Between These Broken Hearts

Between These Broken Hearts (These Hollow Vows, # 4)

By: Lexi Ryan

Publication: July 22, 2025 by Storytide

464 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fae

Source: Publisher via NetGalley/Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

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Goodreads description--Forbidden romance, mysterious prophecies, and the battle to save the fae realm come to a captivating conclusion in the #1 New York Times bestselling saga begun with Abriella in the These Hollow Vows duology and continued with Jas and Felicity in Beneath These Cursed Stars.

Princess Jasalyn has eleven days to live.

Jasalyn is facing the repercussions of a deadly bargain. Her life, and the future of the shadow court, are forfeit on her birthday unless she can stop the evil fae king Mordeus. She needs to face her greatest fears and find him before she runs out of time, but even after everything, Kendrick won’t let her face this alone.

Shape-shifter Felicity has vanished.

Felicity disappeared from King Misha’s dungeons, and her friends have been searching for her to no avail. But even if she’s found, Felicity will never be able to escape the oracle’s tragic prophecy for her and her family. In her lonely battle with fate, Misha is the last person she can ask to stand by her side, but the first one she’ll need.

The previous book, Beneath These Cursed Stars ended on a double cliffhanger. Jasalyn has discovered a betrayal. Kendrick isn't who she thought he was. Or at least, he's more than who she thought he was. This means she can't fully trust him, and she leaves him and his group to go off on her own after the sword of fire in hopes of killing Mordeus for good. Felicity's betrayal of Misha was discovered, and she was captured by her twin brother and trapped in an illusion of an alternate reality. 

Jasalyn has finally come to a place where she realizes that she wants to live, and she wants her bargain to be broken not just because she doesn't want Mordeus to use her for his resurrection, but also because she actually wants to live her own life even if it will be different from what she always imagined it to be. Her journey is dark and full of sadness. This is not a peppy story by any means. And I like that Lexi Ryan touched on the topics that she did in the way she did. 

Felicity has to come to terms with her deception and what that means. She's been fighting a prophecy that says she will succeed in killing her father, the evil King Erith of the mortal realm, but in doing so her brother in all the ways that matter, Kendrick, will die. She has no problem being the one to kill Erith, but she can't bring herself to do so at Kendrick's expense. 

There are many side stories and pieces that come into play. And Lexi Ryan does a great job of weaving them all together. I will say that I wasn't surprised by any twists or turns. There really weren't any. Things were pretty straightforward, even if you didn't fully know how the day was going to be saved, and they were going to save Jasalyn and everyone in the end. 

Between These Broken Hearts is two love stories in one. I do wish we had a few more glimpses of Brie and Finn, but it wasn't really their time to shine, and that's okay.

Language is present, and there is a small amount of spice. If I remember correctly, most of the action doesn't take place on the page. 

Favorite quotes:

-"A magic like this is hungry. It takes and takes. It will draw from you until there's nothing left."

-Fear isn't a measure of cowardice, and pain isn't a measure of weakness. You are brave and strong and anything but broken.

-"...if I've learned anything from having a seer in the family, it's that fate is a slimy thing. People like to think of it like a fixed point, but it's always changing."

-"Everyone in this world has a fate they would personally rearrange the stars to avoid." ..."Don't think I am so different."

-"Tell me what you want and I will bend the world to give it to you."

-I thought I knew loneliness in the depths of my despair, those years before I got the ring, but that can't compare to the loneliness of knowing nothing I say or do will be remembered.

-"You are so easy to love."

-"Do you know how I feel about you?" "You hate me."... "So that's a no?"

-"I look like something that crawled out of the Underworld." ..."I had no idea that place had so much to offer."

-I know my worth now. If I am lucky enough to see a life beyond my eighteenth birthday, I won't disgrace that gift by living in the shadows. I deserve a life in the sun.

-"It's easy to want the good days. ... It's the others that make the decision so hard. The bad and the painful and the gray and the numb. You can't just imagine a happy life and decide it's worth it; you have to choose all of it."

-Every existence has pain and joy and sacrifice...

-"No. They're mine. I endured."

Between These Broken Hearts is ultimately a story about overcoming, about enduring, about choosing to live and to love. It's about loving others, but ultimately about loving yourself. I love the deeper themes and takeaways from this book. While self-harm and ceasing to exist are not something I struggle with, I know that so many do. And I hope they can all find beauty in the scars, beauty in the pain, hope in the future. Between These Broken Hearts gets 4 Stars. Have you read Between These Broken Hearts? What did you think? Let me know!

These Broken Stars - Review

These Broken Stars

By: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Published: December 10th 2013 by Disney Hyperion

384 pages

Genre: YA, Science Fiction

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

The first in a sweeping science fiction trilogy, These Broken Stars is a timeless love story about hope and survival in the face of unthinkable odds.

I wasn't really sure what I was going to get into with These Broken Stars. I don't think of myself as being a big science fiction fan, but I've been surprised by enough books to be open to the genre. And well These Broken Stars lived up to everything I hoped it would.

These Broken Stars alternates POVs between Tarver and Lilac. And I have to say that right off I could tell I was reading from a male perspective even though none of the words specifically said...until well they did. I was immediately impressed with the writing that could tell me without telling me that I was reading from a male's POV. One of the things I always look for when reading books with multiple POVs is whether or not the characters have a distinct voice. And they definitely do.

When we're first brought into this story, our characters are aboard a giant spaceship that I really looked at as kind of like a cruise ship--probably because of the reference to the Promenade deck. Where some people might turn their nose up, I found this helpful for picturing the characters' surroundings. Of course I wasn't picturing the 70s orange or red carpet often found on cruise ships but a much more black, silver...metal themed decor.

Of course, the Icarus doesn't stay in space through the whole book. As the description above states, the Icarus crashes onto a planet that appears no one really expected to be there. It would seem a little too odd and predictable that our two main characters are the only ones who survive this crash, but the authors did a great job formulating a feasible reason for this.

Speaking of characters, I guess I should really discuss them. Tarver's a war hero. He's young to be such, but he's proven himself in the field. We don't get as much of his military background story and I hope that this is fixed with the other installments in the series. Lilac's history is a little more flushed out. Her father happens to be the richest man in the entire universe. And because of this, Lilac faces the typical conflict of everyone wanting something from her. Men want her money. Women want her status. The poor want her to take their ideas to her father, and the rich want to parade her about. She hates this, but she doesn't quite know how to escape it either.

I didn't quite blow through this book. I had to stop and put it down for various reasons, but every time that I did I kept thinking about it and wanting to come back to it. The writing kept me intrigued. Twists and turns in the plot kept me guessing. Things really picked up in the last 25%. And events take place around the 75% mark that had me biting my nails. It was at this point I was completely unable to put These Broken Stars down until I devoured every page.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed this one. While reading it, I kept thinking that it kind of reminded me of Under the Never Sky. I can't quite point out why, but I think fans of Under the Never Sky will enjoy These Broken Stars as well. Definitely putting book 2 on my radar to pick up as soon as I can.

These Broken Stars gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read These Broken Stars? What did you think? Let me know!