Author: Molly Lazer
Series: Possible Standalone
Genre: Re-telling/Fantasy
Publisher: Fire and Ice YA
Publication Date: March 20th, 2018
Edition: Kindle Edition, 264 pages
Source: NetGalley
Purchase/Pre-Order: Amazon US | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | iBooks
Synopsis:
Nora knows three things: she is a servant, her parents are dead, and she lives in the kitchen house with her adoptive family. But her world is torn apart when she discovers that her birth father has always been right there, living in the house she serves.
This discovery leads Nora to more questions. Why was she thrown in an ash-covered room for asking about her father? Why is a silver-bladed knife the only inheritance from her birth mother? Why is magic forbidden in her household—and throughout the province of the Runes? The answers may not be the ones Nora hoped for, as they threaten a possible romance and her relationship with the adoptive family she loves.
With the announcement of a royal ball, Nora must decide what she is willing to give up in order to claim her stolen birthright, and whether this new life is worth losing her family—and herself.
Review:
As far as retellings go, this one was really interesting and different. This is a retelling of Cinderella, I could tell pretty early on that it was and I was looking at all the ways it differed from the original story.
It's fairly dark tale, much darker than the sugary version most people are used to with Disney. This version seems to be taking parts from both Cendrillon, which was published in 1697. And the Brother's Grimm version, Aschenputtel (1812), to create this new version.
In the Brother's Grimm version, her father isn't dead. He's an abusive asshole, much like the Lord in this book. Also in the Grimm version, our main character is a witch, only she doesn't know it until much later in this book. That seems to be where the similarities end.
There is a lot about this book to like, but there are things that I would have liked to be expanded on. The magic is one thing that I would have liked to see more of or just more explanation.
There's not much I can say about the middle parts of the book that aren't spoilers, but I wish the ending had been more wrapped up. It was a nice ending, but I kind of feel like Nora's abusers didn't really get any kind of punishment. Not really anyways, I feel that something bigger should have happened to them for over a decade of abuse, not to mention the attempted murder.
I liked the other characters, for the most part. The only other character that was really developed was Jack. And even he had some weak character development. Nora didn't really talk to anyone but him throughout the book, she was mostly talking to herself in her mind. The other people in her life talked to her, at her or around her, but it didn't really seem much like other people spoke much in this book. No real conversations.
I had to guess what age Nora and Jack where it was mentioned once near the start of the book, when the "meat" of the story started taking place, that Jack was 18. But I don't recall if it was ever mentioned the age difference between the two of them. No more than 2 years if I had to guess. Then there's the "Step-sisters" or half-sisters, and their ages and how they behave. They'd have to be at least a year younger than Nora, but the older of the two, Siobhan acted like she was much younger closer to 14 for most of the main part of the story. Annabelle, she was much kinder to Nora. Still treated her like a servant, but didn't go out of her way to be horrible.
I don't know if there is going to be a sequel, but I would like there to be. I feel like there is more story to be told.
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