Tag: stephanie garber

Happy Release Day Stephanie Garber

Happy release day to the Ballad of Never After.

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I am so lucky and was able to get an ARC from Flatiron books. I wrote a review about it last week and you should check it out here.

The book is being sent in the mail. I got the Barnes and Noble exclusive edition. It is so pretty and beautiful. I mean it is so pretty!!!

The ballad of never after book cover barnes and nobles exlcusive edition

I am excited to see what everyone thinks about it when it comes in the mail.

Let me know what you think when you get to reading it!

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

My Most Anticipated Book: The Ballad of Never After

I want to thank Flatiron Books for giving me a copy of this book’s ARC for free.

This book releases September 13th and if you haven’t pre-ordered this yet, DO IT!

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Book Review:

You are not ready for this.

Honestly, this book consumed me from the moment I picked it up. This is Garber’s best writing, best romance, best plot, best everything.

Garber knew what we wanted and what we needed, and she served it to us on a rose gold platter.

The Ballad of Never After ARC Book Image

Book Plot:

WOW

I was blown out of the water reading this book.

The plot seemed a bit predictable at first, but wow it took me for some loops.

We learn so much more about the lore of the story. We get more characters. Hearing more stories about the Great North made this universe that much more believable and real.

Book Characters:

The two main characters, Evangeline and Jacks, are my favorite characters. This book makes their characters 30000% times better and made me fall in love with each of them more.

First, Evangeline goes through so many trials, and she seems to become stronger with each page. Similarly, Jacks becomes more four-dimensional. I love his arc throughout the story. Readers get to see a softer and more caring side to him.

The Ballad of Never After ARc Photo

Book Romance:

Okay, okay, I know I said no spoilers, but this might be a bit of a spoiler. There is some romantic tension in this book, and it is AMAZING!

That is all I should say about that.

Quality of Writing:

In previous novels, I have always felt Garber’s writing to be a bit weak. She really impressed me with this book though.

Descriptions of the setting are more solid and descriptive. Similarly, the dialogue feels so much more genuine. Writing-wise, Garber is not going to be the next great novelist, but it makes up for that in plot!

I cannot wait to get my hands on the hardcover I ordered.

What I Liked:

  • JACKS
  • Plot
  • Complete jaw-dropping ending
  • Evangeline’s arc

What I Didn’t:

  • The writing was still a bit too easy

Read This If You Love:

  • Caraval
  • Once Upon a Time
  • Magical realms
  • Learning about curses
  • Fairytales

Star: 5

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Follow this link to look at the Goodreads information.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Once Upon a Broken Heart: A Cute Novel with Surprising Adventure

The Book:

Title: Once Upon a Broken Heart

Author: Stephanie Garber

Series: Once Upon a Broken Heart #1

Published September 28th 2021 by Flatiron Books

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Pages: 408

“For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings…until she learns that the love of her life will marry another.

Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic but wicked Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.

But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game—and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after or the most exquisite tragedy….” -Goodreads

My Review:

Once again, Stephanie Garber has one my heart. The Caraval series was beautiful and then this book, in the same universe and my favorite character, was magical.

Garber’s writing is significantly improved in this book. Caraval was a little choppy and less descriptive. This book had amazing descriptions and was less choppy.

The main character in this book was stunning. I want to dye my hair rose gold to match Ms. Evageline Fox. I think we are very similar in character. We try to do the right thing and are hopeless romantics. She believes in fairytales and wants to be the hero. I adore her.

Jacks, oh my Jacks, has been a naughty little boy, but how can you blame the Prince of Hearts. I wished the ending was a bit different for him, but we will see how it plays out in the sequel.

Since this takes place in an empire previously described in the Caraval series, we do not need a lot of world-building upfront which was nice to get the right pacing in the book. When we do have a change of scenery, we get the world-building while still being able to keep up with the story.

This book makes this Caraval universe become three-dimensional. Caraval and the others would have half-explained government systems, landmarks, and just general setting ideas. This book exceeded the last book, explaining the Meridian Empire and the Northern Empire so much more.

This book was honestly magical. My last thing to say is to Stephanie Garber. Please, please, and please finish and publish the next one already. I want more of Jacks!

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 4

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Legen-wait for it-dary: Book review of Legendary

Title: Legendary

Author: Stephanie Garber

Series: Caraval #2

Published May 29th 2018 by Flatiron Books

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance

Pages: 451

“A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win.

After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister, Scarlett, from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.

The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister’s. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice, but now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever…

Welcome, welcome to Caraval . . . the games have only just begun.“

My Review:

When jumping into this book, I was a little nervous. I really wanted more about Scarlett and Julian.

But, this book is set in Tella’s POV.

From the first book, I was not really happy with her actions. Yes, she saved her and her sister but she had done it in a way that caused her sister so much pain.

This book I think she kind of redeemed herself. You actually see her side of the story. You see why she does the things she does. Sometimes I do not like her. Her relenting mission to hate love is really annoying, but you know, people change.

I think the two love interests in this book were…HOT. Dante and Jacks are great. (Yes, Jacks is a love interest dont at me). Dante is my ultimate choice for Tella but there are some factors that make him iffy. Same with Jacks though.

I really cannot talk much about the two boys because there are a lot of spoilers for each of them.

Pros:

  • DANTE
  • Tella’s character development
  • JACKS
  • Dante’s tattoos
  • More development of the government
  • World-building
  • Interesting new story about the Fates

Cons:

  • Weird addition of the Stars (you’ll know when you read it)
  • Complete abandonment of certain plot lines in the first book
  • No more Scarlett and Julian (sorta)
  • Very indecisive writing
  • Felt like more of a brainstorm than a complete set plot

I think the pros and cons weighed against each other well. I think it was a good book. I felt as though some elements of the plot were not fully developed. I feel like it was really good. I think the focus on only one place to have to world build helped us gain more knowledge about the world. The last book was a little difficult and was not as developed. This one is way better for that reason.

So, all in all, I think this book was really great. I liked it a lot. There were some down falls but they might be made up for in the last and final book, Finale.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Monday Book Haul

Hey guys!

I recently got a Visa gift card from my grandpa. I had no clue what to buy with it but my mom kept saying I should buy groceries and gas.

Well mother is going to be disappointed because guess what I spent it on…

BOOKS

Tehe

I just ordered them five minutes before I posted this.

I consider each book I buy an investment because one day I would like a huge library so, every book I buy goes toward that goal.

I purchased them from the Strand in New York because they are my favorite bookstore in the world. I was going to buy them from a local bookstore in the town where I live, but I did not want to talk to the guy who owned the store. People have told me he is weird and talks too much. I am too anxious to talk to anyone.

So here are the books I bought:

Legendary by Stephanie Garber

Finale by Stephanie Garber

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

I am so excited for these to come!

I got them all in hardcover so they were all a hefty sum, but I wanted them. I already have Caraval in hardcover. And I plan on getting all of the Grishaverse books in hardcover.

Let me know what books you guys got recently.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie