There aren’t many things I love more than a fairy tale retelling. Only one thing, perhaps. A DARK fairy tale retelling! Luckily for me, I stumbled on the Never After Series by Emily McIntire, which consists of stand-alone dark fairy tale reimaginings across various genres.
Attention: I will be reviewing all books of the series in this post (gradually), but as these are stand-alone stories, there’s not risk for spoilers!
Hooked
Hooked introduces us to James, a man who has only one goal in his life: destroying his archenemy, Peter. However, when Peter’s daughter Wendy shows up in his life, James’ plans start to go awry as he soon develops feelings for her…even though he plans to use her as a pawn to get his revenge.
Genre: Dark Romance
Consider me “hooked”
A dark and spicy re-imagining of Peter Pan? Yes, please! I have greatly enjoyed reading this first novel. I loved the dual point-of-view and the way in which the author brought to live such different yet recognizable versions of these beloved characters. This book is quite dark and might be triggering to some, but I loved every minute of it. The romantic tension and romance scenes were very good, I cannot wait to start the second book in this series! PS: the audio book is great too!
Book 2: Scarred
Review coming soon!
Book 3: Wretched
Evelina plays a key role in her family’s drug empire and doesn’t have time for romance. After a one-night stand, she plans to focus solely on work again for the near future, but things do not go as planned as the man suddenly turns back up. With another name. Because, of course, she had to pick an undercover DEA agent.
Genre: Contemporary (gangster) romance
Wretched and Wicked
Wretched is not a typical retelling of Wicked or The Wizard of Oz (the author calls it a “fragmented fairy tale”), but it had all the elements I would be looking for in a fairy tale retelling nevertheless. I haven’t read many books told from a female villain POV before, so it felt like a breath of fresh air. And the spice 😮 so good. This book was significantly less dark than the first part of this stand-alone series, but some of its content might still be triggering to some. Personally, I liked the first part better. Nevertheless, I still had an awesome time reading this third part (yes, I accidently skipped the second).
Book 4: Twisted
Review coming soon!
Book 5: Crossed
Review coming soon!
Book 6: Hexed
Review coming soon!
Notes on the Never After Series
Age Category: Mature Audience
Trigger warnings (click here, contains spoilers)
Book 1: Kidnapping, narrated child abuse, graphic violence, drugging Book 2: Torture, drug abuse
Do you want to discover more?
If my review inspired you to pick up the first book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores:
Amazon.nl: Paperback Edition
Special editions
Are you as bothered as I am by the fact that many series only get a beautiful collector’s edition of the first novel? Then you can relax now, as this series will be published entirely as collector’s editions. The first novel is already available, the second one can be pre-ordered, and it was confirmed by the author and the publisher that the others would follow soon. These editions contain exclusive content and interior art, and they have feature new covers and stencilled edges.
Similar to this
If you are also obsessed with Emily McIntire’s writing, you can rejoice, as she is about to start a new series of interconnected stand-alone novels, called Defying the Stars. The first novel, Burning Daylight, is a contemporary Romeo & Juliet retelling and is set to be released in September 2025.
Looking for more romantic fairy tale retellings? Check out Once Upon a Forbidden Desire, an anthology compiled by Erin Grey, featuring 20 retellings with different levels of spice.
Maybe you love retellings, but you’ve read too many of the same story? Then you should definitely look into Elisabeth and Edvard’s World by Astrid V.J.. This amazing series focusses on retellings of lesser known fairy tales, like for example The Nixie of the Mill-pond in Naiya’s Wish. My review can be found here.