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amelianotthepilot's review against another edition
fast-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
5.0
i loved this silly little book
its a unique little YA fantasy full of classic tropes and i ate it up
its for the disney girlies, the once upon a time girlies, the vampire girlies, the peasant/royal girlies
I love how it plays around the idea of fantasy kingdoms and has all the classic Disney fantasy vibes of baroque fancy colorful buildings and towns with friendly bakers and neighbors and evil step family with orphaned naive heroic girls who think they'll be saved. I loved how the MC is that classic damsel in distress believing in wishing on stars and true love and I can't wait for her to be slowly crushed by the realization that there is no prince coming to save her lol
It was also super fast-paced which was fun and also very solidly in the area of "YA" its clean romance with fun little silly kisses and romance.
I thought it was perfectly tropey with interesting world-building. Classic tropes include: peasant/royal, hurt/comfort, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, miscommunication, etc
The world-building was a mix of classic fairytale fantasy kingdoms with pretty ball gowns and princely looks with some magic sprinkled in. I liked the Fates aspect which essentially functions as Gods but have tarot cards vibe base.
not gonna lie when I say I picked these up for the beautiful (UK) covers but stayed for the dumb tropes
that had me kicking my feet and giggling all the way through 10/10
its a unique little YA fantasy full of classic tropes and i ate it up
its for the disney girlies, the once upon a time girlies, the vampire girlies, the peasant/royal girlies
I love how it plays around the idea of fantasy kingdoms and has all the classic Disney fantasy vibes of baroque fancy colorful buildings and towns with friendly bakers and neighbors and evil step family with orphaned naive heroic girls who think they'll be saved. I loved how the MC is that classic damsel in distress believing in wishing on stars and true love and I can't wait for her to be slowly crushed by the realization that there is no prince coming to save her lol
It was also super fast-paced which was fun and also very solidly in the area of "YA" its clean romance with fun little silly kisses and romance.
I thought it was perfectly tropey with interesting world-building. Classic tropes include: peasant/royal, hurt/comfort, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, miscommunication, etc
The world-building was a mix of classic fairytale fantasy kingdoms with pretty ball gowns and princely looks with some magic sprinkled in. I liked the Fates aspect which essentially functions as Gods but have tarot cards vibe base.
not gonna lie when I say I picked these up for the beautiful (UK) covers but stayed for the dumb tropes
that had me kicking my feet and giggling all the way through 10/10
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
emmieanna's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Objectively, this is not the best written book I have ever read, the world building is pretty basic and I do wish that certain aspects were more elaborate. This is definitely a plot over anything else kind of book (which are my faves I will say) but character development is a consequence of the plot, not what drives the plot.
However, I was HOOKED. I was making notes on my kindle like nobody’s business and was really rooting for the characters. I am so undecided with who my favourite is at this point, (LaLa is winning so far, then probably Apollo) and I will definitely be continuing the series.
However, I was HOOKED. I was making notes on my kindle like nobody’s business and was really rooting for the characters. I am so undecided with who my favourite is at this point, (LaLa is winning so far, then probably Apollo) and I will definitely be continuing the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Blood and Murder
klsreads's review
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
aliceloyallaleon's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Death, Grief, Murder, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
susanatherly's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Murder, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
vaderswife's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Toxic friendship
prashiie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
“But hope is a difficult thing to kill, just a spark of it can start a fire.”
Okay, I really liked the dedication!
“For anyone who has ever made a bad decision because of a broken heart.”
Overall, I liked how this book is written. I learned a lot of new words from it. It’s easy to read mainly due to the short chapters and the writing style. The characters are entertaining most of the time. It mainly focuses on Evangeline, Jacks AKA The Prince of Hearts, and Apollo. Evangeline is a heart-broken and naive girl. As she’s also a little insecure, her thoughts are everywhere which kind of frustrated me. Anyway, she goes to the Prince of Hearts to strike a deal to stop her ex from marrying her step-sister. But dealing with a Fate is tricky and in return Jacks wants Evangeline to kiss three people of his choosing and when he says so. Jacks is a very mysterious and quite selfish it seems. One thing that annoyed me was that Jacks’ nickname for Evangeline was ‘pet’. Later on, fortunately, he starts calling her Little Fox which was so much better!
At first, I didn’t understand where this story was going. Some characters get introduced, such as Marisol and Evangeline’s stepmother, and I expected them to have a bigger role in the story but that was not the case. I also feel like the story had some continuity problems which made it hard for me to visualise the story. For example, how can Apollo go on one knee and then take Evangeline’s hands after which he looks down on her? Perhaps Apollo is the tallest guy in the universe? This book is clearly a romance book set in a fantasy world. But I don’t feel like I’ve learned a lot about the background of this magical world, so the worldbuilding could have been better. For example, we don’t get an explanation on how one becomes a Fate. I’m not sure if this will be explained later on or if this was already explained in the ‘Caraval’ series.
It looks like Evangeline’s moving towards her happily ever after, fairy tale love story. But Fate seems to have other plans.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Confinement
Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Blood
zoeelora's review
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Grief, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Confinement
britwalsh16's review against another edition
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. 😁
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. 😁
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Torture and Gaslighting
Minor: Confinement and Stalking
skokalis's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is not for those who like relaxed plots, it felt like every page I turned something was waiting that would change everything. Filled with surprising plot twists, interesting girls and hot/attractive men! The scenes where Evangeline is alone with Fates and her lovers left me absolutely dying in awe! But it gets a bit descriptive/intense so I wouldn't read it if you can't handle "spicy" scenes. I loved how you can never guess what will happen next, I couldn't put this book down. Plus the cliffhangers this book leaves you on left me scrambling to get my hands on the next book in the series "The Ballad of Never After" Stephanie Garber really did an amazing job when writing these.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Sexual content, and Torture
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Murder, Death, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Death of parent
Minor: Cursing