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readyforit's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
4⭐️3🌶️
This book is an Aladdin retelling kind of, in that the author uses names and places and some similar plot. This book is a lot darker for the backstory though. Julian was abused as a child and the author gets very descriptive. I would skip this book if that is a trigger for you. I really liked his character and I couldn’t help but root for him even though he was the villain. I just knew he was misunderstood. Yasmin is a spoiled rich only child of Ali, who owns a huge diamond conglomerate. She knows her dad isn’t exactly an above-board guy but she has no clue just how deep it goes, and he wants to keep it that way. He’s a dying man (his cancer is heavily mentioned) and all he wants is for his daughter to marry a man who will take care of her and continue the business. She is offended that he doesn’t offer it to her, but later in the book we kind of see how sheltered she was and that she most likely would not have succeeded. Julian has basically run the business for many years since he worked his way up and he’s offended that HE wasn’t offered to take it over. So he devises a plan to marry Yasmin, take over the business, then kill her. Why would Yasmin agree to marry Julian? She’s in love with Aiden, whose mother works in her father’s mansion. She knows her father would never let her marry him, so she asks for Julian’s help. He sends Aiden to Egypt to look for a long-lost and very valuable lamp, and if he finds it, Ali might just allow him to marry Yasmin. In the meantime Julian plans to marry and seduce Yasmin.
This book is a little less spicy than the others bc it’s a true slow burn. There’s lots of tension in the beginning and middle but they don’t even hookup until like 70% of the way through I think.
I loved Julian and Yasmin’s relationship. They met when she was younger but he didn’t have any interest in her until now (they are 23&36). They are a true enemies to lovers, slow burn, touch her and die, where is my wife type of romance. He literally waits for her to tell him that she loves him bc he doesn’t want to ruin her chances of fixing things with Aiden. And honestly, fuck that guy. They were supposedly best friends for 12+ years and he didn’t even know how she took her coffee. Meanwhile Julian has only been around her a couple of months and he already knows how she takes her coffee, what shampoo she uses, and notices that she never learned to drive and tries to teach her. He gets her the EXACT diamond ring she wants, without even asking🥹.
Julian had a rough childhood and has self esteem issues and problems with letting people in. Because he’s such a paranoid person, it’s hard to know which characters to trust. Yasmin discovers that her father “protecting” her for her whole life really did her a disservice. She can’t even cook or do laundry. They both grow together and find they deserve happiness in each other. The extended epilogue that is available through the author’s website was nice too.
The audiobook was phenomenal and the narrators were perfect for the characters. They each had just a slight accent for some words. This audiobook didn’t have any discrepancies with the ebook this time like with others in the series. Overall I really enjoyed it and read it in one sitting! I would probably opt to reread the audiobook in the future.
This book is an Aladdin retelling kind of, in that the author uses names and places and some similar plot. This book is a lot darker for the backstory though. Julian was abused as a child and the author gets very descriptive. I would skip this book if that is a trigger for you. I really liked his character and I couldn’t help but root for him even though he was the villain. I just knew he was misunderstood. Yasmin is a spoiled rich only child of Ali, who owns a huge diamond conglomerate. She knows her dad isn’t exactly an above-board guy but she has no clue just how deep it goes, and he wants to keep it that way. He’s a dying man (his cancer is heavily mentioned) and all he wants is for his daughter to marry a man who will take care of her and continue the business. She is offended that he doesn’t offer it to her, but later in the book we kind of see how sheltered she was and that she most likely would not have succeeded. Julian has basically run the business for many years since he worked his way up and he’s offended that HE wasn’t offered to take it over. So he devises a plan to marry Yasmin, take over the business, then kill her. Why would Yasmin agree to marry Julian? She’s in love with Aiden, whose mother works in her father’s mansion. She knows her father would never let her marry him, so she asks for Julian’s help. He sends Aiden to Egypt to look for a long-lost and very valuable lamp, and if he finds it, Ali might just allow him to marry Yasmin. In the meantime Julian plans to marry and seduce Yasmin.
This book is a little less spicy than the others bc it’s a true slow burn. There’s lots of tension in the beginning and middle but they don’t even hookup until like 70% of the way through I think.
I loved Julian and Yasmin’s relationship. They met when she was younger but he didn’t have any interest in her until now (they are 23&36). They are a true enemies to lovers, slow burn, touch her and die, where is my wife type of romance. He literally waits for her to tell him that she loves him bc he doesn’t want to ruin her chances of fixing things with Aiden. And honestly, fuck that guy. They were supposedly best friends for 12+ years and he didn’t even know how she took her coffee. Meanwhile Julian has only been around her a couple of months and he already knows how she takes her coffee, what shampoo she uses, and notices that she never learned to drive and tries to teach her. He gets her the EXACT diamond ring she wants, without even asking🥹.
Julian had a rough childhood and has self esteem issues and problems with letting people in. Because he’s such a paranoid person, it’s hard to know which characters to trust. Yasmin discovers that her father “protecting” her for her whole life really did her a disservice. She can’t even cook or do laundry. They both grow together and find they deserve happiness in each other. The extended epilogue that is available through the author’s website was nice too.
The audiobook was phenomenal and the narrators were perfect for the characters. They each had just a slight accent for some words. This audiobook didn’t have any discrepancies with the ebook this time like with others in the series. Overall I really enjoyed it and read it in one sitting! I would probably opt to reread the audiobook in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Death, Death of parent, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Classism, Sexual content, Body horror, Child abuse, Terminal illness, and Torture
Minor: Alcohol and Vomit
lisa07xie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I really liked it! A enemys to lovers romance and Yasmin and Julian uff they are so perfect for eachother and it was thrilling to see their story developed and see how they change for the better! I loved the topics this book talked about and I thought it was quite interesting. I knew Aidin was bad from the beginning though I knew he was just gonna use her! Shoutout to Isabella though she is so cute and I love her role I have never heard of getting rid of dead bodys like this so that was fun!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Terminal illness, Body horror, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Torture, and Toxic friendship
tacochelle's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I was not happy with this from chapter one. As soon as I learned that Yasmin was 15 when she met a 28 year old Julian, and that this was supposed to be our endgame couple, I was digusted. Nothing would change that. At least with the other books they were somewhat entertaining even if they were bad, and Wretched was actually pretty good. This one though, the characters were all annoying or boring, save for the best friend. And knowing that this is a dark retelling of Aladdin, the plot was insanely predictable, down to the twists and betrayals.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Terminal illness
questionablereads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is an Aladdin retelling where Jafar, or in this scenario Julian, gets Jasmine (Yasmin in the book). I have loved every book previously in The Never After so far, but this slow burn did me in. I wasn't really in love with this book until 60% through. It's age-gap, enemies to lovers and forced marriage. That being said once the spice hit my jaw was on the floor, and I enjoyed how everything wrapped up in the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
rreyesreads's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, Torture, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Car accident, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Blood, Cancer, and Death
megthecatlady's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a slooooow burn romance which is apparently a thing I'm becoming increasingly more okay with reading. The plot of this book had suspense vibes which I enjoyed. I also really loved that there were places in this book for the miscommunication trope to happen and it simply didn't because the characters were able to rationally think through situations before diving head-first into their initial shock/anger. However, the ending of this book and how everything was tied up neatly really sold it for me, but I'm a sucker for happy endings for all deserving characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Death of parent
Minor: Gun violence
shenanigator's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
ladywren890's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Spice is great very descriptive but most of this series the plot is pretty bland until you get 70% through the book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Torture, Cursing, Death of parent, Cancer, and Murder
Minor: Car accident, Kidnapping, and Grief
itsaemily's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Cancer, Child abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and Death
Moderate: War and Classism
bergha1998's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Hands down my favorite of the series so far. Their whole dynamic was so good and hot af. My only real complaint is that the side characters were so one dimensional again. Like we get two very interesting main characters and everyone else is like vanilla and some of their choices don’t even make sense.
Dark Romance, Enemies to Lovers, Dom/Bratty Sub, 3 3/4 🔥
Dark Romance, Enemies to Lovers, Dom/Bratty Sub, 3 3/4 🔥
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Grief, Gore, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Classism, Gun violence, Sexual content, Stalking, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexism