A review by teabrewer
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

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

2.5

Most of the book was mediocre and cliché (not like the previous book where tropes are used to inhence the story but in the lazy sense, like the fourth season of a tv show that should have ended already.) Some scenes were good and some dialogue lines get my attention but generally I just kept asking myself why Jacks personality was so inconsistent and
why every character just ignored that Evangeline was cheating on her husband.
From the middle to the end the writting started to improve but just at the very end that I actually felt like I wanted to read this book. But I did love the end.
I tend to not like stories where vampires are too predominant but in this book I understand their role and why they were nescessary. I loved the detail of the chapter numbers repeating after Jacks went back in time, the little moment where Evangeline explained normal communication to Jack and the revelation of what was in the other side of the arch. The very final scene was amazingly written, horrifyingly symbolic, I loved it.
To be transparent, I'm reading the next book mostly because the cover is beautiful and I did really like the first one.
Ps:
I didn't like what the author did with Luc in this book. He is absent of any motivation, personality or brain cells, and not like a classic himbo, but like the most offesive definition of a non-character.

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