The Ballad of Never After

It was the ending of this book that tore my heart out and I knew this was going to go downhill.

I wish I had my own little curiosity bell that blared in warning before I instantly picked up the finale cause I'm sorry, it just should of ended here (before the shocking ending.) Third book was pointless and I'm just going to stay mad at it cause how do you take the perfection of this book and then make that?

LOVED THIS!

I have completed the trilogy at the time of writing this review and can say The Ballad of Never After is my favourite out of this trilogy.

The world, characters and plot were all strong. Each event and plot point was interesting, evoked emotions and kept me entertained through out.

I really enjoyed how everything unfolded and the interconnections between characters and the plot. The quest and objects were great driving points and kept the story flowing at a nice pace.

I didn’t see the Luc plot coming, this was a nice surprise and same goes for Chaos / Castor story line! Loved it. The duality between Evangeline’s feelings for Jacks and Apollo was executed very well. I felt compassion for Apollo without it being forced or overshadowing Jacks and Evangeline’s connection, the perfect balance to keep me hooked! I was left with a few questions in some areas that weren’t answered in the final book, but none too glaring to change my feelings or outlook on this book. It did however affect my view / feeling towards the last instalment for not wrapping certain plot points.

I absolutely despised the ending this book took, purely because I didn't want it to happen. I understand the lead it would bring into the final book but it felt like a copout (sorry not sorry).

Aside from that, I enjoyed this sequel a lot, probably more than the first book. A lot was introduced, fleshing out the plotline and backstory of multiple characters. It was very easy to read and paced well.

Rating: 4.5 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

(3.5)
OK I GET IT. I GET WHY EVERYONE'S LOSING THEIR MINDS.
To be fair, it started of very weak for me, but as I kept on reading I was getting gradually more invested until I lost all of my hair at the POV switch; then I knew Stephanie COOKED. She let the lil plot twist simmer and I wasn't even mad for that. Wasn't even mad at Jacks doing almost a whole 180. He is HIM. I might give blond men a chance now.

I've found this book much better than the first. I enjoyed the characters development and tension created by the curses.

The ending was exciting and leaves you wanting for the next book.

Warning: It doesn't exactly end in a cliffhanger but I would have preferred to read it after the release of the third book.

Re-read #2: I would read this book forever if I just knew that the pain would bring something good in the 3rd book. Just knowing I have to wait a whole 24 hours for my copy of ACFTL to be redelivered is a pain but I guess I'm going to have to deal with it.

Edit:
It's been almost an hour and all I feel is pain. It was definitely a beautiful book. I had an idea of what would happen, again, it wasn't all that hard to guess. I just wish it never happened how it did.

You could tell when Jacks began feeling more for her, I felt it exactly when Evangeline did. Probably even before. Don't get me started on his need to go back into the past to win Donatella, that stuff annoyed the life out of me. I don't know how it didn't happen, like why did she not die when he kissed her? Was it because he finally believed his curse as a fate was dying out or was it because he thought with complete genuity that she was his one true love? I am under the belief that it was the latter, I think in order for him to not kill the person he kisses he needs to believe they are his one true love.

That brings me onto my next point, even Evangeline noticed that his “love” for Donatella was more of an obsession to get back what he previously had just for the purpose of gaining back his ‘humanity' in some form or another. She mentions this to him and he turns it down.

Now it brings me onto a question I've been thinking about sinces Jacks' heartbeat was recognised in the first book, did he ever have a heartbeat at the start? Or was it reinduced when he met Evangeline? Like come on, I need concrete details because I'm going to suffer until I can get my hands on the third book.

All in all, the Valor queen was right, time took back something in return for Jacks changing it. It was frequently foreshadowed that Evangeline would lose her memories of Jacks and he never thought of that possibility when it came to sending her off after travelling back in time. He said that nothing was equal to bringing Evangeline back to life, I believed it until it hit me that deep down Jacks wouldn't have wanted her to lose all her memories of him. I don't even want to know how badly it will affect him to know that Apollo wiped her clean of her memories. It does make me wonder how they will find their way back to each other though.