For readers of domestic suspense, book club fiction, and character-driven dramas like Big Little Lies, The Whispers, and Little Fires Everywhere, Something You Should Know (Book 1 of the After Ever series) follows four lifelong friends inspired by beloved fairy tale heroines (Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, and Aurora) as they navigate marriage, motherhood, ambition, family secrets, and the dangerous gap between the lives they show the world and the truths they keep hidden.
It’s Big Little Lies energy meets Disney vibes. Because happily ever after comes with far darker consequences than any fairy tale ever warned.
Picture this:
What if the most beloved Disney princesses were modern-day thirty-something women living in Pittsburgh? Meet Bellamy, Jaz, Ella, and Rory—four friends whose lives are anything but a fairy tale.
Bellamy seems to have it all, but behind closed doors her marriage is quietly becoming a prison. Ella is balancing motherhood, financial strain, and grief when a family inheritance sparks a legal battle that threatens everything she's built. Rory has spent her life saying yes—to her parents, their expectations, and the future they've chosen for her. But one shocking discovery will force her to decide who she really wants to be. And Jaz, bold and fiercely independent, is falling for a woman she knows her conservative family may never accept.
When the women reunite to celebrate Bellamy’s thirty-second birthday, tensions, secrets, and lies ignite—and by the end of the night, someone will be dead.
Perfect for readers who love the layered friendships of Big Little Lies, the emotional complexity of contemporary women's fiction, and modern retellings with a darker edge, Something You Should Know delivers Disney-inspired characters reimagined for adulthood—where happily-ever-after is never guaranteed.
This book is for you if... You're looking for books similar to those of Celeste Ng, Shari Lapena, Liane Moriarty, and Sally Hepworth. You love domestic suspense with multiple female perspectives. You enjoy book club fiction that blends secrets, family drama, friendship, and mystery. You want emotionally complex female characters who are flawed, relatable, and morally gray. You enjoy modern fairy tale retellings written for adults. You love stories about women navigating marriage, motherhood, identity, ambition, and difficult choices. You enjoy slow-burning tension that builds toward a shocking reveal. You want Disney-princess energy with grown-up problems, darker themes, and higher stakes.
Trigger warning: domestic violence
Ready for more dark fairy tale retellings? Check out Book 2 of the After Ever series: Just Might Come True, inspired by Tiana, Ariel and Rapunzel.
Jen Craven is the author of domestic suspense and book club fiction, featuring stories centered on impossible choices and devastating consequences. Her series, After Ever, is three modern day fairy-tale inspired retellings. Jen writes from northwestern Pennsylvania, where she lives with her family.
Okayyy I did NOT expect to get this invested in four different storylines, but here we are 😂📚
I’m usually a little nervous when a book follows multiple characters because there’s always the risk that I’m going to care about one storyline wayyyy more than the others. But that wasn’t the case here! Each of the four POVs had their own thing going on, while still feeling connected enough that I was constantly waiting to see how everything would come together. 👀✨
And these characters?! I got ATTACHED. Jaz absolutely had my heart, and Bellamy’s story got me more emotional than I was prepared for. There were definitely a few moments where I was sitting there like…oh, so we’re hurting my feelings today?? Cool. 😭😂
Now, as a HUGE Disney lover, I went into this one equal parts excited and nervous. 😂👑 Like obviously you tell me there are Disney princess connections and I’m immediately interested…but you also better do my girls justice!! 🏰✨ Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about. The little princess nods sprinkled throughout were SO well done. They weren’t screaming in your face or trying too hard, they were just these cute little *if you know, you know* moments that made me smile every time I caught one. 👑
I also really loved that we got a happy ending without getting a ✨and suddenly everyone’s life is perfect✨ ending. Some things were still messy. Some things were still unfinished. And honestly? I preferred it that way. It felt like we were leaving these characters in a good place, not at the end of their lives.
Four stories, a little Disney magic, a few emotional attacks, and characters I genuinely didn’t want to say goodbye to. 📖👑
Definitely one that surprised me in the best way. 💕 I will be reading Book 2 immediately!
I received this as an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Something You Should Know is a compelling blend of domestic suspense and contemporary women’s fiction that takes familiar fairy tale heroines and reimagines them in a way that feels fresh, emotional, and surprisingly dark. I loved the concept of giving these “princesses” real-world struggles, and it worked so well.
The story follows four lifelong friends, each carrying secrets that slowly unravel as the novel progresses. While there is a suspenseful mystery hanging over the story from the very beginning, this is very much a character-driven read. The friendships, family dynamics, marriages, and personal journeys take centre stage, making each woman feel relatable and layered in her own way.
I especially enjoyed how each character’s storyline tackled different themes, from controlling relationships and grief to identity, family expectations, and forbidden love. The emotional depth kept me invested, and I found myself wanting to know how each woman’s story would unfold.
The pacing is slower than a traditional thriller, but the steady build of tension and the constant feeling that something terrible is coming kept me turning the pages. The ending leaves plenty of questions and sets up the rest of the series perfectly, making me eager to see where these characters go next.
If you enjoy books like Big Little Lies with complex female friendships, emotional family drama, and a touch of mystery, this is definitely worth picking up. A strong start to what promises to be an addictive series.
A Disney princess modern-day retelling … but make them all in their 30’s living in Pittsburgh navigating personal struggles & real-life issues that threaten their happily ever afters? Duh. Yes, please!
In this first book of the After Ever series, we follow characters Bellamy, Ella, Rory & Jaz - inspired by Belle, Cinderella, Aurora & Jasmine. They are 4 college friends who have stayed close through the years, but their lives are far from a fairy tale. They each have secrets they are keeping hidden from their families & each other … and their lives are far from any kind of fairy tale.
When the friends come together to celebrate Bellamy’s 32nd birthday … things escalate, secrets burst out into the open & by the end of the night, someone gets dead!
Ohhh, this one … from the very start, the concept had me hooked! I had fun catching those subtle nods to the original princesses & comparing them to their modern-day counterparts. I was especially drawn in by Bellamy & Ella’s stories … the emotions were running high during their pov chapters. I wanted to squeeze the girls tight & throat-punch the villains … they were the worst!
This is the perfect easy summer read. Fast paced, addictive & 100% bingeable … it’s adorable but with depth, emotion & an overall theme of female friendship, identity & finding the strength inside to do all the hard things that can make your HEA a reality! Can’t wait for Book 2!!
I really loved the format of this book. Following four separate but interconnected characters and points of view kept the story moving at a pace that made it difficult to put down. Each perspective added something meaningful, and watching their lives weave together was incredibly satisfying.
The characters felt genuine and relatable, and there were a couple of moments that genuinely got to me emotionally, especially Jaz’s journey and Bellamy’s storyline. Those scenes were handled with warmth and authenticity, making it easy to connect with them.
One of my favorite touches was the subtle nods to the Disney princesses throughout the story. They never felt overdone or gimmicky. Instead, they gave me the sense that I was in on a little inside joke or extra layer of backstory, and every reference made me smile.
I also appreciated that the ending was happy without feeling unrealistically perfect. Not every loose end was neatly tied up, and the characters still felt like works in progress whose lives would continue beyond the final page. That made the conclusion feel honest and hopeful. Overall, it was a beautifully written story with memorable characters and a narrative style I thoroughly enjoyed.
I was completely sold on the idea of modern-day Disney princesses in their 30s dealing with real-life problems, messy friendships, secrets, and decidedly less-than-magical happily ever afters.
Something You Should Know follows four longtime friends, Bellamy, Ella, Rory, and Jaz, who are inspired by Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, and Jasmine. I had so much fun picking up on the little nods to the original princesses and seeing how their stories were reimagined in a modern setting.
Bellamy and Ella’s storylines especially pulled me in, and there were definitely moments when I wanted to hug these women and possibly throat-punch a few other characters on their behalf. Completely reasonable reader behavior.
What starts off feeling like a fun contemporary retelling quickly becomes much more emotional and complicated as secrets start coming out and everything basically implodes during Bellamy’s birthday celebration.
This was fast-paced, easy to binge, and fun while still having a lot more depth than I expected. I loved the focus on friendship, figuring yourself out, and what happens when real life looks nothing like the fairy tale you thought you were getting.
Such a fun start to the After Ever series, and I’m definitely curious to see where these women go next.
Bellamy, a trophy wife to a controlling husband; Jaz, an aspiring actress falling for her female director; Rory, a hopeless romantic caught between her dreams and her helicopter parents; and Ella, a wife and mother struggling to support her family while fighting off her step-mother and -sister. Together, they make up the 3232 girls who have each other’s backs through troubling times.
I love a good Disney retelling! Especially one where Cinderella cusses people out and not so subtle character name drops occur.
Jaz is probably my favorite of the group. With lines like, “Now go to bed and have a sex dream”, how could I not love her!
I also love the supporting characters. Sage’s coming out story is so cute! She has the best parents ever. And Mary is such a sweetheart. I love her for helping Bellamy.
This book really shows that with the right people by your side you can get through anything. I hate that these women had to go through so much, but I’m happy with how they ended up.
TW: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
Thank you so much to the author for allowing me to be on your ARC team. This was a great read!
I received an advanced reader copy from the author because it features the not-so-happily-ever-after stories of characters based on Disney characters. This is a really interesting read. I’ve never quite read anything like it where the characters’ stories are completely their own yet intertwined because they are friends and care for one another. I loved how the author had a predictable pattern she followed from each character’s perspective. You keep reading to get back to their POV and then along the way, get interested in the complications of the other characters. Bellamy and Jaz were my favorites and have interesting twists from their original Disney stories. Minor spoiler, the topics of this book get very intense and one character does suffer from sexual violence, so there should be a warning about that. But overall, I enjoyed reading this book and would love to know what happens to some of the characters once the novel is over. I hope her other FMCs in this series cross paths with them so I can receive an update.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Disney reimagined princesses -- Belle, Aurora, Jasmine and Cinderella
This style of book is not typically what I gravitate towards but it was well written and made me want to keep reading. This was my first reimagined fairy tale and I really enjoyed the concept.
The characters were relatable -- meeting in college and remaining life long friends while dealing with real problems. I loved that these modern day princesses were not the damsel in distress that Disney typically portrays them as, but instead were self sufficient besties who had each others backs.
Having characters based off of Disney princesses but with a modern twist was fun especially with the subtle hints to their actual stories or plots. This was an easy summer read that will be keep you wanting more. I'm excited to see what the next book has in store and who the characters will be based off of.
Thank you for allowing me to read this ARC early ❤️
This was such a good read! I loved the Disney Princess inspiration in each character. It was interesting to see my favorite fairy tale princesses as modern-day women and what that looked like. It was fun to be able to pin point certain aspects of their lives that referenced the classic stories I grew up reading and watching.
I loved following all four women and watching them navigate the different things they had going on in their lives. It was nice seeing the connection they shared and how their friendship helped them through everything. All four characters were relatable and felt very authentic and I loved that.
I can’t wait to continue to series!
Read this if you like: → Multiple POV → Modern-day fairytale → Strong theme of friendship
Thank you to the author for the gifted copy of the book.
I absolutely loved this book! This isn't the sort of book I typically gravitate towards, but growing up on Disney princesses, the description had me intrigued. I absolutely loved the subtle nods towards the characters. It didn't feel cheesy though. The characters were mature and modern in a way that felt so relatable. I loved the different character POV transitions and how we got insight into their real world troubles....because no one lives a perfect fairy tale life, right? This book was very well done! Bravo! I look forward to reading the next, and that says a lot coming from me because I am not a series reading girlie!
Friendship, secrets, and the difference between the life everyone sees and what’s actually happening behind closed doors.
One of my favorite parts was the Disney princess inspiration behind the characters. Think Disney princesses all grown up—but instead of happily ever after, they have complicated friendships, relationships, secrets, and plenty of messy real-life problems. 😂
Everything can look absolutely perfect for the camera while the reality is anything but. As more secrets started coming out, it became clear just how much these women were keeping from each other and from everyone watching.
There were parts where I wanted a little more from the story, so I'm somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars. Overall, though, I enjoyed the concept and the friendships, secrets, and drama that came along with it.
Turns out happily ever after gets a whole lot more complicated when the princesses grow up. 👑
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's the story of four women who met as roommates in college. Their story picks up as Bellamy is approaching her thirty second birthday. As in life, there are highs and lows in their relationships, but, ultimately, they have each other's backs. The bonds of friendship that began in college were present long after the college days were behind them.
I was interested in reading this book because the author lives in the town where I spent most of my adult life. I enjoyed Jen Craven's style. I thought that she developed her characters well. I enjoyed her style of writing. I am looking forward to reading some of her other books.
The concept of this book - a reimagining of the Disney Princesses as modern 30-something women with modern problems - really scratched an itch for my millennial heart. At times devastating, at times heartbreaking, at times heartwarming, the friendship between Bellamy, Jaz, Ella, and Rory made for a great place for each of the girls to land as they went through struggles in their individual lives.
While I did enjoy the book, and will absolutely continue the series, the ending did feel a little too rushed to be truly satisfying, even if all of the strings were tied up.
Book 1 of the After Ever series is OUT NOW! Go pick up you copy of Something you should know!!! This is fairy tale meets real world. Such a good book! “What if the most beloved fairy tale princesses were modern day women?” These aren’t your childhood fairy tales…they’re darker, featuring characters with deep secrets and making dangerous choices. They navigate love, family, motherhood, careers, and more...only this time, happily ever after isn’t guaranteed. And when everything barrels toward a fateful climax, someone doesn’t make it out alive.
An absolute must-read! As a massive Disney fanatic and a huge Belle fan, I was incredibly excited to dive into Bellamy’s story. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself just as captivated by the other "princess" stories woven throughout the book. It was fast-paced and so engaging that I honestly couldn't put it down—except, of course, to take care of my own adult duties (I really related to Ella!). I would highly recommend this to any fellow Disney fans. I’m already looking forward to the next installment. Shout out to Jen Craven for gifting me a copy—I loved it!
This has been my favorite book I’ve read all year. It has altered my brain chemistry, taken up residence as a new piece of my personality, and stolen a piece of my heart. I could never say enough wonderful things to describe how much I loved this book. I was truly blown away by the wayJen was able to give us the characters we know and love while making them completely unique in their own ways. The core friendship of these four amazing women is the heart and soul of this story. Jaz is brave, Ella is resilient, Rory is kind, and Bellamy is strong. Infinity stars.
A fairytale retelling. The first sentence pulled you in. This book is multiple pov and at about round two, the title makes sense. Each of these women have something they need to share and just like with any family, blood or found, exposing your true self is vulnerable. Each holds their own secrets and just when you think it couldn’t get any worse. The other shoe drops. This book kept me at the edge of my seat through every chapter. This book is true girl power!
Something You Should Know is a beautifully written story that kept me turning the pages from beginning to end. Jen Craven has a wonderful way of creating relatable characters and weaving emotion, suspense, and heartfelt moments into a compelling narrative. The story felt authentic, and the writing style was engaging and easy to connect with.
I recieved this ARC in exchange for an honest review: 3.75
I enjoyed this book as it was easy to read. I found some of the stories lacking depth and was a bit confused the balance of Bellamy's graphic story and more tame retellings like Ella and Rory. This is purely seated in Women's Lit and good for fans of Big Little Lies.
First Jen Craven book I’ve read and I was not disappointed! As a somewhat local to Pittsburgh I really enjoyed the modern take on fairy tales I’ve grown up with in a city I know. She kept the characters’ same spunk and overall personality with a fresh edge to work in modern times. I’ll definitely be reading more from her!
I reeived this as an ARC. It was a great read and a great story. It was nice to see how the princess would be today. It was a fast read for me. I read it in one day. Can’t wait to read the next book.
This was more of a 3.5 stars for me. I really liked the concept of Disney princesses in the modern world. It was easy to follow and I really liked the relationship between the women. Intrigued enough to finish the series.
I think this was a really good take on why would happen if princesses were women in the modern world. I like the different issues that were addressed and how the story progressed. It was a very enjoyable read and I look forward to reading the next ones!
This book follows 4 girls in their 30s who are inspired by Disney princesses that are living in Pittsburgh! It was a fun reimagining full of friendship, suspense and love. Thank you Jen for the copy! Excited to read the next installment.
This book was so real and had my heart pounding. There were moments where I wanted to wrap the characters in a warm hug and moments where I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. I truly enjoyed reading this and look forward to picking up the next one.
This was an addictive read. I couldn’t put it down once I started. The Disney-esque vibe was very sweet and somewhat nostalgic. The girls are so cute. I especially loved the relationship between Ella and Charming . . . Sorry Charlie. I just wish some more time was spent developing each girls’ individual voices and personalities. They sounded very similar to each other. Still a super fun read I would wholeheartedly recommend to any Disney princess fans. Fingers crossed the sequel would be about Ariel ❤️
This book has language and lgbtq+ and something just seemed off. I dnf at 20% because the story felt forced and weird to me. I wanted to like it but it fell flat.