For me, this book suffered from some of the same issues that I had with These Twisted Bonds. The first book of the duology was much stronger than the second. One thing that consistently stood out to me while reading Between These Broken Hearts, was how rushed it felt. When I reached the halfway mark, it felt like we'd experienced a whole story worth of setbacks for the characters, but still had too much to solve for the series to conclude within a single book.

On a mixed note, I enjoyed having a character that fell outside of the traditional beauty norms for the world, but I also felt like we were beaten over the head with her insecurities. It got to the point that, while I was still grateful for having a variety of characters, whenever we got into Felicity's head, I was actively bracing myself for the inner thoughts I knew were coming.

Overall, this was a decent read that, if you've enjoyed the series so far, you are likely to have a good time reading.

I’m so sorry. I tired so hard to get through this book but just could not do it. I loved these hallow vows and these twisted bonds. There was zero character progression with felicity in my option and I did not enjoy her POV. I got 50% through this book before I gave up. I did not leave a review on Goodreads because I did not finish it.

Thank you so much to HarperCollins Children's Books for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I loved this book and will definitely recommend the series to my friends, especially the ones who enjoyed any books by SJM, Rebecca Ross, or Penn Cole.

Between These Broken Hearts is the fourth installment in the These Hollow Vows series by Lexi Ryan. The first two books focus on Abriella while the second two focus on her sister, Jasalyn. It's extremely helpful and enjoyable to read all of the books; however, you could just read Jasalyn's story starting with Beneath These Cursed Stars if you wanted.

This was a great ending to the series! Princess Jasalyn and Kendrick must find a way to defeat the evil Mordeus while Felicity, an echo who can shift into other people's forms, and Misha, the king of the Wild Fae, work to vanquish Erith and ensure that he doesn't take over the realm of Elora. Their adventures were exciting, the romance was sweet, and the world was full of lots of whimsical magic and moments.

The story was fast paced and picked up eight months after the end of book 3. I was a little confused at first and did need to review what happened in the last book to better understand where the plot was going and why in book 4. There are references to the past that intertwine with the new story, but I still needed to review the previous book to not feel lost. I got my bearings pretty quickly though and was able to move forward in this story.

Some of my favorite things were:

* the goblins: I love how they are used to help transport our main characters far distances and how they deal in gross things like nail clippings and pieces of hair. I might need a goblin novella to find out what exactly they do with them, lol. I found it funny how the main characters avoided traveling by goblin when possible as everyone knows what gossips they are.

* Misha's ability to speak mind to mind: what a quick, efficient, intimate way to be able to communicate!

* the blood magic and ring that transformed Jasalyn into the Enchanting Lady: these were simultaneously horrifying yet so very intriguing!

* the wolpertinger! Imagine a cute little bunny with horns that can turn psycho and super dangerous on a dime! That surprised me, made me laugh and scared me!

* there were so many fantastic supporting characters and villains that made this story richer! Shae, Konner, Brie, Amelia, and Squird, to name a few.

* the Grimoricon being able to transform from a cat into a locket that could easily be worn and transported was one of the coolest moments

* I loved how the oracle was presented in this book! You have to jump into a little puddle and can only speak to the oracle for as long as you can hold your breath. It really was one of the coolest moments in the book for me.

* the concept of the phoenix: just wow. Mind blown. Love, love, loved how this was incorporated into the story!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s | Storytide for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this so much! While I do think I prefer Beneath These Cursed Stars, this is a great conclusion to the duology.

My biggest complaints all take place in the first maybe 15-20% of the book and once I got past that I enjoyed it way more. Minor spoilers ahead. First, there is an 8 month time jump from the end of the previous book. I understand the need to jump a bit since it is a duology and our main characters are missing but I would have preferred some info on the search. Jas and Felicity were found very quickly and it almost made it feel like they weren’t gone at all. Second, we jump right into dreams and scenes that left me confused and thinking I forgot things from the first book. It was all explained but for a couple chapters I was convinced I had characters names/relationships all messed up. My other complaint is more about preference but I tend to get a little annoyed with spin-off series when the main villain is the defeated villain from the main series. Always makes me feel like the work the other characters did was for nothing.

I did love the personal journeys that Jas and Felicity went on outside the main villain. Jas’s battle with anxiety and depression was realistic. Both characters were well-rounded and had good character arcs. Overall, I enjoyed Between These Broken Hearts and would recommend this series!

3.5 stars rounded up.

First off, I have never been SO excited to get an arc of a book as I was for this one. Thank you to HarperCollins and Lexi Ryan for allowing me to read this in advance!

After Beneath These Cursed Stars I was left on the edge of my seat absolutely drooling over the relationships between our four main characters Felicity, Misha, Kendrick & Jasalyn. I couldn’t wait to continue their stories, see their relationships deepen, and the four of them in the same room for once.

My biggest hangup was the beginning of the book. I get that we aren’t supposed to understand what is initially happening, but it was really confusing/jarring for me. I kept flipping back to Beneath These Cursed Stars trying to see if I misunderstood something.

The immediate passing of 8 months was a big no for me. I get that it is a duology, so things needed to speed up, but I would have preferred a chapter or two before skipping a few months, and then repeat before catching up to where we were. Even by the end of the book I feel we were robbed of explanations or moments seeing the characters work through the complex emotional situations they were in at the end of book 1.

Otherwise, I loved each character’s story and romance, feeling that their actions struck true with who we got to know in book one. I really enjoy the world that Lexi Ryan has built between the two interconnected series and am sad to see it complete!

I was pretty lost for the first 20% or so, but I don’t know if that’s a me-thing or a book-thing, so I can’t necessarily rate this book lower due to that. Maybe I should have re-read Beneath These Cursed Stars right before starting Between These Broken Hearts, but honestly, I’ve read books where the author does a really good job of bringing us back into the story and sort of re-capping what happened without it being super obvious, and I wish Lexi Ryan had done that a little better here. That being said, I was already a little less into Jas’s story during book three than I was with Abrielle’s in the first two books. But I LOVE Misha so I was still very excited to continue his journey in this, book four. I did definitely prefer the Felicity chapters over the Jas chapters, the latter continued to keep me a little lost for most of the book.
Still, an overall enjoyable ending to the series!
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advance copy and allowing me to share my review!

Short Answer:
This book is chef’s kiss 😘… Perfection

Long Answer:
This book concludes the second duology in the These Hollow Vows world. We get the conclusion to Felicity and Jasalyn’s story that started in Beneath These Cursed Stars.

I love Lexi Ryan’s world building and story telling. She is an auto buy author for me now. This book had a journey of healing. Characters dealt with not only villains but their own personal demons with depression and anxiety. It is a beautiful story of them pulling themselves out and finding themselves worthy, enough and complete.

This book is a fun YA Fantasy adventure with magic, portal travel, Kick A$$ FMCs, swoon worthy males, romance, banter, found family, and a happy ending.

This book had me in my feels. I love Lexi Ryan and have never been disappointed with her books. I loved reading this spinoff and delving deeper into the other characters who share their own stories hurts and adventures. Loved it!

It was extremely helpful to read this duology back to back. I was excited to pick up with Felicity and Jasalyn again for the fourth book in the series, but the finally in this duology. These books are YA romantasy, but Lexi Ryan covers a lot of dark topics within the story - including managing PTSD and depression. I appreciated her take and loved the interwoven story lines. This is a quick read that kept me engaged throughout. If YA is not your jam, this book may not be for you. Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

In the second half of this duology, Ryan sets out to do something rather unusual in fantasy - remain with characters struggling to heal in the aftermath of the fight against good and evil. Princess Jasalyn was tortured as part of her sister's battle against King Mordeus, while Felicity's family fell apart.

In different ways, both women have spent the years since the war hiding from themselves, so when both are forced into action to keep Mordeus from taking over the kingdom, both are forced to reckon with their own demons. I really loved the challenges that both these women face - Felicity, as a larger woman, has always felt so insecure in her own body - her role as a shifter who seamlessly takes the identity of others feels like the perfect fantasy metaphor, while Jasalyn, who spent years feeling powerless, has a ring which influences everyone around her to follow her wishes. This book felt incredibly relevant to a lot of the issues that young women today are facing - insecurity, body shaming, coping with trauma in a time with a lot of unrest and chaos.

I also appreciated how their love interests interact with them. There are misunderstandings and hidden backstories, but the men take their feelings seriously and listen to them and really model good communication. We live in a world that really does often minimise young women's experiences and I think this would be a wonderful book for teenaged girls to read about healing, about trusting others and about being kind to yourself.

Between These Broken Hearts is the second book in a duet and must be read in order. It continues Jasalyn, Kenrick, Felicity, and Misha’s story. The stakes are even higher than they were in the first book now that secrets have been revealed.

Read if you like:
-Mutual Pining & Angst...So Much Angst
-Race Against Time

It's hard to properly talk about this book without including spoilers. I really liked it. The pining and angst gave me everything I was hoping for from this book. Please read Beneath These Cursed Stars and Between These Broken Hearts so I have someone to talk about it with!

4.25/5

This was a great end to the series. I really enjoyed watching all of the characters change and grow. There was so much character growth and healing. This was well paced and had me on the edge of my seat most of the time. I also loved the romance of both the couples. Very satisfying ending!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I not a self-proclaimed fan of romantasy, but Lexi Ryan knows how to do it. I am so glad she decided to continue in this world. She manages to perfectly balance the elements of fantasy with the romances without overwhelming plot points. It's so delicious to read and any tropes just feel fun. Thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this.

Loved this newest edition! Absolutely worth the read. I loved the development of Misha and Felicity’s relationship- I never get enough Misha! Jas was way less annoying, and Kendrick was perfect. The hidden gem was Konner. ❤️ I loved the ending to it and highly suggest it to anyone who has enjoyed the series so far.

I have loved every single book in the series! I love FMC and I love Felicity. This trilogy has my whole heart. It has everything in it thatI love, fantasy, romance, intrigue, politics, family, finding oneself. Please start with book one and devoured this trilogy today! 5/5 ⭐️

Listen, I get that it’s fae but I COMPLETELY forgot Jas was 17 and Hale was 21. Still gross. He can drink legally in our world and she’d be a high school senior. I just can’t.
And then there were bits that were just too damn repetitive. Like some of the information gathering and exchanges could have just been a paragraph instead of 3 whole chapters.

Otherwise, I love this series. It was nice to see it wrap up.

This whole book was a beautiful piece or art! I cried and cheered and swooned. The characters are so well written and made me believe in a fairy tale romance again.

An absolutely wonderful ending to this series. I loved the dual point of views of felicity and jasalyn in the second half with this duology. Felicity’s story felt a little overshadowed by how beautiful and in depth Jasalyns emotional journey was but I still enjoyed almost as much. Lexi Ryan has beautiful story telling.

LEXI RYAN YOU’VE DONE IT AGAIN. I love this woman’s books so much and it was such a joy to be able to have early access to this.

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Brilliant! The world is rich and easy to get lost in, and the characters feel real. I really cared about their journey and what happened next. The story has plenty of surprises that kept me hooked, and I couldn’t put the book down. Lexi Ryan mixes fantasy with the characters’ personal growth in a way that makes everything feel meaningful. It’s a story that stays with you, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy!