Scan barcode
A review by areen
Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
I breezed through this lol. this was almost exactly what I hoped it'd be and so much more. I absolutely adored the whimsical and fantastical descriptions of ordinary things. it felt truly magical. the book also has this comedic undertone to it that pairs so well with the fairytale-ish vibe of the story. they'll be having a semi-serious conversation and I'll be giggling on how a line was delivered lol.
but my favorite part about this book was the way it portrayed a hopeless romantic. I've read romance where the hopeless romantic fmcs are represented as naive, pure girls that make dumb decisions bc they believe in happy endings. it mocks them. but this book gets it!
this book wasn't entirely a story about our fmc and her fantastical love story, but a story for girls in general. particularly for the shamed hopeless romantics who believe in love at first sight and true love and says it's ok and it's not your fault for wanting it.
evangeline is such a refreshing character, represented by her beliefs in true love and wanting happily ever afters. instead of creating a wish-fulfillment-like story for our mc (nothing wrong with that), through her, marisol, jacks and lala, the story instead explored heartbreak, loneliness, acceptance, being in love with the idea of it and so many little details of a hopeless romantic in the most respectable and understanding way. it deconstructs the classic fairytale/girly romance stereotypes and adds depth to them. it has just near perfect characterizations imo. it even has some satirical moments of these cliches lmao.
I knew the first book is a buildup to main plot of the story, but I was kinda surprised with the lack of romantic development between the mcs. but with the way it's paced, it would've felt unnatural for any big developments anyway so it's fine by me. but since I adored so many things about this book, I'm hoping the romance can live up to my expectation. I'm so looking forward to it 🥺
but my favorite part about this book was the way it portrayed a hopeless romantic. I've read romance where the hopeless romantic fmcs are represented as naive, pure girls that make dumb decisions bc they believe in happy endings. it mocks them. but this book gets it!
this book wasn't entirely a story about our fmc and her fantastical love story, but a story for girls in general. particularly for the shamed hopeless romantics who believe in love at first sight and true love and says it's ok and it's not your fault for wanting it.
evangeline is such a refreshing character, represented by her beliefs in true love and wanting happily ever afters. instead of creating a wish-fulfillment-like story for our mc (nothing wrong with that), through her, marisol, jacks and lala, the story instead explored heartbreak, loneliness, acceptance, being in love with the idea of it and so many little details of a hopeless romantic in the most respectable and understanding way. it deconstructs the classic fairytale/girly romance stereotypes and adds depth to them. it has just near perfect characterizations imo. it even has some satirical moments of these cliches lmao.
I knew the first book is a buildup to main plot of the story, but I was kinda surprised with the lack of romantic development between the mcs. but with the way it's paced, it would've felt unnatural for any big developments anyway so it's fine by me. but since I adored so many things about this book, I'm hoping the romance can live up to my expectation. I'm so looking forward to it 🥺