Hmm. I've only read the third one because the cover was cool. I liked it, but everyone says I missed a lot. Maybe I should go back and start from the beginning. This thread is convincing me.
My two cents: the series improves on a second read no matter what order you choose first. The foreshadowing is incredible. So pick any logical-sounding order from this thread, dive in, and know that your re-read will be an even richer experience where all the pieces click into place. It's designed for that.
My two cents: the audiobook versions add another layer. The narrator for the main series is consistent, but the companions sometimes have guest narrators for different POV characters. Listening in publication order lets you appreciate that casting choice. The switch to a new voice for 'Tales from the Hinterlands' perfectly matches its anthology feel. If you're an audiobook person, that's the order that respects the production design as well as the narrative.
Why is everyone so obsessed with order? The writing is either good or it isn't. I started with 'The Broken Mirror', was confused but enthralled, and went back. The quality of the prose and the strength of the characters held me even when I was lost. A story that only works in one specific order is a fragile story. 'Never After' is robust. It can handle being discovered out of order.
the order isn't just a random sequence. The series takes familiar fairy tale structures and twists them into a longer, interconnected narrative. Each book loosely corresponds to a different tale, but the characters and consequences carry over. So you're following a cast of 'Chosen Ones' who keep getting dragged back into new, messed-up versions of their stories.
It's less about a strict reading order based on original tales and more about seeing how the trauma from 'Cinderella' affects someone when they're shoved into a 'Little Mermaid' scenario later on.
It's all about the villain's journey. The first book introduces the threat, but the second, 'The Starlight Thief', is where you start getting chapters from the antagonist's perspective. It transforms the whole conflict from black-and-white to tragic shades of grey. If moral complexity is your thing, that's your next stop.