I was incredibly excited when I found out we were getting Twisted by Emily McIntire. Aladdin was one of my two favorite Disney movies as a child and I couldn’t wait to see how Emily would twist it to give us a story where Jafar won the girl.
Twisted by Emily McIntire
Twisted by Emily McIntire is book 4 in the Never After series and a complete standalone. It is a dark romance re-imagining of Aladdin that released on February 7th, 2023. It was 366 pages long and I read the eBook. It is available on Kindle Unlimited, Amazon and on the author’s website here.
Premise
Yasmin’s father’s dying wish is for her to marry a man of his choosing, regardless of how she feels about the servant’s son. Desperately wanting to make decisions for herself she strikes up a deal with her father’s right hand man, Julian. Except, Julian helped to build the empire her father owned and he wants to own it for himself. Marrying the only heir, Yasmin, will put it all in his hands, right where it belongs.
Triggers
Triggers found in Twisted include:
- Sexually Explicit Scenes
- Violence, Murder, and Torture
- Domestic Violence (Not between MCs)
- Child Abuse
My Thoughts
The way I wanted to hate Julian, like throw my tablet hate him, but Emily McIntire laughed and laughed as, slowly, I began to fall for the fictional man the further into the book I got.
Meanwhile, Yasmin was a woman wanting to take the lead in her father’s company, but never being accepted or allowed to do so. After so much rejection she turned to her hobbies, made a friend who turned into more, and then when she was even losing her ability to choose a husband took matters into her own hands and teamed up with the enemy she knew.
There were points in this book where I did want to scream at Yasmin too, because it felt like she was almost accepting her fate being decided for her. She eventually got her stuff together though. Of course, as the reader, we want that ride of emotional growth.
Her lips twitch. “Having one of your goons come to collect me and bring me to the courthouse isn’t exactly stealthy, patatino.” A chuckle bursts out of me at the Italian term of endearment. I’m sure she learned the word to irritate me, but if anything, it does the opposite, bringing a sense of nostalgia back, one that I haven’t felt in years. My nonna— the one who never left Italy— used to call me patatino, her little potato, whenever I’d speak to her on the phone. – Twisted, by Emily McIntire
Like the other books in the series, this book was very plot heavy, so the spice scenes were fitting but there wasn’t anything especially kinky or dark about them, at least not to me.
“Such a good little wife when you’re dripping on my hand and begging for me to fuck you.” – Twisted, by Emily McIntire
Hands down, Julian’s growth in this book was excellent. He seemed so greedy and vile in the beginning but by the end of the book it’s clear his only real obsession was love. He wanted to love someone and be loved by someone without even realizing it until it was right there in front of him.
The darker side of millionaire/billionaire. It wasn’t quite mafia, though there could be an argument with the connections and actions that Julian took because it was very similar to that type of sub-genre, but there wasn’t any real mafia connections that I saw.
But I say that toxic is toxic, and no one is more important than my inner peace, even if it means I lose them for good. – Twisted, by Emily McIntire
Who Would Like Twisted by Emily McIntire?
Tropes in Twisted include:
- Forced Marriage
- Age Gap
- Enemies to Lovers
- My Wife
Of you like Twisted Love by Ana Huang, Between Commitment and Betrayal by Shain Rose, or Dom by SJ Tilly you will probably like this book as well.
Also check out my reviews for Hooked, Scarred, Wretched, and Crossed in the Never After series.
If you’ve read Twisted by Emily McIntire, or you’re adding it to your TBR, let me know know in the comments. I love interacting with other readers over the books we loved.