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scrubsandbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Second book syndrome to the extreme, I'm not even sure what the heck happened. The first book was amazing and beautifully written, giving Evangeline a lot of agency to make her destiny and this one? This one, she just loses it all to a man cleared stitched from a thousand red flags. How did I end up going from rooting for EvaJacks to rolling my eyes every other page and telling her she's an idiot?
The reason I didn't give it a one star are solely for the world-building, the descriptive text, and Rebecca Soler's narration. No matter what, I want to find Garber and ask her to please hire someone to make all the ball gowns and dresses in this book come to life. I love the whimsical settings (though the four poster bed inside a cage within another cage was the only wtf), I love the way she writes.
But damn did Evangeline really just annoy the hell out of me in this book.Why wouldn't you just let Luc eat Marisol? She's fucking terrible. Why would you forgive your supposed friend for putting a curse on your husband that would KILL YOU AND HIM?? Within like five seconds? Why couldn't Jacks just be a little more clear after using the stones to time travel on why she should leave? If there's any trope I hate more than love triangles and cheating, it's the miscommunication trope.
The reason I didn't give it a one star are solely for the world-building, the descriptive text, and Rebecca Soler's narration. No matter what, I want to find Garber and ask her to please hire someone to make all the ball gowns and dresses in this book come to life. I love the whimsical settings (though the four poster bed inside a cage within another cage was the only wtf), I love the way she writes.
But damn did Evangeline really just annoy the hell out of me in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Confinement
Moderate: Death
kefredriksen's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Even though this is a 2nd book in a series, it was better than the first! I couldn't put it down, the characters are delightfully complicated, and the ending had me screaming. Easily a fav in this genre!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Blood
Minor: Confinement, Stalking, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
meeklovestoread's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-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
3.75
I didn't like it as much as the first one, but that doesn't negate the fact that it was still interesting. I don't know if it's just her books, but for some reason for me it's when I read her books I don't fully get into it until the later parts. But it might be on me because I've only read two and I'm just now getting back into fantasy. It was interesting enough to keep me going but nothing really immersing to me. I kept wanting to hit Evangeline for being too trusting, too quickly. It's cool how consistent Stephanie keeps Jacks character. The ending was crazy. Glad there's gonna be a third book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Gaslighting and Medical content
jen1804's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder and Torture
Minor: Death of parent and Gaslighting
kassidyreads's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement
maisaaismail1's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
kirstenf's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement and Sexual content
anneliedip's review
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
leahlovesloslibros's review against another edition
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!
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.
The slow burn between Jacks and Evangeline was great, and that ending....oof. Can't wait for book 3!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent and Violence
Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol
justkarlah's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Like a lot of the other reviews mentioned, I also had to sit in silence when I finished reading this book. My heart hurt for Evangeline, and broke for Jacks.
I went through so many emotions, I had to put it down a couple of times. There were parts that had me smiling, and parts that made me want to cry. But just like the first book, if was hard not to finish it once I got sucked into the story.
A lot more is revealed about Jacks and his past in this book. It does feel like some of Evangeline's bravery and determination to do things herself flew out the window and she becomes more of a damsel in distress, but it does tie in to the role they play in the curses/prophecies that plague the North. The only other thing that bothered me (and only cause it hurt to read) was how Jacks' way of "keeping her safe" was by pushing her away and being cruel to her instead of explaining anything.
Even after all the things he's done, Jacks continues to be my favorite character.
That ending though. Wow.Jacks screaming? The fact that even when he pushed her away, she was still fated to die? AND she had her memories stolen? I'm broken. Now we have to wait 7 months to know what happens next?
Definitely recomend reading this book if you loved the first one!
I went through so many emotions, I had to put it down a couple of times. There were parts that had me smiling, and parts that made me want to cry. But just like the first book, if was hard not to finish it once I got sucked into the story.
A lot more is revealed about Jacks and his past in this book. It does feel like some of Evangeline's bravery and determination to do things herself flew out the window and she becomes more of a damsel in distress, but it does tie in to the role they play in the curses/prophecies that plague the North. The only other thing that bothered me (and only cause it hurt to read) was how Jacks' way of "keeping her safe" was by pushing her away and being cruel to her instead of explaining anything.
Even after all the things he's done, Jacks continues to be my favorite character.
That ending though. Wow.
Definitely recomend reading this book if you loved the first one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Minor: Death of parent