The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

… what…

Talk about a slow burn. And with the ending? There’s no way we’re getting any kind of closure with Jacks and Evangeline any time soon. 

Apollo, my man, WHY. I feel viscerally betrayed. I spent the entire book feeling awful for him because his whole wife is in love with another man, and while that sucks, THIS ISNT HOW WE HANDLE REJECTION, APOLLO. 

Evangeline is still one of my favorite main characters I’ve ever read. She’s compelling and engaging, she makes enough bad decisions to keep the story moving while still coming from a good place. Her conflicted feelings for Jacks are irritating but, logically, they make sense. As the reader, our moral compass is suspended to a certain degree, making it easier to root for Jacks. For the main characters I’ve ever, though, her moral compass is firmly in tact. With that, she’s of course hesitant to fall in love with a man who’s capable of heinous things. 

Jacks, baby. Oh my lort. “There is nothing of equivalent value.” Kicking and screaming. His backstory unfolded in a way where you were constantly like “yeah, that makes perfect sense.” Every conclusion was beautifully foreshadowed and made perfect sense. 

I generally detest miscommunication as a plot device, but I have to say, Stephanie Garber does it in a way that doesn’t make me want to scream and rip my hair out. Every little thing that’s left out between the characters doesn’t just narratively make sense, it makes logical sense as well. Things people wouldn’t want to readily share. She doesn’t use “xyz would solve all our problems if I just said it, but I won’t because… I don’t know but I won’t!” Each bit has a valid and logical reason behind it not being said from the characters perspective.