenient as most of the loose ends were given a little too perfect resolution. I really liked the world and its vibes, but I wish the story didn't read so much like a childrens' book — I do know that this is YA, it's not supposed to be as 'serious' as 'adult' books, but most of the YA I've read hasn't felt like this, even the first Harry Potter was way better in that sense and it's supposed to be for literal children.

I never understood why Evangeline was so deeply in love with Luc, their (past) relationship wasn't explained nearly as much as it should have. Also the 'unnecessary' guys (others than Jacks) were taken care of a little too conveniently — I mean, could you maybe have resolved the unspoken relationship issues by some other way than killing off Apollo and making Luc become a vampire? Yes, you don't have to think about a guy if he's a literal monster or doesn't exist anymore, but having them discuss things deeply with Evangeline would have helped this book reach the (emotional) maturity it so desperately needed.

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