The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2)

by Stephanie Garber

Dark was for stars and dreams and the magic that took place in between days.

bro this makes me feel guilty abt being scared of the dark

Jacks sighed and leaned against a nearby bookshelf as if her feelings were the emotional equivalent of a sneeze—something

it's ok eva, he thinks ur beautiful. hes just too immortal to admit it

He’d been infected with vampire venom, and she’d been infected with stupidity.

gasp. my exact thoughts

“The secret to staying in love is having someone who will catch you when you start to fall out of it,”

ok i hate apollo but this was kinda cutesy

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.

hey! runaway happily-ever-after! GET ITTTTT

“Glad to know you’re thinking about me when you kiss your husband.”

uh. very unnecessary jacks

“Tick-tock, Little Fox.

the most iconic thing he's said.

“I hurt everyone, Little Fox. But you have to be alive to hate me.” His eyes iced over. “I do not want you dead, and I’ll kill anyone who tries.”

bro is basically saying ily in his own language

Marisol snorted. “You can’t make me go anywhere. You’re just a ruined girl with a dead husband. The servants might call you Princess, but most of them still think you murdered your prince.” Evangeline flinched. Jacks ground his jaw. “You’re a nasty piece of work.” “I’m just telling the truth.” “So am I,” Jacks said.

YES. GO JACKS

“Jacks, leave me alone.” He took another slow step. “You’re a little scary right now, did you know that?” She glared at him. “That was a compliment, Little Fox.”

is that bc jacks is scary too?

“I will not let you die.”

<3

“Yes, I’ll help you open the arch,” she said. “But I’m not getting dressed while you’re in here.” “That’s too bad,” Jacks murmured.

HEYHEY WHAT DID I MISS

“Not sure you should be snooping,” he said. “Not sure I care,”

we love eva!

She used to think love was like a house. Once it was built, a person got to live in it forever. But now she wondered if love was more like a war with new foes constantly appearing and battles creeping up. Winning at love was less about succeeding in a battle and more about continuing to fight, to choose the person you loved as the one you were willing to die for, over and over.

“You still can’t bite me, Luc. I’m not a snack.” “What about just a nibble?” Evangeline glared.

uh. *eva simply existing and then luc pops out from nowhere* can i have a bite? NO BRO. btw where did luc even go at the end of the series

“Where were you?” she asked. “I was killing innocent maidens and kicking puppies.” “Jacks, that’s not funny.”

“I’m so sorry,” Evangeline said to LaLa. “Jacks must have left his manners in the carriage.

“Can you at least try to smile?” she asked. He flashed his teeth. “That looks predatory.” “I am predatory.

Glendora was all goodness and joy and honesty—and she gave birth to so many babies.

"and she gave birth to so many babies"

“It hurts, Jacks.” “I know, love. I’m going to take you somewhere safe.”

love? LOVE???

“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.”

and then blames it all on the mirth stone

“I want to return to the moment I met Donatella.”

this is not the jacks i know.

“Sorry to break your fairytale, Little Fox, but ballads don’t end happily, and neither do the two of us.”

mhm. and then 5% of the book later he screams his soul out for eva. tsk tsk

A tormented scream pierced the night like a blade. The sky bled, and darkness fell instead of stars, erasing lights across the Magnificent North.

there's something abt the details in this book that make me hungry </3

“That is not a small mistake to fix. If you do this, Time will take something equally valuable from you.” The Fate gave the queen a look more vicious than any curse. “There is nothing of equal value to me.”

oh evangeline had to die for you to realize you loved her???

She held his gaze, one final time, wishing she knew how to change his mind. “I wish our story could have had another ending.” “I don’t want a different ending,” Jacks said flatly. “I just want you to leave.”

well that's mean