Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

12 reviews

boba_n_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Spice Rating: 🫑 / 5 🌶️

I *almost* never write a review directly after finishing a book, but with The Ballad of Never After, I just have to get my thoughts out NOW.

After being betrayed by Jacks, Evangeline finds that her trust in him is broken yet again. But in order to rid herself of yet another curse, she finds it necessary to work with Jacks. Again. Evangeline wants to despise him after all of Jacks's betrayals, but something inside is telling her that Jacks might be the only person she can trust after all.

Jacks's and Evangeline's love story has been cursed from the start, but that doesn't keep Evangeline, and readers, from hoping their story has a different ending. Even though I knew the entire time that Jacks had already found his one true love in Donatella (yet again so glad I read the Caraval trilogy first), I found myself hoping along with Evangeline that there might be some back door to the curse of Jacks's deadly kisses. 

The ending fake-out was CRUEL, Stephanie!! (I think we're on a first-name basis after that cliffhanger.) I loved seeing the differences between the two times the arch was opened. The line, "There is nothing of equal value to me," has ruined me. Jacks never truly loved Donatella, and that is seen in the selfishness behind his actions in the Caraval series. But no one can say Jacks doesn't love Evangeline--this is a selfless act if I've ever seen one.

Anyone reading this novel should have the next one, A Curse for True Love, at the ready because that cliffhanger is BRUTAL.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual content

justinekorson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I enjoyed this sequel more than the first one but I still have a lot to say about it. 

1. AGAIN WITH THE TIME TRAVEL!!! This is part of the reason I hated Finale!!! I think I've mentioned this before in the Caraval series review but... Stephanie likes to add really random lore at odd times. (In the last book vampires were suddenly real and in the Caraval series, specifically Finale, there was a lot of added plot points that I hated. Scarlett being magical for one of them and the addition of her father). The lore always feels like it comes out of left field for me. I'd totally forgotten that time travel had happened until I went back to read my old review of Finale.  

2. Jack's reasoning for wanting to use the stones to time travel IS NOT BELIEVABLE. When he first told Evangeline about it all I could think was "That's it? that's the stupidest reason I've ever heard." It didn't make sense to me that that was something he wanted, especially if I'm meant to believe that he's supposed to really love Evangeline. If he really cared for her, he wouldn't want that. SO WHEN HE LITERALLY GOES BACK IN TIME TO SAVE EVANGELINE AND NOT CHASE AFTER DONATELLA AGAIN I WAS PISSED. He kept saying he didn't care for her but he clearly did. I think this story would've been improved with a POV of Jacks throughout it but... whatever.

3. And while on the topic of Jacks loving Evangeline... I don't believe Evangeline loves Jacks. She talks all the time about this attraction between them but... attraction doesn't equate love. In my opinion, Evangeline craves love so badly she's willing to look for it in ANYONE. It was first in Luc, then Apollo, and now Jacks. I don't think she even knows what it means to be in love if she can move her feelings from boy to boy so quickly. 

4. Lala's apology... and Evangeline accepting it... felt so fake and so forced. Why the hell would Evangeline EVER trust Lala again?? Why would she say "I can forgive you I just need to know why" (I'm paraphrasing here). This just reminds me of how Donatella lied/manipulated Scarlett all throughout Caraval and how I would have HATED my sister if she did that to me MUCH LESS HAVING A FRIEND PUT A CURSE ON ME AND LIE TO ME ABOUT HER TRUE INTENTIONS WITH BEFRIENDING ME. I would never trust Lala again if I was Evangeline. 

5. Also.... Apollo suddenly has powers??? What the hell did he do to Evangeline. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, Confinement, Death of parent, and Gore

zoeelora's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Blood, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Alcohol, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

juliesleseecke's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Grief, Alcohol, Death, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent

tays_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Blood, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Stalking

Minor: Abandonment and Infidelity

kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Murder, Alcohol, and Blood

esme_may's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Abandonment, Confinement, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol

anton13's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Like always Stephanie manages to deliver a magical, gut wrenching, heartbreaking, heart warming and plot twist full story that keeps you hooked from start to finish. I absolutely love how she writes and this is another stunning example of how amazing her writing is. I love that you get to know more about Jacks in this book and that you see the relationship between him and Evangeline evolve. The ending had me on the edge of my seat. I did not see any of it coming and I was shook. Idk how I’ll survive not knowing what happens till the third book comes out…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Blood

Minor: Dementia, Kidnapping, Self harm, Stalking, Death of parent, Medical content, and Alcohol

amre23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Violence, Murder, Gore, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Grief, and Body horror

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Blood, Abandonment, War, Stalking, Gaslighting, Classism, Physical abuse, and Infidelity

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

leahlovesloslibros's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I enjoyed this book much more than Once Upon a Broken Heart (#1 in this series). That book felt somewhat disjointed, especially with the vampire section in the middle. This book had plenty of vampire action as well, which I typically don't like, but it actually fit with the storyline so seamlessly that it didn't bother me like it did in OUABH. 

I found myself stealing little snippets of time to read as often as possible, and when I could, I would just sit down and devour whole sections, because Stephanie Garber has - yet again - written an absolutely enchanting book. 

A few random thoughts: I did not expect Evangeline to be capable of killing someone! I was shocked when she murdered Petra, and I was totally here for the darkness of it all. The Hollow was my favorite area of The Magnificent North, I think. I was so upset when Evangeline took the mirth stone and the magic all disappeared and it essentially went to shambles. I'm still a little confused on the whole, Jacks is the Archer thing. Who was the original Fox? Not Donatella, right?

The slow burn between Jacks and Evangeline was great, and that ending....oof. Can't wait for book 3!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Violence

Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol