Ember by Bettie Sharpe

METraylor

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"Cinderella Punches You in the Gut"

I love the violent, anti-romance twist of this retelling. It was not as violent and dark as I expected from the description, but quite compellingly realistic.

I love the contrasts to the Disney-fied version of Cinderella. The step-family is truly family, and beauty is not blonde and demure and dainty. I particularly enjoyed the author’s take on witchcraft and Wise Women, and how it affected the characters culture and relationships. The writing is snappy, informative without overloading you, and didn’t drag. The sex is honest, and while a bit glorified, not the typical over-the-top fare of your average romance or erotica.

The one aspect that turned me off was the prince’s obsession, and how he kept getting his way. His deception was fine— he had his reasons. But the obsessive interrogations that led to people mutilating themselves was quite off-putting. It all could have been resolved with a little radical honesty. And he got his way, he got the girl, he got married, he got a queen. That fell flat for me. I did like, however, Ember’s unapologetic description of what many people would consider morally questionable. She wasn’t evil, in my mind, her conception of the world was just different. A longer telling might have helped add depth to the characters, but I found them all refreshingly human in this brief retelling.

This is, as other reviewers have mentioned, the way fairy tales should be. Honest, authentic, and compelling.

Rating: 9 / 10