Scan barcode
readyforit's review against another edition
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: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Vomit and Alcohol
rreyesreads's review against another edition
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: Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder
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: Cancer, Cursing, Torture, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Kidnapping, Grief, and Car accident
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: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: War and Classism
ocean_the_reader's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I don't have a single positive thing to say. This was a dumpster fire. Here's why:
I didn't like Yasmin as a character. This is supposed to be an Aladdin retalling and movie Jasmine wouldn't have let shit fly, she had a backbone. Yasmin in the book has never heard of a backbone.
Julian was just kinda fine. Nothing really aggravated me about him, at least not till the very end.It was absolutely disgusting that in the extended epilogue that he sniffed her underwear when he found it in his breif case.
The nickname Yas used exactly 8 times. Every single time it took me directly out of the story and was very jarring.
It took too long for them to possibly think that they had feelings for one another.I mean it took them over 200 pages for them to even kiss, and even then that was when they had gotten legally married. This is a 374 page paperback, that is too slow for me to believe their HEA
The smut felt very basic campared to the others in the Never After series. But maybe it felt that way to me because I didn't like the characters.
And Aiden was only there to create the possibilty of a love triangle. Or something. Yasmin's relatioinship with him was really believable either to me.
Also I felt like the equivalent of Genie wasn't nearly as prominent as he was in the movie. Which was really disappointing.
I didn't like Yasmin as a character. This is supposed to be an Aladdin retalling and movie Jasmine wouldn't have let shit fly, she had a backbone. Yasmin in the book has never heard of a backbone.
Julian was just kinda fine. Nothing really aggravated me about him, at least not till the very end.
The nickname Yas used exactly 8 times. Every single time it took me directly out of the story and was very jarring.
It took too long for them to possibly think that they had feelings for one another.
The smut felt very basic campared to the others in the Never After series. But maybe it felt that way to me because I didn't like the characters.
And Aiden was only there to create the possibilty of a love triangle. Or something. Yasmin's relatioinship with him was really believable either to me.
Also I felt like the equivalent of Genie wasn't nearly as prominent as he was in the movie. Which was really disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer
betsymays's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
kyrstinmikal's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
Oh my goodness... I can't even begin to explain my love for this book! Enemies to lovers, stockholm syndrome, the build-up for the characters to finally come together, just pure amazing. This is my 3rd book in the series that I've read, and it's taken 1st for me so far... I thought Wretched was good, but damn this just blew it out of the water. It gives off Aladin vibes but soooo much darker. I'm truly left wanting more, Julian is the perfect vilian, and Yasmin is so sassy and stubborn. I love it. The plot twists just kept me hooked!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Murder
kitsunasaur's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Car accident
lizzie_b99's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
cwinter8916's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Possibly my favorite in the series. I couldn’t put it down!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder