⭐ 4.5 | ❤️ 2/5

I went into this book blind based on a recommendation from a friend with similar taste, so I actually didn’t know until partly through the book that it was a Cinderella retelling.

This story explores the realities of being a woman during this time; while not explicitly stated, it reads like it’s probably the early 1700s based on that it’s inspired by Cinderella combined with some of the clothing-related details. This includes themes of motherhood (sacrifice and the lengths one might go to for their children) and also questions what a happily ever after could look like for a woman of this time.

I loved the prose and appreciated the texture of the story, which made the environment feel lived in without the sensory details dragging down the pacing. I couldn’t put the book down and finished it within a day.

I found the retelling to be believable including the origin story and how it shaped Eithel, Cinderella/Elin’s Stepmother, into making the choices that she did. The story rounds her out to give her complexity and specificity and also gives us material for how her actions could have been misunderstood or misrepresented. There is also a romantic subplot that I enjoyed, but it’s minor.

My only critique would be that I would have liked to see the antagonists fleshed out more. Elin is written to be insufferable in her haughtiness, self centeredness, and naiveté. She didn’t feel embodied the way Eithel did though she did grow. Sigrid and a male character I will not name suffered from shallow characterization and felt a bit like cartoon villains. The male character was a charming sociopath, and certainly that pairing is not uncommon, but he felt flat and seemed to just exist to drive the plot. Similarly, Sigrid’s characterization had the same issue, which ironically was what was wrong with the original Cinderella characterization of the Evil Stepmother. If these characters had been fleshed out more, it would have been a 5.

Otherwise, many of the plot beats were predictable, but the storytelling itself was enjoyable with an ending that felt satisfying. I think this would be a fit for mothers who enjoy historical fiction and feminist retellings. If you are looking for a retelling that stays close to the original, this might not be for you. I felt it was better because it didn’t try to artificially force or constrain its storytelling too closely to the original and rather allowed it to be a loose inspiration.

Audiobook listeners: this is a solo narration, and the voice acting is standout. It was a 5/5 for me; the narrator is well cast and was able to embody Eithel along with the secondary characters so well, each with their own distinct manner of speech. The writing is beautiful, so you can’t really go wrong with either print or audio format. I loved the narration so much that I’ll be looking up other audiobooks by Bessie Carter

CW: past off-page SA, past off-page incest, domestic violence, attempted strangulation, death of animal