The Ballad of Never After Review: Finally a book I can review that I really love!
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber is the second book in the Once Upon A Broken Heart trilogy, which tells the story of Evangeline Fox, who believes in true love and happy endings, and the wicked Prince of Hearts, Jacks, whom she strikes a dangerous bargain with in order to chase after her own fairytale.
Book 2 begins after Jacks’ betrayal, with Evangeline swearing to never trust him again. Of course, that plan goes out the window when a murderous curse cast on her life leaves her with no other choice but to turn to him for help.
The Ballad of Never After Review
The Ballad of Never After is full of magic, mystery, mischief, and lots of swoon-worthy angst. It’s the perfect book for anyone who loves villain romances and “Will they or won’t they” sexual tension.
This is so far shaping up to be one of my favorite fantasy romance book series, and I awarded it 4.5 out of 5 stars in rating. This is also one of those cases where the sequel turns out to be superior to the first book. I enjoyed the first book, but this one was definitely better!
I love how poetic the writing is. I love how the book itself is almost a love poem, of sorts, from author Stephanie Garber, to fairytales. Just look at how eloquent these words are:
“And it struck her how intimate words could be, how they could be spoken only once, for only one person, and they would never be heard again, they would disappear like a moment, gone almost as soon as you realized they were there.”
Like most fans of this series, I also really love Jacks, and in this book, we get to see more of his emotions and inner-workings of his mind. I’m a sucker for guys who try to fight, deny, and ignore their feelings. There’s some angsty tension in this book that I really loved, and I can’t wait to see how everything resolves in book 3!
I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite scenes in The Ballad of Never After:
“Do you still think of me as just a tool?”
Jacks frowned. “I try not to think of you at all.”
Oooooo, the angst!! Can’t you just feel the tension and the denial of feelings?! I’m addicted to the Prince of Hearts, and I can’t wait to see him fall apart more in the final book that comes out later this year! Until then, I’ll be (im)patiently waiting and yearning.
The Ballad of Never After Review Originally Written on April 20, 2023
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