Review Detail

NEVER EVER AFTER is an engaging YA fantasy. Yining has grown up under the thumb of her step-aunt, who mistreats her and forces her to participate in her cons. Yining dreams of grasping enough money for herself and escaping this life. When she finds a magical fish in the woods, the fish reveals that there is more to her and her parents than she could have expected, imbuing her small wood ring with her magic. However, her step-aunt steals it and runs to the capital where the prince is having a ball.

Unwilling to risk her death without her ring, Yining follows and makes her way into the ball, catching the eye of the prince. When she and her step-aunt skirmish, her ring is taken by the prince. Yining decides to stay and try to get her ring back before she makes her escape - but she finds herself in the middle of politics with a neighboring country and in the middle of more than she ever could have expected.

What I loved: This was a surprising action/adventure read with a lot of twists and turns. The plot moves quickly with danger/peril and intrigue around every corner. Yining does not know who to trust, and she does not trust easily. This works out well as it seems that everyone wants to put her in a cage and she must lie and keep her wits about her to get her ring back and escape. Reveals about her heritage and the ring come slowly as she participates in a challenge for the crown and considers spying for their dangerous ally-in-treaty-only neighboring kingdom.

Yining was a compelling character, who often felt self-destructive. She has spent much of her life captive and stressed, and she reacts rebelliously and skeptically of everyone as a result. In some ways, she lashes out at everyone because of her past, unsure of who to trust and willing to do anything to grasp at potential freedom. This is complicated by her health being tied to the ring that others seem desperate to keep from her.

While the story focuses heavily on her, there are some interesting side characters that will be interesting to see how they develop in the future, particularly the potential royal love interests. However, she felt fiercely independent, and readers will appreciate her reluctance to trust or form a bond with either, instead standing on her own. There are hints that this will be evolving into something for the future, and it will be interesting to see how she maintains her independence/freedom while navigating a potential relationship.

Themes of politics, betrayal, family, abuse, determination, survival, and lies were all woven throughout the book. While the book was focused on one kingdom, it seems that future books could reveal more of the neighboring kingdoms, and these will be interesting to learn about as well. The world-building was intriguing, though the scope was limited as the book is from Yining's perspective, and she is still learning. This will likely continue to evolve in the next book.

What left me wanting more: As a small thing, the book felt somewhat disconnected from Yining's emotions/thoughts, and it was somewhat challenging to fully sink into her character, maybe because she is not fully sure yet of all that she wants. Likewise, the romance felt very distant, but this may be as intended. The writing style was unique in this way with a bit of a formal/disconnected feeling, but it did not feel as consuming as it otherwise would have. Along those lines, the reveals did not feel as big as they could with lies feeling expected rather than surprising without the trust or deeper liking of particular characters.

Final verdict: NEVER EVER AFTER is an overall engaging YA fantasy with magic, adventure, and lots of surprising twists. It will definitely be interesting to see where this series goes!