Undercover Librarian

by Nikki St. Crowe

The Never King, The Dark One, Their Vicious Darling, The Fae Princes

This review is very low on the spoiler scale!

In a nutshell, this is a four book series that acts like a sequel to the story of Peter Pan. It takes place several generations later, has a focus on the youngest “Darling” girl going to Neverland (okay okay she’s kidnapped), and develops into a cozy little reverse harem full of “Vicious Lost Boys.”

TW: series contains abduction, bondage kink, explicit descriptions of gore, mentions of child abuse and neglect, sexual violence, and a lack of explicit consent

I LOVE this series!* Nikki St. Crowe hits on everything that a spicy retelling should be and manages to do it while seamlessly incorporating some very captivating plot lines. While I appreciate the character development and the story arcs, let’s be real: I’m in it for the steam and HOLY COW do these books deliver!

Top 10 Reasons to Drop Everything and Read These Books:

10. Smee is female and a bad-ass.

9. Characters normalize queer as a spectrum.

8. Audiobook bonus: narrators with HOT, throaty accents for Pan and Hook.

7. Kink + intentional aftercare.

6. There is still plenty of whimsy and playfulness, like in the description of the Never Tree and the lost boys’ home there.

5. Tropes feel fresh instead of being used lazily like in some romantasy/smut/retellings.

4. I’m here for all of the metaphorical implications of the “shadows” relating to mental health *insert slow clap*

3. All of your demons will convince you that Vane is your literary soulmate.

2. I’m afraid of and also fascinated by The Crocodile.

1. “The stories were all wrong – Hook was never the villain.”

Spice Rating:

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