Once Upon a Broken Heart – Book Review – Beyond The Spine Reviews

Long read. Spoiler sections are marked under subtitles.

The decadence and silliness of Once Upon a Broken Heart could not be further from the sci-fi mind trip that is Dune—and that was exactly what I needed after finishing book three, Children of Dune.

Spoiler-Free Summary of Once Upon a Broken Heart

This is undoubtedly the girliest book I have ever laid eyes on. It’s a pretty pink paper back with fairy tale motifs at each corner. It’s the kind of book I might have spat on when I was a haughty fourteen year old, but at twenty-eight and married, I’m a little more at ease with femininity and romance.

Not that much more at ease, mind you. I understand this book is likely fairly tame in the romance genre, but there was still a lot of raunchy kissing. Good for some readers (less so for me and my discomfort!).

If you haven’t yet guessed, this novel is a fairy tale romance. It’s a delightful fantasy with some lovely worldbuilding, containing its own myths and superstitions for the reader to learn along the way.

It’s also a reverse-harem, meaning that the main female protagonist has multiple male suitors to choose from during the course of the novel.

The Plot of Once Upon a Broken Heart

Mild spoilers in this section.

Evangeline Fox is an affluent, hard-working orphan. There are many richer than her in this world, but she’s also doing quite well for herself. She works in her father’s old curiosity shop and lives with her evil stepmother and friendly but distant stepsister.

Things are going well, until her teenage romance turns sour. Her lover, Luc, suddenly won’t speak to her and is going to marry Evangeline’s stepsister!

Evangeline decides it must be a curse, and in desperation she turns to the Prince of Hearts—a ‘Fate’ with the potential to turn her life upside down, which is exactly what happens.

The Fates are like minor Gods in this world, and soon Evangeline owes one of them three kisses, to anyone the Fate chooses. Within pages, she’s packing fabulous dresses to showcase at even more wondrous balls.

But not all is tea and cakes…

My Favourite Moments

Major plot spoilers
Speaking of tea and cakes, the frippery in this book was one of my favourite things about it. It’s all very girlish, but I will never not smile when reminded about things I love (tea, cake, fancy dresses).

A less vapid, favourite aspect of Once Upon a Broken Heart for me would be Evangeline’s relationship with Marisol.

On one hand, it was nice to read a reverse harem that didn’t feature a sole female protagonist surviving against the odds, proving herself as an equal in a world of men.

On the other hand. It turned out that Marisol was a false friend, and Evangeline really was on her own for most of the plot, retrospectively (ignoring LaLa, but that friendship is still in its infancy in book one).

I enjoyed their relationship, and while I was sad to learn that Marisol really had betrayed her step-sister, it was very exciting.

However, the most exciting part of the novel definitely belongs to the vampire section. This sudden turn away from tea and cakes to torture and chains was shocking, but it has stoked my enthusiasm for the next two books in the series. The night spent in the lair of Chaos promised that this series can offer more than just a romance, and that there is far more at play in this world than nice magic, pet dragons, and hot men.

My Criticisms

Major plot spoilers ahead.

Speaking of hot men, one of my personal criticisms of this book is that there was far too much horny kissing.

Before you complain—I said it was a personal criticism. It was far too much for me. I find this sort of thing extremely awkward to read.

‘So why even read a romance book?’ you might be thinking…

Well… I don’t know… I’m a masochist? These things make me squirm and I don’t enjoy it, but I don’t hate it, either? And as a writer, it’s something I would like to learn to writer better, so why not research a TikTok sensation amongst other titles on my shelf (Under the Oak Tree, Wolfsong)?

Another criticism might be that the plot of this book wasn’t incredibly complex, but that also might be one of its strengths. As I said at the start of the review—I came to this after Children of Dune, so something a bit simpler was precisely what I was hoping for.

My greatest, serious criticism of this novel is that, at times, Evangeline feels more like a vessel for the plot than a character.

I’m now reading The Reckoning of Roku, and the Avatar book series have always been extremely developed in regards to their characters. Much like the transition from Dune to Once Upon a Broken Heart draws attention to the simple plot, The Reckoning of Roku really highlighted that Evangeline could have been more developed as a character.

She’s optimistic, but sometimes this feels like a get out clause to avoid discussing bigger emotions.

Despite this, she’s not uninteresting or completely unflawed, but I do hope her character gets developed a little further in the sequel, The Ballad of Never After. Evangeline might benefit from some more quirks.

One Wild Theory for Once Upon a Broken Heart

I think the Fates could be the Valors and opening the Valory Arch will return their humanity to them.

To Conclude

I’m currently reading book five of the Avatar book series, The Reckoning of Roku, but I’ll be returning to this Once Upon a Broken Heart series in the future so subscribe for more updates.