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

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

16 reviews

klsreads's review

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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dlsmk's review against another edition

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adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Stephanie girl. I'm on the hospital and without the sequel, leaving me on a cliffhanger is rude af.

But listen, I had a good ass time. I laughed, I was shocked, I was swooning and I'm freaking obsessed. What a way to start the reading year.

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zoeelora's review

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.0

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brynleigh's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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kenzaett's review

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adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

"Heroes don't get happy endings."

"People called it falling out of love, but falling was easy. Letting go of Luc had been more like climbing the face of a rock. She'd clawed her way out, fighting to shake it off, to let it go, to find something else to hold on to."

"but in every telling of the tale, they fell in love."

"She wasn't making loving choices, she was making compromising choices because she wanted love. Luc wasn't her weakness - love was. Not even just love but the idea of it."

"until I collect it, you're mine, and I do not like to share."

"She didn't make being alone seem lonely as Evangeline had always feared. She made it seem like an adventure, as if every moment were the start of a story with endless possibilities."

So. I gave Stephanie Garber another try after not enjoying the Caraval series. Much to the pressure my friend put on me by gifting me a copy of this and claiming it's much better than Caraval and not necessarily connected - and that the second book is better than the first. I wasn't hooked from the beginning - it was a tad to sweet, too romantic, too whimsical for me. I like a bigger share of action and drama, and less love. But what do you expect from the title. I love the magical, beautiful winter-y universe (though I'd like more lore and world building, alas we're only on book one and I didn't finish the Caraval 3 so that's on me), and the plot was specked with surprises and turns. I'm still unsure how I feel about Jack's. And it's rare that I don't have a favorite character, because some are just too bland for me. Maybe it's LaLa. But her name annoys me. Or the Fortuna's dogs. Agh.

Definitely a few points for absolutely beautiful writing,especially analogies (his lips curved like a crescent blade, she looked like a statue come to life, he looked at her the way that E imagined portraits stared at people when their backs were turned) - damn. I always felt like I was looking into Eve's head, which is a difficult task for third person narration in itself!
I've got a number of wonderfully eloquent quotes I'm saving after this book... Extra star for that!

It's a 3.75 or maybe 4.0 for me, and I'm hoping to give the next part a 4.5! There's definitely more to come and I like how the pace picked up at the end.

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