The Ballad Of Never After

Author: Stephanie Garber    Genre: YA Fantasy (Romance)

Summary (www.goodreads.com):

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...

Review:

This book is one of the best fantasy books I have ever read and that’s a huge thing to say. It was packed with action and magic and fairytale-like telling. I was hooked by the plot and read the book for hours straight. 

Evangeline and Jacks were so perfect in this book. 

The yearning and pull they had to each other was so strong and only grew throughout the books. Evangeline is such a strong female main character and I loved that she was based around the idea of hope and never giving up. Jacks is her antagonist but at the same time her partner and something more. They had such fun banter and jealousy scenes. 

The addition of Dragons and Vampires was also so magical to read about. 

The plot was high stakes with something always happening and new twists being revealed. There was always something happening, sometimes dangerous and sometimes something for the plot but there wasn't one point in the book where I was bored.

We found out more about Jack's past and the Valors. The fates were introduced a lot more and I really liked how they, in contrast to CARAVAL, didn’t appear like these god-like creatures all the time, but had human qualities as well.  

The writing was just as beautiful as ever and the way Garber wrote love with only the feelings surrounding it and the way it makes you act was so smart. 

The ending was so so good but a cliffhanger and it destroyed me. I haven’t felt this much for a book in a long time.

Buchbuzz Rating:

⭐️6 out of 5 stars - I highly, highly recommend reading book and the whole series. I would recommend it for 13-14 years and up