Never Ever After by Sue Lynn TanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Narrated by Natalie Naudus
Presented by Hachette Audio
This was great fun, if a little predictable and slightly too long. Some great characters, and the setting is gorgeous.
Yet another Cinderella re-telling, but this one weaves in some beautiful Chinese mythology to make it unique. Our protagonist, Yining, has a ring stolen by her evil step-aunt, and trying to get it back sees her tangling with a handsome prince. Add in a handsome adviser and political machinations and we're off and running.
I really enjoyed this at the beginning, but as with many audiobooks, I eventually found my mind wandering. I think I'm getting a little tired of fairytale retellings and romance cliches, though, so this was more a me thing, I think.
The writing is actually done well, and there are some really unique ideas here, so it's not boring by any means. It's stretched out, though, and eventually feels overly dramatic.
The romance side of things was nice and tame - just how I like it. Mostly suggestion and innuendo, but with some great character development as the driving force. I enjoyed it for the most part, though as mentioned, the cliches get a bit tiresome.
The narrator did a great job of defining voices and keeping the tone interesting. She had a great pace and cadence for this one. I'd easily listen to her narration again.
There's plenty of action and adventure, and it's a beautiful setting. I think readers who have enjoyed this author's previous work should really enjoy this offering; in general, I think fans of fantasy will still get a kick out of this one.
With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC
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