Now that school’s finally settling in, and the weather is starting to cool down, the temptation to start a new book or book series might start to kick in. Sometimes I feel the urge to read a certain book, and other times I just want to read something, but need inspiration to find the book.
With the somewhat recent phenomenon of BookTok, readers and nonreaders alike can get bombarded with all the new trending titles. There’s a lot of good and bad that comes with having so much attention on new upcoming releases. In order to grab the attention of readers, some authors have to go to extreme lengths and can easily wrongfully promote their novels.
the power of booktok
For example, in March of 2021, author Alex Aster started talking about her new book, Lightlark and used the promise of it being like Hunger Games and A Court of Thorns and Roses to lure in an audience. With both of these series carrying a substantial fan base, it’s easy to say that it sucked in a large group of excited readers. However, once it was released, negative reviews started pouring in once they realized that this book “was completely different from what Aster advertised on social media“. Since fans were consumed with disappointment, they started bashing the author and her book online, severely affecting her reviews.
That being said, there were a few people that started defending Aster, claiming that “the novel isn’t even bad“, and that they “absolutely love Lightlark“. Nevertheless, this is one example of where BookTok doesn’t always work in authors’ favors. In spite of this, Aster has a film adaptation in her future and sold a million copies of her book, so who’s to say bad publicity doesn’t work?
now to my new obsession
Keeping BookTok’s trends in mind, a common theme amongst young adult readers is the need for strong female leads in books. While I’m always a fan of the tough girl that doesn’t want help from anyone, let alone from the MMC – male main character, it can get repetitive at times. Randomly on TikTok, I started seeing advertisements for Evangeline Fox, a female lead that isn’t afraid to be feminine and ask for help. Out of intrigue, I started looking into the series Once Upon A Broken Heart (OUABH) to see what the story was about.
Turns out, I had already bought the book – oops! IYKYK – so, fortunately I was able to pick it up and start reading. The story begins with Evangeline Fox, a young orphaned girl, who is heartbroken because the love of her life is marrying her step-sister. Helpless and devastated, she turns to one of the Fates, the Prince of Broken Hearts to ask for his help in ending their wedding. From the get-go, the concept of having these god-like creatures called Fates instantly grabbed my attention. As an avid romantasy reader, I was impressed by something that seemingly hasn’t been done before.
Within hours I was finished and buying both the second and third book. The dynamic between Jacks, the Prince of Broken Hearts, and Evangeline was full of banter, fury, flirtation, and so much more. It’s one of the perfect examples of the grumpy/sunshine trope. While Evangeline fully believes in love and a happy ever after, Jacks is quick to shut down her hope because of his curse.
Anyone he kisses will die.
Without spoiling anything – because seriously, you NEED to read it for yourself – this curse plays a huge role in the storyline and has you on the edge of your seat. And don’t get me started about all the APPLES. This is a slow burn love that absolutely plays with your heart, feeds you with SO MUCH TENSION, and has you wanting to throw your book across the room, but pick it right back up.
Heads up for those who want to immediately start reading – there is technically a series that comes before OUABH. After finishing the book series, I realized that “Caraval,” written by the same author, has some of the same characters and important backstories that play into OUABH. Nevertheless, there’s some debate between whether or not you HAVE to read Caraval before OUABH, but inevitably, it’s up to the reader to decide which order they want. Personally, I still haven’t read it and I’m not sure if I will, but I’ve also heard it’s good as well.