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

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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snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny sad fast-paced

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

4.75

This book made me laugh out loud several times. I even got emotional a few times. The Ending tough, why did we have to do this trope?

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klsreads's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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luarna's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Rating: 5/5 stars

The second book in the ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART trilogy, continuing the story of Evangeline Fox and Jacks the Prince of Hearts.

I LOVED this book. I read the majority in a single day and had the best time. Jacks is EVERYTHING I want in a morally grey YA fantasy hero (villain?) and there were lines in here so good I literally stopped breathing for a second when I read them (“There is nothing of equal value to me.”)

I can’t say too much more without spoilers, but I cannot WAIT to read book three. Highly recommend this trilogy!

CW: Violence/blood/injury; mentions of torture

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nahyaqina's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

the storyline is okay, very interesting and creative, and the plot twist at the end is also extremely fun to read, and it ends off at a good cliffhanger. the book is very sad i would agree. very frustrating to read because of the characters in the book. speaking of characters, there are WAAAY too many of them to remember their names, and im sure this will be reflected in book 3 as well. just a little thing i need to remember

i also personally do not enjoy evangeline’s personality and how easily swayed she can be. and literally every man in the book has touched her inappropriately someway and that’s just, that’s like sexual harrassment and she isnt bothered by it. i feel very uncomfortable when every man in the book started touching her sexually. that wasn’t fun to read.

Book is a little slow but the plot twists are good. not completely enjoyable but it makes you look forward to the third book!

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booksandstardust's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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bookish_hollyx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

3.0

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