De La Cruz puts her own spin on the fractured fairytale genre with the Never After series where a youn fangirl gets a dream (or nightmare come true). Her beloved book series is releasing it’s epic finale, only to find out that the 13th book is never ever coming out. Because it hasn’t been written yet.

Because it turns out Never After is real, and the finale is yet to be written. Soon, Filomena Jefferson-Cho is swopping through portals from Hollywood to Never After to accompany her favorite heroes like the dashing Jack the Giant Stalker, funny sidekick, Ali Bartholomew Barnaby, and biportal, fashionista Gretel to save the Never After kingdoms from the fearsome reign of ogre queen Olga and complete the fairy prophecy.

De La Cruz has a lot of fun writing the “true” tales of fairytales. As Filomena finds out, some of them like Cinderella and Robin Hood have been majorly distorted thanks to Olga. Not only does she switch some of the good and bad perceptions of the characters but she takes advantage of the common naming to crossover and relate fairytales like Jack being the same Jack of “Jack and Jill,” (she’s his cousin and also the same girl who sells shells by the seashore) or Gretel being the Cobbler’s daughter and sister to Hansel. Cinderella’s prince turning into a frog meshes the two tales into one and she utilizes old sources like the Thirteenth Fairy’s name being Carbossa, the original look of the Beast, folktales like Stone Soup and more. It’s an ecclectic yet imaginative.

So here’s my rankings even though the series is quite over yet with the fourth book coming out in a few months.

1. The Stolen Slippers: Remember when I said that some of the good guys are actually bad. That’s the case here when Filomena finds out the wicked stepsisters are actually wickedly fun, and Cinderella is a total diva! Also the famous slippers (yes, plural) are a fairy heirloom that Olga is trying to get her hands on too so it’s doubly important for Filomena and her friends to get them back before Cinderella steals the throne and her stepsister’s prince! This got the number one spot because of how it cleverly intertwines not one, not two but four stories into one with humor and heartfelt sacrifices. It solidifies the team dynamic among the main four and introduces slightly bigger concepts for Filomena to grapple with like how far are the heroes willing to go to save the day, lie, steal, cheat others, what is crossing the line? Filomena starts to settle her fangirl dreams as she sees how real and hard it is for her friends who have dealt with real losses which up till a week ago, she saw as a fictional adventure. She also begins to grapple with her burgeoning feelings for Jack, oh la la la.
2. The Broken Mirror: There’s a lot going on here. Like a lot, a lot. The gang is back to save Never After from Olga’s encroaching ogre army. Not only has she recruited Robin Hood to target the western kingdom, two of the original thirteen fairies are kidnapped, Hortense’s prince has turned to a frog, and worst of all, Filomena’s mother is deathly ill and no one knows what’s the cause. The kingdom is on edge from all sides, and it’s up to the gang to utilize all their will power and power of friendship to save the day. It has some fun stuff between finding another cousin of Gretel and Filomena (honestly, everyone is related somehow), Filomena coming into her fairy powers and princess throne, and some angst. Like Filomena and Jack confiding in each other about the burden of a destiny they never asked for, the guilt of letting others down, the fear they’re not ready, and trying to be brave all the time. It’s good stuff but gets cluttered with everything else that is happening. However, the cliffhanger keeps the plot on edge and makes me want to know what happens next.
3. The Thirteenth Fairy: This is a great introduction to the Never After world, Filomena and De La Cruz’s distinctive rambling interior monologue, third person voice. But as it’s the intro, it holds back all that it could be compared to the subsequent books. It also follows a somewhat predictable chosen one/mcguffin plot with the reval of Filomena’s origins, getting the friends together and almost obligatory Filomena is getting bullied and dumped by her only friend which is quickly dropped that it feels unecessary.