Syndrie
This was beautifully written and such a unique take on the story of Cinderella—I've definitely read versions where Cinderella ends up dying, but I've never read one that started with her death! Keeping just enough of the main story points to be recognizable as a Cinderella retelling, "Cinder House" manages to stand out as almost a brand new story.
Marske did a great job with world-building even with such a low page count—not only were the limitations behind Ella's ghostly form well explained, but there were also little tidbits about the general political standing of the land as well as their connections with neighboring lands as well. I also really enjoyed how well incorporated the ideas of magic were with the addition of faeries, nymphs, and sorcerers. It was definitely entertaining to see a story where a girl turning into a ghost is simply regarded as something that just happens sometimes!
I would definitely recommend this to anybody interested in fairy tale retellings, and would even suggest it to people who weren't big fans of the original Cinderella story because this might just be the twist you need to enjoy it.
This was beautifully written and such a unique take on the story of Cinderella—I've definitely read versions where Cinderella ends up dying, but I've never read one that started with her death! Keeping just enough of the main story points to be recognizable as a Cinderella retelling, "Cinder House" manages to stand out as almost a brand new story.
Marske did a great job with world-building even with such a low page count—not only were the limitations behind Ella's ghostly form well explained, but there were also little tidbits about the general political standing of the land as well as their connections with neighboring lands as well. I also really enjoyed how well incorporated the ideas of magic were with the addition of faeries, nymphs, and sorcerers. It was definitely entertaining to see a story where a girl turning into a ghost is simply regarded as something that just happens sometimes!
I would definitely recommend this to anybody interested in fairy tale retellings, and would even suggest it to people who weren't big fans of the original Cinderella story because this might just be the twist you need to enjoy it.