Expected publication date: September 28, 2021
Recently I was approved for Stephanie Garber’s Caraval spin-off book, Once Upon a Broken Heart, and I really enjoyed it. I am a huge fan of the Caraval series. You can read my reviews of all three previous books here:
After finishing the series, I wanted more on the character The Prince of Hearts, so I was very excited to see that the author was at work on adding a spin-off revolving around his character. Shortly after I learned that a book would be published this fall, I noticed that Once Upon a Broken Heart was in my pre-approved list in NetGalley. That literally made my day!
I downloaded it and began re-reading the Caraval books, to ensure I was up to speed when I read OUABH. I enjoyed reading all the Caraval books again (although the over the top metaphors did begin to make me laugh…I can appreciate how I man might look like bad decisions and good times or whatever, but then she goes even further and says that in kisses certain characters taste of heartbreak, etc. What, exactly, does heartbreak taste like???) Anyway, the imaginative writing is still fun, even when it is a bit extra.
I moved on to OUABH, eager to learn more about Jacks (The Prince of Hearts). Imagine my surprise when the novel begins and clearly becomes about Evangeline Fox, a somewhat silly and impulsive young girl with rose gold hair, who is madly in love with a young man who is set to marry her stepsister. In desperation, she makes an ill-advised deal with The Prince of Hearts, Jacks, who is fresh from his own rejection by his “true love” Donatella in Finale. Of course, her deal goes sour as Jacks cannot be trusted, and the story takes off on a number of wild twists and turns. Jacks makes less of an appearance in the first part of the book, but then is around more in the second half. Evangeline is clearly the heroine and main character. She grows up as the story progresses, and starts to realize some hard truths. The ending is quite the cliffhanger as this is the first in a two-part series, but anticipation is sweet.
Jacks is just as fun as he was in the Caraval books, Evangeline is a character worth rooting for, and, as always, the writing is descriptive and imaginative. It’s actually toned down a bit here from some of the metaphors that were rampant in the Caraval books. Garber is honing her prose and it shows.
I was a little disappointed, initially, that this is Evangeline’s story and not Jacks’ story, but I see room for more on him in the second book. I eagerly await it!
Firmly in the YA genre, and a worthy addition to the Caraval collection.
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