This fantasy-romance is lacking character appeal and exciting world building and overstuffed with damsel-in-distress moments. So now Evangeline's only chance to save Apollo and herself is to open the magic arch. Jacks explains that Apollo was cursed again, driven to hunt Evangeline down until he kills her. Without Jacks to protect her and hide her with a coven of vampires she would have been killed.
But then her husband mysteriously, suddenly awakens and chases her on horseback, shooting arrows at her.
Jacks, a handsome immortal, is one of the strongest voices trying to persuade her to open the door, and he's a voice she doesn't quite trust. But it also could contain a way to break the curse on her husband, Prince Apollo, who's in an enchanted sleep and near death. It could house a destructive monster or terrible magic that was meant to stay hidden. She alone can open a magic doorway called the Valory Arch once four magic stones are found, but does she want it opened? Rumors abound on what it contains. In THE BALLAD OF NEVER AFTER: ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART, BOOK 2, Evangeline has a tough decision to make. After an argument with Jacks, 17-year-old Evangeline drinks heavily at a party after telling herself she shouldn't. She gets saved by Jacks many times and takes it as a hint that he cares for her, easily dismissing his other behaviors, including his literal magical power to control peoples' thoughts and actions when he wants to. Evangeline is tempted by a "bad boy/tortured soul" figure named Jacks who is controlling and aloof and secretive and she spends much of the book trying to figure him out. In fact, all of the romance has an edge of malice to it that's well worth discussing with teen romance fans who are just starting relationships of their own. There's a passionate kiss that turns into a near-strangulation from a man controlled by a curse, and the main character, Evangeline, dressed only in a slip, writhes in a bed, fighting new-vampire urges to drink blood, with a man lying on top of her, holding her down. Of note is the escalation of sexual violence. There are a few deaths - one by stabbing and another from a vampire bite - and some injuries from arrows, knives, and lashes to the back that are all healed with magic. Expect the same level of violence in this sequel. Parents need to know that The Ballad of Never After is the sequel to Once Upon a Broken Heart, a spin-off of the popular Caraval trilogy by Stephanie Garber.
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