Once Upon a Broken Heart #1

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

This thread is to discuss Once Upon a Broken Heart, the first book in the Once Upon a Broken Heart series by Stephanie Garber.

Pages: 408 pages

Length: 1 month (May)

Participants: SarahKat, Rebecca

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Hi Rebecca! I'm starting early. Library hold came through

[Rebecca]

I'll go ahead and start this one today then :-)

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I didn't realize this is set in the same universe as the Caraval series. Did you read that? I loved it.

I'm through chapter 8: (view spoiler)[ Evangeline is your average silly teenage girl only with fantasy-sized consequences. I think the Fates are interesting. So far we've seen Jacks and Poison.
The deal with Jacks seems silly. He stopped the wedding twice now but she hasn't held up her end of the bargain. Seems like Jacks would just have let the wedding happen at this point.

But, I guess I don't read YA fantasy romance for the intricate plot designs. (hide spoiler)]

[Rebecca]

I haven't read the Caraval series, but I own the first book on Kindle. I guess that means that if I like this series, I'll have another series to look forward to. :-)

[Rebecca]

I'm through chapter 6, and I'm already (view spoiler)[ mad at Evangeline for thinking Luc is her person. And I felt so bad for Marisol after chapter 6. What on earth is going on with their family where both Evangeline and Marisol think that Lucy wants to marry them.

I also thought turning the wedding party to stone was a clever way to stop a wedding. And a wolf attack in the middle of the city? Jacks seems to have a delightfully wicked sense of humor. (hide spoiler)]

[Rebecca]

I finished part 1 today, and man, (view spoiler)[ the tension with Evangeline's stepmother and stepsister is off-the-charts. Yikes! I really want to understand why the relationship is so broken and odd. Right now, Agnes feels like the stereotypical evil fairy tale stepmother. (hide spoiler)]

[Rebecca]

I finished through chapter 17 today, and I just stopped by to say that (view spoiler)[ I love the description of the party dresses so much. Would love to see them brought to life. Maybe I should look for some fan art.

Also, Marisol…good or bad? I can’t tell yet, but I do suspect her of devious motives or possible spell craft. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Just finished chapter 17 myself. (view spoiler)[There's definitely more going on with Marisol than meets the eye. I don't know if she's malicious? But I do think she's somehow trying to sabotage Evangeline. Why? Because her mother wants her to? Or is she jealous? We still don't really know what's going on with Luc. Why did he leave Evangeline in the first place, and then Marisol? Just regular human stuff or something deeper?

Also, this is a romance apparently and I still am not sure who Evangeline is meant to end up with. Jacks?

I love the description of the dresses and party and everything too. If you like that aspect of this book you'd definitely love Caraval. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I don't really have much to say but happened to be at the computer at a stopping point so figured I should at least check in.

Chapter 28: (view spoiler)[What a pickle Evangeline finds herself in. Apparently she's the chosen one to open some arch. Jacks has her in a bind with Apollo. I don't think I trust Marisol.

I wish Evangeline was a little more clever or something. She seems a bit silly to me still, but to be fair I don't know how she's going to get out of this either. (hide spoiler)]

[Rebecca]

I just finished chapter 26 and I'm a little (view spoiler)[ concerned about Jacks promise to remove the curse from Apollo after the wedding. That doesn't seem to be a good deal at all.

Also, I really like the fairytale aspect of this story, but sometimes I struggle with how immature the main character of a YA is--even though she often considers herself mature. I will admit that struggle is lifelike though, I have a 17-year-old daughter, and I see this tension in her between maturity and immaturity on at least a weekly basis. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Rebecca wrote:

I agree! (view spoiler)[I like YA but some of the main characters are just insufferable. You probably haven't looked yet but in my spoiler above I said she's silly and that annoys me. (hide spoiler)]

[Rebecca]

I’ve read through chapter 40 now, and I’m really all in on the story at this point.

Evangeline and Apollo: (view spoiler)[ I will admit to being a little shocked that they really had a wedding day and that Apollo ended up dead at the end of it. I don’t think he’s permanently dead because of some foreshadowing Evangeline does when she talks about the night before the wedding. I don’t even know what’s going on here or who the killer is or what. (view spoiler)[

Marisol: (view spoiler)[ all evidence and everything that the other characters say is like waving a big red flag and telling Evangeline not to trust Marisol. But, she’s too stubborn and stupid to listen.😔

Vampires: I love vampires, so I about squealed to get to visit Chaos and his vampire court/clan, etc. it does not appear to me that Jacks and Evangeline are in immediate danger, but this could turn bad quickly. (hide spoiler)]

If I make good progress, I might finish this one tomorrow. It’s really light and easy reading, and I’m having a lot of fun with it. My library has the rest of the series, so unless I hate the ending of this book, I’ll probably be down to read the next one at some point in the near future. (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I just finished Part 2 (chapter 36) and I'm more invested now! I'll read your spoiler when I catch up.

(view spoiler)[Perhaps I was right that Jacks is the romance meant for Evangeline? I wonder who killed Apollo? Another Fate? Marisol?! (hide spoiler)]

[Rebecca]

Finished and really enjoyed it, but (view spoiler)[ it ends without enough resolution for me. Of course, that means that I really want to start the next one to find out if Evangeline's realization is correct and what's going to happen next. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I finished today! (view spoiler)[I agree this makes me want to pick up the next book immediately. Evangeline still isn't my favorite character, but the plot and romantic tension makes up for it. I don't like that she's just so.. silly. The downsides to liking YA I guess.

Jacks is great though. I wonder how much of her guesses are correct. I think he actually does care for her. But maybe he did do that to Apollo. After all, he kept saying he didn't kill Apollo. He didn't say he didn't put him stasis. (hide spoiler)]

Do you want to buddy-read the next 2 books?

[Rebecca]

The downside to YA! Sometimes, I get burnt out if I try to read too many YA books in row because of it.

I would like to buddy read the next two. :-)

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Rebecca wrote: "The downside to YA! Sometimes, I get burnt out if I try to read too many YA books in row because of it.

I would like to buddy read the next two. :-)"

I will add them!