‘“Change is a kiss in the dark. A rose in the snow. A wild road on a windy night,” Chance countered.
“Monsters live in the dark. Roses die in the snow. Girls get lost on wild roads,” the crone shot back.'
4.5* I absolutely loved this book. It is a continuation from the fairy tale of Cinderella, with Isabelle - one of the stepsisters in the original tale - as the protagonist. The story starts when the stepsisters are pressured into cutting parts of their feet off to fit into the glass slipper by their mother, which as we all know fails to trick the prince or grand duke for long. The book picks up from there and is a brilliant feminist retelling which shows how the stepsisters became the hated characters of the original tale, and how they find themselves again through what happens after Ella marries the prince. An element of Greek mythology is brought into the mix with the Fates (primarily the crone/Fate) and Chance attempting to meddle with Isabelle's life. I love how all these elements come together into an entertaining and addictive read.
The writing is in the style of a fairy tale, and includes parts where the narration pulls back from Isabelle to deliver a moral or insight. Usually I would not like this, as these morals or insights can be picked up through more subtle clues, but in this case I thought it worked really well and made it feel more like a traditional fairy tale in style. The heart of the story was clear throughout - girls can be beautiful without being conventionally pretty and have so much more to offer the world, but when the world judges through appearance it takes a huge amount of strength to know this. It was an emotional tale with a powerful message at its heart.
'There is magic in this sad, hard world. A magic stronger than fate, stronger than chance. And it is seen in the unlikeliest of places... It is the magic of a frail and fallible creature, one capable of unspeakable cruelty and immense kindness. It lives inside every human being ready to redeem us. To transform us. To save us. If we can only find the courage to listen to it. It is the magic of the human heart. '
I was so close to rating this 5 stars, but there were a couple of niggles which reduced the rating for me slightly. Without giving anything away, in the midst of the book's climax during a tense and action filled section, the characters involved pause more than once for emotional moments, explaining what has happened and apologising. Although these scenes were important parts of the character arcs and overall story, it felt out of place at these times, and reading it I kept thinking 'come on, surely this is not the time for this!'. I felt like it interrupted the flow of the action at these points, when it had otherwise been fast moving, but maybe this is necessary relief for tense readers. I also felt like the moral behind the story was drummed in a little too often - as true as it is, the story itself and a scattering of narrator insights would have been enough to be clear. But otherwise I loved this book and recommend it.
This is a book to pick up for anyone who enjoys retellings, from the point of view of an antagonist in the original tale. It looks at the story with a fresh insight while maintaining a traditional fairy tale style, is relatable, and overall is an entertaining quick read which had this reader hooked from beginning to end.
“Monsters live in the dark. Roses die in the snow. Girls get lost on wild roads,” the crone shot back.'
4.5* I absolutely loved this book. It is a continuation from the fairy tale of Cinderella, with Isabelle - one of the stepsisters in the original tale - as the protagonist. The story starts when the stepsisters are pressured into cutting parts of their feet off to fit into the glass slipper by their mother, which as we all know fails to trick the prince or grand duke for long. The book picks up from there and is a brilliant feminist retelling which shows how the stepsisters became the hated characters of the original tale, and how they find themselves again through what happens after Ella marries the prince. An element of Greek mythology is brought into the mix with the Fates (primarily the crone/Fate) and Chance attempting to meddle with Isabelle's life. I love how all these elements come together into an entertaining and addictive read.
The writing is in the style of a fairy tale, and includes parts where the narration pulls back from Isabelle to deliver a moral or insight. Usually I would not like this, as these morals or insights can be picked up through more subtle clues, but in this case I thought it worked really well and made it feel more like a traditional fairy tale in style. The heart of the story was clear throughout - girls can be beautiful without being conventionally pretty and have so much more to offer the world, but when the world judges through appearance it takes a huge amount of strength to know this. It was an emotional tale with a powerful message at its heart.
'There is magic in this sad, hard world. A magic stronger than fate, stronger than chance. And it is seen in the unlikeliest of places... It is the magic of a frail and fallible creature, one capable of unspeakable cruelty and immense kindness. It lives inside every human being ready to redeem us. To transform us. To save us. If we can only find the courage to listen to it. It is the magic of the human heart. '
I was so close to rating this 5 stars, but there were a couple of niggles which reduced the rating for me slightly. Without giving anything away, in the midst of the book's climax during a tense and action filled section, the characters involved pause more than once for emotional moments, explaining what has happened and apologising. Although these scenes were important parts of the character arcs and overall story, it felt out of place at these times, and reading it I kept thinking 'come on, surely this is not the time for this!'. I felt like it interrupted the flow of the action at these points, when it had otherwise been fast moving, but maybe this is necessary relief for tense readers. I also felt like the moral behind the story was drummed in a little too often - as true as it is, the story itself and a scattering of narrator insights would have been enough to be clear. But otherwise I loved this book and recommend it.
This is a book to pick up for anyone who enjoys retellings, from the point of view of an antagonist in the original tale. It looks at the story with a fresh insight while maintaining a traditional fairy tale style, is relatable, and overall is an entertaining quick read which had this reader hooked from beginning to end.