“Happy endings can be caught, but they are difficult to hold on to. They are dreams that want to escape the night. They are treasure with wings. They are wild, feral, reckless things that need to be constantly chased, or they will certainly run away.”

In the sequel of Once Upon a Broken Heart, Evangeline Fox has but one wish. Cure her poisoned husband, Prince Apollo in a chance off true love. A dilemma arises when the Prince of Hearts, Jacks, offers her the solution in exchange for help with the Valory Arch. But she is certain, she can’t ever trust Jacks again.

Once Upon a Broken Heart was magical and whimsical, but I felt I missed something. I needed more worldbuilding, more character building and I wanted more depth. And in the second book I got a little what I asked for.
The fairytale history of Valor and Jacks was broadened. There still was only a small backstory from Jacks or the portal, but I did love the extra bits we did get. Jacks got more multilayered, discovering more and more of his past.
Besides that, this fairytale had magic, it was mysterious, it was eerie, it had vampires and court intriges, it had a scavenger hunt a hint of a love triangle and enemies to lovers.
And yeah, Evangeline, her heart was fickle. Some might even say “girl, get it together”, but when I was as young as her I loved every boy that gave me the feeling that they liked me in a minute too. So, considering this is YA, this felt very fitting and true to reality.
Did this book surprise me with its plot twists? Not really, I felt it coming from a distance, but sometimes we don’t need oohs and aahs to enjoy a book. Because The Ballad of Never After was just great. An enjoyable read with a nice fairytale of true love.