Books Like Once Upon a Broken Heart
by Stephanie Garber
Once Upon a Broken Heart hangs its story on a bargain that rewires everything: a willful mortal girl, Evangeline Fox, breaks a prince's heart and then makes a desperate deal with the rakish, rule-bending Jacks — a fae whose favors come at a corrosive price. The novel's engine is an emotional ledger of debts and bargains, its scenes paced by flirtations that verge on cruelty and by magic that rewards desire while warping it. Garber mixes fairytale motifs, barbed wit and a protagonist who learns new kinds of agency by stepping into morally ambiguous choices.
If you loved Once Upon a Broken Heart, chances are it was for one of a few distinct pleasures: the ruthless, enemies-to-lovers spark and its combustible dialogue; the courtly, fairy-hosted glamour and the sense that every kindness has a cost; or the lush, ornate prose that makes each palace and card trick feel sensual and dangerous. Below are nine books chosen to match those different pulls — some echo the book’s romantic tension, some its bargain-driven stakes, and some its atmospheric fairy-tale mood — with a clear note about which strand each pick emphasizes.
Recommended for fans of Once Upon a Broken Heart
The Cruel Prince
Holly Black
Dark fae court politics and sharp enemies-to-lovers tension.
Pick this if you were hooked by Evangeline and Jacks’ razor-edged chemistry and want more courtly cruelty that smolders into romance.
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas
High-stakes fae bargain, lush romance, and emotional transformation.
Pick this if it was the theme of bargains that rearrange identity and love; this one pairs lush romance with deals that cost the protagonists dearly.
The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern
Enchanting, lyrical magic and romantic rivalry within a mysterious circus.
Pick this if you came for the novel’s ornate, sensory language and mysterious set-pieces — expect a wholly theatrical, slow-burn romance.
Uprooted
Naomi Novik
Fairy-tale atmosphere, dangerous magic, and slow-burning romantic stakes.
Pick this if you wanted a folkloric, older-author take on perilous magic and a slow-building romantic thread rather than instant fireworks.
The Hazel Wood
Melissa Albert
Dark, twisted fairy-tale lore and a heroine drawn into dangerous bargains.
Pick this if you were drawn to the book’s sinister folklore and the way bargains pull a heroine deeper into otherworldly danger.
The Star-Touched Queen
Roshani Chokshi
Mythic, romantic fantasy with ornate prose and fateful deals.
Pick this if it was the lush, poetic prose and fated-romance elements that appealed to you; this is a mood-and-language match more than a plot twin.
The Wrath and the Dawn
Renée Ahdieh
A seductive, revenge-driven retelling with layered romance and court danger.
Pick this if you were invested in romantic plots entangled with vengeance and court intrigue — expect a retelling-driven, emotionally complex relationship arc.
Serpent & Dove
Shelby Mahurin
Witch-and-wrongside romance with sizzling chemistry and high stakes.
Pick this if you loved the heat of a romance between two people on opposite sides of a conflict; this prioritizes chemistry and high-stakes consequences.
Girls Made of Snow and Glass
Melissa Bashardoust
Fairy-tale retelling with dark romance and emotional, character-driven drama.
Pick this if you appreciated a fairy-tale retelling that centers emotional, character-driven drama; this one leans into interiority and moral ambiguity rather than overt court politics.
At a glance
Matches were chosen on three axes that define Garber’s book: the enemies-to-lovers emotional charge, the bargain-or-contract plot mechanic, and the lush, fairy-tale atmosphere. Each recommendation aligns with one or more of those elements rather than simply sharing a genre label.
| Book | First published | Pages | Closest match on | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The Cruel Prince Holly Black | 2018 | 370 | Sharp enemies-to-lovers | 94% |
A Court of Thorns and Roses Sarah J. Maas | 2013 | 451 | High-stakes bargains | 92% |
The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern | 2011 | 512 | Lyrical, atmospheric magic | 88% |
Uprooted Naomi Novik | 2015 | 438 | Fairy-tale danger & heart | 86% |
The Hazel Wood Melissa Albert | 2017 | 368 | Dark fairy-tale bargains | 85% |
The Star-Touched Queen Roshani Chokshi | 2016 | 355 | Mythic, ornate romance | 84% |
The Wrath and the Dawn Renée Ahdieh | 2016 | 432 | Revenge & layered romance | 82% |
Serpent & Dove Shelby Mahurin | 2019 | 524 | Sizzling opposites romance | 80% |
Girls Made of Snow and Glass Melissa Bashardoust | 2017 | 384 | Dark retelling & character focus | 79% |
About Once Upon a Broken Heart
Once Upon a Broken Heart is the opening novel in Stephanie Garber’s Once Upon series and reimagines fairy-tale conventions through a modern YA sensibility focused on deals, desire and consequence. Garber is best known for her Caraval trilogy, and this book continues her signature mix of romantic risk-taking and ornate, evocative prose.
Frequently asked questions
What should I read after Once Upon a Broken Heart?+
If you want more of Stephanie Garber’s voice and the same mythic-romantic stakes, try her Caraval trilogy. If you want darker court politics and sharper enemies-to-lovers friction, The Cruel Prince is the closest tonal follow-up on this list.
Which of these books has the same enemies-to-lovers tension?+
The Cruel Prince and Serpent & Dove are the strongest matches for combustible enemies-to-lovers dynamics; A Court of Thorns and Roses also emphasizes an increasingly intense romantic transformation under high stakes.
Which picks focus more on bargains and fateful deals?+
A Court of Thorns and Roses and The Star-Touched Queen give weight to bargains that reshape protagonists’ fates, while The Hazel Wood centers bargains tied to dark fairy-tale lore.
I loved the lyrical prose and atmosphere — what matches that best?+
The Night Circus and The Star-Touched Queen most closely mirror Garber’s ornate, sensory prose and dreamlike atmosphere.
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