The Ballad of Never After | 
Thank you @lil1inblue for the great #jolabokaflodswap - so excited for this book (I love her books!!) and can‘t wait to try one of the super beautiful fancy chocolates and a nice cup of cocoa!! ❤️❤️
And even my husband said these adorable cloth Xmas bags are cool 😝
pickThis fairy tale gets increasingly darker in this instalment, with curses and bad luck and all manner of lies and tricks and pitfalls. Evangeline and Jacks seem truly doomed, which surely means they‘ll get their ever after? Maybe eventually…Garber keeps the tensions very finely tuned in this book, which speeds along at a far clip. I loved Evangeline‘s growth as a person, and didn‘t anticipate that final twist. Jumped right into the next book…
so-so3✨This had an interesting transition from continuing from the first book to the cliffhanger for the next book. It continued to bring up the archer and the Fox consistently along with other concepts that were over used. The story itself became really interesting and I‘m not sure I completely understand the wish that may or may not have been made. The time jumping gets me confused everytime! The ending! Where‘s the next book! 🤣
so-soI know people have loved this book and I‘m in the minority, but I am really only reading this series for the MMC. I want him to find his happily ever after. I don‘t like the FMC and I didn‘t like how this second book of the trilogy ended.
Despite all my moaning‘s and groaning‘s, I will finish the series.
so-soEvangeline has to save Apollo from a curse. Jacks says he‘ll help if she helps him open the Valory arch. In order to do that, they have to collect 3 stones. Will she be able to save Apollo? Will their attraction for each other increases while on their journey?
Hot take: I didn‘t really enjoy this one. Evangeline & Jacks were annoying throughout the whole book that I found it boring. I don‘t feel a need to read the last one.
pickLost count at how often Jacks was able to betray Evangeline in like 100 pages
The ending took some part of my soul away from me
I‘m way more invested in these books than I thought 👍🏼
pickI enjoyed this book more than the first one.
Evangeline‘s character grew so much, and you get to learn so much more about Jacks and some of the other fates.
I want to live in The Hollow! Little mini dragons everywhere and different food and drinks just appear at certain times of the day, yes, please!
This one had such a twist at the end. It really makes you need to start the third book asap.
pickFor me this was much better than the first book. Evangeline really developed, and I felt like I got to know the world and back story much better. Also a superb twisty ending.
And, I want to go live in the Hollow.
pickI don‘t understand how a book like this can even exist. Jacks had already won my heart, but this book is where Evangeline did too. She became more human to me, I got to see that we have similar things that make us tick. I think this might be my new favourite series, and for good reason. The world within the pages of this book is truly magic. The characters are not perfect, but that makes them better. It makes them feel real.
I took advantage of the warm weather this afternoon to finish up this book at the park! Now onwards to book three! 💕📚
pickI don‘t know how to start. Because to be honest I didn‘t like the first book in this series as much as I thought I would (though I still thought it was wonderful). But this one. My god. I don‘t even have words to describe my extensive feeling about this one. It was BRILLIANT. I‘m honestly having trouble collecting my thoughts after that ending but can say right now: I loved it and cannot wait to get my hands on the conclusion!
5⭐️
Evangeline didn‘t want love that made sense, she wanted love that made her feel, love that made her want to fight and hope for the impossible.
Love would always win as long as they never stopped fighting for it.
“Sorry to break your fairytale, Little Fox, but ballads don‘t end happily, and neither do the two of us.”
It felt like the end of a fairytale, when one kiss had more power than a thousand wars or a hundred spells.
It struck her how intimate words could be, how they could be spoken only once, for only one person, and they would never be heard again, they would disappear like a moment, gone almost as soon as you realised they were there.
Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw him smile.
And for a second, nothing hurt.
She used to think love was like a house. Once it was built, a person got to live in it forever. But now she wondered if love was more like a war with new foes constantly appearing and battles creeping up. Winning at love was less about succeeding in a battle and more about continuing to fight, to choose the person you loved as the one you were willing to die for, over and over.
Evangeline knew he would carry her through more than just freezing waters. He would pull her through fire if he had to, haul her from the clutches of war, from falling cities and breaking worlds.
I think there‘s a happy ending for everyone. But I don‘t think these endings always follow the last page of a book, or that everyone is guaranteed to find their happily ever after. Happy endings can be caught, but they are difficult to hold on to. They are dreams that want to escape the night. They are treasures with wings.
People called it heartbreak, but Evangeline thought that losing someone you loved broke more than just a heart.
Dark was for stars and dreams and the magic that took place in between days.
Listening to book 2 in this series and it is INCREDIBLE!! #stephaniegarber
pickSilly Evangeline. Why did she not stay forever in the cozy inn with Jacks and the baby dragon? This book was so fun with twists and turns. It left me grateful that I only have to wait a few weeks for the conclusion. Also, how amazing are these preorder dust jackets? I can‘t wait to get the third one, too.
pickLoved it 😊 but that was a cliffhanger for sure can't wait to read the next book in October
pickWhile I always love Stephanie Garber for her whimsy and magic, I do wish Evageline was a little bit tougher. I felt she was always crying and being rescued in this one.
#Serieslove2023 #Readyourtbr #readmyshelves
I feel too invested in this tale to bail but…I could use a break.
Late night reading after a day out with family. Got this pillow stand thing and I love it for reading in bed. Now I just need to be able to see in the dark, I‘d be set 🤭💜 hope everyone is having a nice weekend!
pickHoly cliffhanger, Batman! 5 months until book 3?! And just when things were getting good! Evangeline continues her search for the gemstones to open The Valory Arch, and I‘m beginning to understand her cluelessness/naive hopefulness is truly a characteristic of hers and I appreciated it much more this time around instead of being annoyed by it. The chemistry between her and Jacks is sexy and witty. I hope they get their happy ending. 5 stars!
I think there‘s a happy ending for everyone. But I don‘t think these endings always follow the last book of the page, or that everyone is guaranteed to find their happily ever after. Happy endings can be caught, but they are difficult to hold on to.
Why do I have a feeling this book is going to shatter my heart?!
When life gives you a gift card, buy a book. That‘s my motto at least
A new book brings me so much happiness, how could I resist?
pickI'm loving this series. It's an offshoot of Carnavale, but it doesn't seem like you need to read that.
I should maybe clean my kindle before complaining about how hard it is to get a good picture. 🤷
pickOk, so I did get a little sick of their attitudes towards each other during the middle of the novel, but I still enjoyed reading it. I read and finished almost more than half of the novel today. I couldn‘t put it down and honestly forgot how much I was reading until I was done. I can‘t wait for the next book to come out. Never expected myself to like this series as much as I did, but now that I‘ve read it, I can‘t wait to figure out how it ends!
pickThis was a great follow-up to the first book in the series, full of secrets and prophecy, heartache and betrayals. While the whole “he‘s a bad boy but I can change him” trope makes me 🙄🤢 I still enjoy trying to figure out where the author is going to take the fantastical storyline. It left on another sort of cliffhanger and I‘m excited to listen to the next installment when it comes out! 🌟🌟🌟🌟
