A Chinese retelling of Cinderella if Cinderella was a badass thief with an enchanted ring and Prince Charming was a cunning and power-hungry heir to a kingdom swimming in treachery and greed.

Our protagonist, Yining is a young and skilled mind-reader who yearns to escape the clutches of her cruel step aunt, who tricks her way into the palace to retrieve the ring stolen from her—finding herself in the eyesight of the prince himself. I absolutely loved Yining’s fire and determination, she was fascinating, but not quite as so as Jin, advisor from a rival court to the palace, who she soon finds out is quite the worthy ally, with a hoard of secrets of his own. 𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆…?

The storytelling was by far the shining star of Never Ever After, not for a long time have I felt like I was actually pulled into the pages of a book. Everything felt so real, fully immersing me in the sights and smells of the kingdom, with mouth-watering descriptions of sugared fruits and pastries and lush portrayals of palace courtyards and forests.

This series has a LOT of potential if this is anything to go by. This was my first book by Tan and I’m so excited to see where she takes this story next.

Thank you so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for sharing an eARC!