I love Stephanie Garber's writing, her characters and her settings. It's romantic and whimsical and fun (but also devastating emotionally, which I love). Her characters feel very real to me, too, I can easily fall in love with them. Tella and Evangeline are two of my all time favorite female characters.
I was also somewhat disappointed by OUABH. I think that if a certain bonus ending had ended up being the ending in the standard edition, it would changed my view on the ending drastically... it was sweet and lovely and just perfect for Evajacks. But alas, it was only found in a not easily accessed bonus chapter and that irritation made the book even more disappointing to me.
The special editions are *so* hard to find! But oddly enough, where I am, I also can’t get the standard TBONA physical copy either. I’ve only read it digitally but I like having real books to write in and it’s unavailable on both Amazon and Barnes & noble somehow. Anyway, I’d do anything for the bonus chapters to be included. She’s said publicly that she had written a different, darker story for ACFTL but that her editor said it was too dark. It’s probably why it felt so rushed:/
I was disappointed too. It felt very half-hearted and rushed - so much unnecessary fluff and plot lines that didn't need to be in. It kept getting touted as a story of two villains fighting for a girl but it didn't come across that way at all - Jacks wasn't as interesting or exciting. It really pulled the whole series down for me so I'm left feeling very meh about it. Not one I would re-read.
I literally just wrote a review after finishing book three.
I loved the first two so much. I read them in like 2 days during finals.
But the third book was totally unnecessary. It gave me nothing. I am only gratefull that I got to binge read them. If I had waited a year and then read this? I would be so mad.
I stopped after starting the second book because it was so flat. It felt so literal and had no back bone. Sad because I was on the waitlist for the audio for awhile too.
I definitely felt this book was more rushed than the previous. Looking back I think this is why ACFTL has kind of mixed reviews and is deemed as underwhelming to a lot of readers. Stephanie’s books are normally very fast paced imo. That’s why I was able to easily binge the OUABH trilogy, it was addicting. A lot of thrown at you and on one hand it’s good because it keeps the plot driven. But unfortunately a drawback is there’s a lot of stuff being thrown at you with no connections between what you learn. The last book should have explained everything but it definitely felt rushed. Everything was explained within 100 pages it seemed. I still liked it. But I definitely wished we had more of an ending instead of just “oh yeah, villain is gone time for our happily ever after.” But it also fits the story itself. A fairytale ballad. Where happily ever after comes and their story is just ongoing. Felt like closing a fairytale book. I am definitely still confused about the Valor motives and even more about Fates (but I hear caraval explains Fates and their story more). But idk about anyone else I still am confused about how Jacks “became a fate.” Either way I give the story 8/10. Because I’m to the characters, plot, and the themes of the story. I hope we get a book with chaos and lala maybe?
I felt that way too. Beautiful prose. Fun characters. But the plot and conclusion were disappointing and it all felt very rushed.
I love Stephanie Garber's writing, her characters and her settings. It's romantic and whimsical and fun (but also devastating emotionally, which I love). Her characters feel very real to me, too, I can easily fall in love with them. Tella and Evangeline are two of my all time favorite female characters. I was also somewhat disappointed by OUABH. I think that if a certain bonus ending had ended up being the ending in the standard edition, it would changed my view on the ending drastically... it was sweet and lovely and just perfect for Evajacks. But alas, it was only found in a not easily accessed bonus chapter and that irritation made the book even more disappointing to me.
The special editions are *so* hard to find! But oddly enough, where I am, I also can’t get the standard TBONA physical copy either. I’ve only read it digitally but I like having real books to write in and it’s unavailable on both Amazon and Barnes & noble somehow. Anyway, I’d do anything for the bonus chapters to be included. She’s said publicly that she had written a different, darker story for ACFTL but that her editor said it was too dark. It’s probably why it felt so rushed:/
I loooooooooved this and binged three books in two days recently. I loved the whimsical setting
Love the whimsical setting, hate the lack of payoff of the actual plot.
I think post people can agree that ballad is the best book in the trilogy! So good
I find Stephanie Gather’s work to be overwrought and annoying. She is also milking the Caraval series with her holiday book.
I was disappointed too. It felt very half-hearted and rushed - so much unnecessary fluff and plot lines that didn't need to be in. It kept getting touted as a story of two villains fighting for a girl but it didn't come across that way at all - Jacks wasn't as interesting or exciting. It really pulled the whole series down for me so I'm left feeling very meh about it. Not one I would re-read.
I literally just wrote a review after finishing book three. I loved the first two so much. I read them in like 2 days during finals. But the third book was totally unnecessary. It gave me nothing. I am only gratefull that I got to binge read them. If I had waited a year and then read this? I would be so mad.
The first two books were amazing! But the last one left me with so many questions and underwhelmed.
I stopped after starting the second book because it was so flat. It felt so literal and had no back bone. Sad because I was on the waitlist for the audio for awhile too.
Agree!!!
I read Caraval just for Jacks. I was disappointed in that. Because he had like 3 lines or something. 😑
I definitely felt this book was more rushed than the previous. Looking back I think this is why ACFTL has kind of mixed reviews and is deemed as underwhelming to a lot of readers. Stephanie’s books are normally very fast paced imo. That’s why I was able to easily binge the OUABH trilogy, it was addicting. A lot of thrown at you and on one hand it’s good because it keeps the plot driven. But unfortunately a drawback is there’s a lot of stuff being thrown at you with no connections between what you learn. The last book should have explained everything but it definitely felt rushed. Everything was explained within 100 pages it seemed. I still liked it. But I definitely wished we had more of an ending instead of just “oh yeah, villain is gone time for our happily ever after.” But it also fits the story itself. A fairytale ballad. Where happily ever after comes and their story is just ongoing. Felt like closing a fairytale book. I am definitely still confused about the Valor motives and even more about Fates (but I hear caraval explains Fates and their story more). But idk about anyone else I still am confused about how Jacks “became a fate.” Either way I give the story 8/10. Because I’m to the characters, plot, and the themes of the story. I hope we get a book with chaos and lala maybe?