I love me a fairy tale retelling. Never After: The Stolen Slippers is definitely suitable for the middle grade age but as an adult, I enjoyed it. The audiobook was fun and it was a quick read. Getting to see how Cinderella got the Never After treatment is enjoyable.

This is definitely not a stand-alone book. It's important to read the first one, for sure! 3.5 rounded up to four.

So this book was super cute. The ending truly redeemed it for me and made it a 3.5 stars. I think Filomena is so cute and fun to watch. I thoroughly enjoy fractured fairy tales or a fairy tale retelling. I love that the same characters are in this book with more of a roll.
Best parts of the story... Cinderella and Beauty and Beast retelling. Still a lot of action and surprises. (I was surprised even though it's middle grade.)
Worst parts of the story... That the author felt the need to tell us REPEATEDLY that there was a first book and that we should read it. Once, is okay, but it's done a LOT during the first few parts of the story. It felt cheap and unnecessary.
I need to remind myself that this is a middle grade book. Maybe kids need the reminder, but I also felt that anyone reading this book has read the first book.
All in all, I really enjoyed and look forward to the next in the series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* i love retellings of fairytales and this is a pretty good series so far, more for middle grade for sure but i don't mind that! good read, would buy.

I started this audio not knowing it was part of a series I haven’t read. They kept referencing Never After stories and saying to read them. Sooo….I obviously missed out on a lot but the book was still easy to follow. It was a fun way to see the new spin on fairytales. I liked how they portrayed Cinderella and what they ended up doing with her. I now need to read the first book in this series.

I enjoyed this book very much. I listened to the first book in the series prior to listening to this one. They were both very enjoyable. I will be recommending them to friends and family who have pre-teens or teens that like fantasy.

I did not read The Thirteenth Fairy prior to listening to this audiobook and I am now going to have to rectify that! Melissa does a fantastic job of taking these tried and true fairy tales and making them her own. I like that there is a mix of real life within the fairy tales.

I thought that Imani Jade Powers did a fantastic job with the narration. It was easy to tell which character was speaking, there was a great pace to the book, and when I increased the speed to 1.75 I was still able to understand everything the characters were saying.

Can't wait to read (or listen to) Rise of the Seven when it come out.

Never After: Stolen Slippers continues where Book One left off. On a new mission to Never After, Filomena Jefferson-Cho and her friends set off on another adventure. Turns out, Cinderella is not as she is portrayed in real world stories. On their way to find the glass slipper (which is actually two stolen slippers), Filomena, Jack, Alastair, and Gretel get themselves into more trouble.

I can see how this book will be appealing to readers in the middle grades. Which child hasn't wondered what might happen if fairy tales became real? The author has turned the familiar fairy tales on their heads and given a new viewpoint. Imaginative but far fetched, Never After: Stolen Slippers fits well into the fantasy realm. The pacing slowed down quite a bit in the middle, though it does pick back up towards the ending. Too many characters are introduced, allowing the focus to split too much.

Imani Jade Powers is the perfect narrator for this book, as she reads the novel with a wide eyed, child friendly enthusiasm. She reads clearly and with emotion, breathing life into the characters and giving voice to their adventures. I definitely recommend the audio version of Never After: The Stolen Slippers to readers in the target audience.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Audio Copy of this book by NetGalley and the publisher, Macmillan Young Listeners. The decision to listen to this book was entirely my own.

The Stolen Slippers is the second book in the Never After series. I read the first book but listened to the second book. I think that may have affected my experience with the story. The narrator does a good job. The dramatic portions of the story that reflect the age of Filomena Jefferson-Cho grated just a little because the reactions seemed exaggerated. One example: the gingerbread portion of the story wasn't a favorite part. I see the lesson to encourage kids to understand that candy and sweets as a large portion of the diet is not good for them.
This book gives us two fairytales at least - Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. Each story has variations from what is known on earth.
More of Jack's background is revealed. The book ends with the kids headed on another adventure to save the day. I suppose that is a bit of a cliffhanger but I'm good to wait for the next book.
I liked the story and I think middle grade readers will enjoy this second book in the Never After series.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook.

A great sequel to a cute series. I like to call this series if Enchanted fell in love with Harry Potter. Cute fairy tale additions to this series. We meet the “wicked” stepsisters of Cinderella and the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland, along with a monstrous beast. The reimagined fairy tales are done very well, while sticking with the beloved characters from the first book. Per usual sequels there are more characters introduced, but they are just as charming as the originals so I’m not mad about it. I also LOVE the way Filomena handles he parents at the beginning. Would have liked to seen more with her parents, but alas there are bound to be more books in the series!

The Stolen Slippers felt very different than the first Never After book. The Stolen Slippers jumped right into the story and I felt myself lost at times about what the mission of the characters was, but I still enjoyed the journey they took. The spin on Cinderella was amazing and had me contemplating if any other fairy tales might be different from what I know. This book is great for anyone interested in fractured fairy tales and lots of adventure.

Filomena Jefferson-Cho is back and just as much fun as before! This time she's headed back to Never After to help her friends Gretel, Alastair, and Jack find the glass slippers Cinderella stole. It turns out that Cinderella is actually horrible and evil and the "wicked" stepsisters are wonderful, nice people. The glass slippers were a gift to Hortense, one of the stepsisters, and Cinderella thinks she can marry the prince if she just dances with him while wearing the slippers.

Readers will recognize a house made of gingerbread, a castle and a beast, and even Wonderland in this fast-paced, enjoyable adventure. I love the characters and how de la Cruz takes stories we're familiar with and changes them up, or not, to keep us intrigued and entertained. She captures the interest of middle grade fantasy readers perfectly and this addition to the series is wonderful. The ending is not a cliffhanger, but it definitely sets up book 3!

**Read the series in order or you'll encounter spoiler after spoiler!!

5 enthusiastic stars!


Disclaimer: I listened to a free digital audio version of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was my first audiobook through net galley and it was pretty good! I enjoyed the audio aspect but I didn't love the book as much as I did the first installment. It was still full of fun fairy tale characters reimagined which I always enjoy.

Review: (#giftedbook) Never After: The Stolen Slippers

Author: Melissa de la Cruz

Rating: 😊

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free digital copy in exchange for an honest review! This book is out soon on 2/1. 🎉

This is the second in the MG "Never After" fantasy series and it was just as fun and enjoyable as the first. This story follows Filomena Jefferson-Cho and her friends Jack, Alistair, and Gretel right on another adventure to try to save the fantastical and fairy tale world of Never After, this time by trying to save some familiar-sounding glass slippers.

What I love about these stories is that while they draw from fairy tales and fantasies, these books are still wholly original. Cruz flips the fairy tales on their heads which makes it all fresh and entertaining. The little band of friends that the reader meets in the first book continue to delight in this story. I recommend for lovers of middle-grade and fairy tale/fantasy stories! I listened to the audio and Imani Jade Powers is a wonderful narrator!

This book was difficult for me to get into. The language made it really difficult for me to follow the plot. I think young adults would identify better with the language.

In all fairness, I haven't read the first book and maybe that would have allowed me to better mentally sort the characters. The characters were difficult for me to keep track of and I lost interest very quickly. The plot never pulled me in.

********Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review****************

This is the second book in the Chronicles of Never After series. Filomena continues her adventures with Jack and his friends in this exciting new tale. They are attempting to find Cinderella’s missing slipper. Turns out all the stories we have been told are not quite accurate. It’s up to Filomena to correct the tales.

Of course I’m a sucker for fairy tales, as I think any female is who grew up in my era. Yet, the great thing about this story is there is so much adventure tied in that the story is good for boys and girls! I’m excited for the next book to be released!

Thank you to NetGalley, Mellisa de la Cruz, and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review this book!

This was much better than the first book. It felt more settled and more like a cohesive group working together, even when they made mistakes! Some of it was predictable and a little repetitive, but over all, a good step forward in Filomena's journey. The poetry adds to the mood and the 3 new friends/allies are a good addition the world building.

I enjoyed listening to this 2nd book in the series. I did not read/listen to the 1st one and had no trouble following the story. This story is a twisted Cinderella tale that claims Cinderella is the bad sister and the wicked step-sisters are the nice ones being taken advantage of. There were many fairytale characters throughout the book with stories that were twisted, also. I plan to go back and read the first in the series. It’s a good read for upper middle school age. This was an #netgalley arc sent to me free for an honest review.

I think my middle grade student will enjoy this continuation of the series. It wasn't as well paced as the first book with some slow moments that may lose younger readers but the way fairytales are twisted and friendships are developed were great.

Did you know that this book is the second in the series? Did you know there was a first book? By the way, there’s a first book in the series and this is not it. In case you were wondering this is the second book in a series, the first one already came out.
It was that sufficiently annoying? Because it’s worse in the actual book. Between reminding the reader, breaking the fourth wall, that there is another book before this, and the main character reminding the reader about 4,456,973 times that she has read “ALL TWELVE books of the Never After series” (I guess she’s warning us that there are 10 more to come) I had to REALLY push myself to finish the book … or is it just one big ad for the series?

I love revisited and reimagined fairy tales and have read many of the authors’s previous books, so was happy to see this among the offerings at NetGalley. The premise of the story is charming (pun intended, and if you don’t like it, don’t read the book). An “average Joe” preteen is actually a fairytale princess living in the real world. She and her fairytale friends have to travel to another land via a secret portal to rescue various damsels in distress, and correct the fairytale stories that have been passed down for generations. Because, you see, those fairytales have been written incorrectly and misinterpreted. This story, in particular, is about righting the misconception represented in the story of Cinderella… Who is not as innocent and perfect as Disney would have us believe. The story itself is cute. It’s fun to hear back stories for some of the characters in tales that have been passed down for generations. And, it’s always fun when many of the strong characters are young women. The book is definitely geared for preteens, I think my late primary and early middle school students would really enjoy it.
However, I refuse to buy or promote stories that have gratuitous advertisements and blatant self-promotion for the author. As a consumer, I’m paying for books, I don’t appreciate having to read through ads on top of that. If the story is good enough, we will want to read more, and we will want to see if the author has other publications. To have it shoved in my face is unacceptable to me and is usually a red flag that there is a reason it has to be pushed so hard. Without that nonsense, I probably would have given 4 stars. Because of it, I wanted to give 2, so I compromised and settled on 3.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ALC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a cute story. I enjoyed the fantasy fairytale retellings. It was fun to meet the variety of characters from a huge range of fairy tales. I liked how some stories stayed true to how we know the fairytale while others were incredibly different. It made it a surprise every time a new character was introduced!

The audio was great. The narrator did a wonderful job!