Cinder and Ella by Melissa Lemon (VO) ARC

Synopsis : Their father has been gone for years, leaving Cinder and Ella to care for their two beastly sisters and crazed mother. But they have not given up hope that he may still be alive, even though it seems their family has been cursed. When Cinder leaves to work at the castle as a servant, Ella refuses to stay at home. But it isn’t long before she’s also brought to the castle. What Ella finds there starts a quest that will change her life and the entire kingdom.

A tolerable knight, a spunky heroine, an evil prince, and a tree in the place of a fairy godmother – all of these are the heart of Cinder and Ella, making it a Cinderella story like no other.

Review : I’ve a mixed opinion about this book now that I’ve finished it. When we see the title « Cinder and Ella », we immediately think about a Cinderella story, but it’s not the case here. In the beginning, the author tells us that the fairy tale we know isn’t the real one… But I didn’t think it was so different.
We’re not dealing with a nasty stepmother, but with a little family with four kids : Katrina, Beatrice, Cinder and Ella. Their father has vanished and the family is breaking apart.
With such a title, we can’t avoid to compare the similarities between the two stories. For example, Katrina, with her bad temper and her desire to be served, could be Anastasie or Javotte. But it’s the only thing close to our tale.

Of course, we have a prince, not charming but malefic. Other characters are present all along the story. For example, Tanner, a brave and loyal knight or even the two very disreputable prince’s acolytes.

Cinder is a young girl, who just lives to serve the others, and it makes her very happy to do it. Ella, with her nature, completes her perfectly. She is independent, thirsty for freedom and love. The two sisters, despite the fact they’re different, love sincerely each other. With the two of them, we can surely have our Cinderella.

The story was pleasant to read but very predictable. I was very much expecting the story to match the one I already knew that I was very disappointed to have no correlation. I think it wasn’t a good idea to link this story with the Perrault’s tale.

2 thoughts on “Cinder and Ella by Melissa Lemon (VO) ARC

  1. I looked at this book in this way… I saw it as more of an MG book than a YA book. Once you see it for a younger audience, it read much better to me. I don’t know if that would have made any difference to others tho. 😉 Even after saying that, I did agree with your review. Well done!

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