Review: The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon A Broken Heart #2)

The Ballad of Never After, Book 2 in the Once Upon A Broken Heart Series by Stephanie Garber

Published By: Hodder and Stoughton
Publication Date: September 13, 2022
Date Read: March 13, 2025
Genre: YA – Fantasy / Romantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 416

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Not every love is meant to be…

After Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, betrays her, Evangeline Fox swears she’ll never trust him again. Now that she’s discovered her own magic, Evangeline believes she can use it to restore the chance at happily ever after that Jacks stole away.

But when a new terrifying curse is revealed, Evangeline finds herself entering into a tenuous partnership with the Prince of Hearts again. Only this time, the rules have changed. Jacks isn’t the only force Evangeline needs to be wary of. In fact, he might be the only one she can trust, despite her desire to despise him.

Instead of a love spell wreaking havoc on Evangeline’s life, a murderous spell has been cast. To break it, Evangeline and Jacks will have to do battle with old friends, new foes, and a magic that plays with heads and hearts. Evangeline has always trusted her heart, but this time she’s not sure she can. . . .

“In the morning, you can forget it. You can go back to pretending you don’t like me, and I can pretend that I don’t care. But for tonight, let me pretend you’re mine.”

I first read Once Upon A Broken Heart back in 2022 and I honestly really loved it. There’s just something about Stephanie Garber’s writing style and storytelling that makes me fall head over heels in love with. I’ve loved everything from her I’ve read so far. So, I can’t really explain why it has taken me almost 3 years to jump back into this series. While I read Once Upon A Broken Heart physically, I decided to listen to the audio edition of The Ballad of Never After and I am so glad that I did. I really loved the audio edition and definitely recommend it if you’re a fan of audiobooks.

The Ballad of Never After follows Evangeline as she tries to settle into a life with Apollo, away from Jacks. But as she and Apollo are drawn into a curse, she has no choice but to try and put her trust in Jacks again to try and not only save Apollo, but to stay alive herself. But the curse is not the only thing that Eva needs to be wary of. She is thrown against darker and darker forces and she is determined to get out of it alive.

I honestly love Stephanie Garber’s writing so much. Whenever I am reading her stuff, I just feel like I’m reading an old school fairytale. That’s what her books are to me. They’re modern magical fairytales and I fell for it hook, line and sinker. I loved everything about this book. It was fast paced and action packed. I fell head over heels for Jacks even more than I did in the first book. I just adore everything about him, as prickly as he is. I want nothing more than to see Jacks and Eva have their happily ever after.

The Ballad of Never After threw so much at us that I was never expecting. We had more magical creatures in the shape of vampires thrown in which I was like whaaaaat. (If there was vampires in book 1 please excuse me for forgetting, it has been 3 years after all)! Honestly, there was a lot going on in my personal life at the time of me listening to this one, and it just made me forget everything and I was desperate to just keep reading and escape into this gorgeous fantasy world.

This book was so exciting and I really enjoyed every single moment of it. While it’s not my favourite Stephanie Garber book (I’m a Tella and Legend girlie), I enjoyed every moment and the ending has made me want to dive straight into the third book. I cannot wait to see what is going to happen to Eva and Jacks and I will be waiting on tenterhooks until I find out. If you’re a fan of fairytale eske books, then I highly recommend that you pick this one up. It truly is fantastic, and you will not be disappointed.

“Happy endings can be caught, but they are difficult to hold on to. They are dreams that want to escape the night. They are treasure with wings. They are wild, feral, reckless things that need to be constantly chased, or they will certainly run away.”