Once Upon a Broken Heart

In Chapter 7 of Once Upon a Broken Heart, Evangeline remembers her mother telling her “all stories are made of both truths and lies” (7). This idea persists both within the novel itself and within the fictional stories in the novel’s world. Through the truths and lies Evangeline and Marisol tell, the lies embedded in Evangeline’s romance with Apollo, and Jacks’s motivations to open the Valory Arch, Once Upon a Broken Heart explores how truth and lies cannot be separated.

Immediately after Evangeline makes her initial deal with Jacks, she regrets her decision. She wants to tell Marisol the truth but can’t bring herself to do so until the end of the book. As a result, Evangeline lives a lie where Marisol is concerned. Given how Marisol lies to Evangeline, it may be that Marisol doesn’t believe Evangeline is a hero for saving the wedding in Chapter 3, but regardless of Marisol’s beliefs, Evangeline saved Marisol and Luc’s wedding party from the curse. However, she only needed to save them because she made a deal to curse them in the first place. It is both truth and a lie that Evangeline is a hero because it’s true that she’s also the villain.