A girl who believes in true love makes three deals with a wickedly beautiful Fate — and every one comes due.
- Score
- 78.1
- Spice
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Sweet
- POV
- first
- Ending
- HEA / HFN
Tropes
Content warnings
Curated signals, not an exhaustive guarantee.
If you liked this, read
What readers think
Readers overwhelmingly praise Jacks as one of the most compelling and magnetic YA love interests in recent romantasy — his deadly kiss, morally grey motives, and guarded vulnerability make him intensely addictive, and the slow-burn tension between him and Evangeline is widely described as 'maddening in the best way.' Garber's lush, atmospheric prose and the richly detailed world of the Magnificent North receive consistent acclaim, with many readers noting the novel feels like stepping into a living fairy tale. The most common criticism is directed at Evangeline herself, who is frequently called naive, overly trusting, and passive — readers who want a fierce, proactive heroine often find her frustrating. A secondary complaint is that the plot leans heavily on atmosphere over substance, with twists some seasoned genre readers find predictable. The book ends on a sharp cliffhanger that is either thrilling or infuriating depending on the reader's patience.
Read it if
- · Readers who want an emotionally intense slow-burn with a morally grey, villain-coded love interest and fairy tale aesthetics
- · Fans of Stephanie Garber's Caraval trilogy looking for more of the same lush, atmospheric world-building in a new corner of the same universe
- · YA and crossover romantasy readers who prioritise romantic tension, atmospheric prose, and court intrigue over hard plot logic
Skip it if
- · You need a proactive, fierce heroine — Evangeline is optimistic and earnest to a fault, and many readers find her gullibility frustrating
- · You dislike cliffhanger endings with a multi-book wait for resolution
- · You want explicit spice or a fully consummated romance — this is firmly closed-door
If you liked this
- · For fans of Caraval by Stephanie Garber — same lush universe, lyrical prose, and a trickster love interest with hidden depths
- · For fans of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black — morally grey fae-adjacent court, a heroine who must out-manoeuvre a dangerous supernatural being, and slow-burn forbidden attraction
- · For fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas — dangerous bargain with an immortal, enemies-to-lovers tension, and immersive world-building with a romantic core
- · For fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab — a deal with a powerful supernatural figure whose true motivations gradually surface, wrapped in gorgeous atmospheric prose
In this series
Part of Once Upon a Broken Heart — read in order:
Full series profile & spice/trope breakdown →Which dark romantasy heroine are you? Five choices in a forest that wants you dead.
Take the quiz →