Random House
Release Date: July 11, 2023
Rating: 📚📚
Synopsis: I’m not who you think I am.
My transformation from a poor, orphaned scullery maid into the enchantingly mysterious lady who snagged the heart of the prince did not happen—as the rumors insisted—in a magical metamorphosis of pumpkins and glass slippers. On the first evening of the ball, I didn’t meekly help my “evil” stepmother and stepsisters primp and preen or watch forlornly out the window as their carriage rolled off toward the palace. I had other preparations to make.My stepsisters and I had been trained for this—to be the cleverest in the room, to be quick with our hands and quicker with our lies. We were taught how to get everything we wanted in this world, everything men always kept for themselves: power, wealth, and prestige. And with a touchingly tragic past and the help of some highly illegal spells, I would become a princess, secure our fortunes, and we would all live happily ever after.
But there’s always more to the story. With my magic running out, war looming, and a handsome hostage prince—the wrong prince—distracting me from my true purpose with his magnetic charm and forbidden flirtations, I’m in danger of losing control of the delicate balance I’ve created . . . and that could prove fatal.
There’s so much more riding on this than a crown.
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Spoiler Alerts!
I'm a fan of reading re-tellings of fairy tales and myths (though they don't all work, many do) and it had been a while since I've seen a fresh take on Cinderella, so the idea of a spin where Cinderella was conning the prince and in league with her stepmother and sister the whole time? Let's try it!
I didn't hate the book, but I didn't love it either. I struggled a lot with it. At first I was definitely confused by Ash's motives and the politics- those were a huge and annoying tangle but sort themselves out as you keep reading. Eventually, you have two different motives going on: Ash's stepmother Seraphina wants Ash to snag a rich lord, while Ash's grandmother wants Ash to snag the prince so she can influence politics and help the rebellion of a neighboring/occupied kingdom. Ash's main motive seems to be to prove to both women that she can do the jobs they've given her, despite them not totally having faith in her. As we all know, Ash gets her prince (thanks to magic that she keeps enchanting him with- something I was not ok with), our story starts in the lead-up to the wedding with her playing the part of the doting, innocent fianceé. She plays so many roles and lies to so many people (including herself) that I never felt like I knew her. The parts I did know, I didn't really like. Morally grey or completely self-centered on proving herself without worrying about what she was doing to anyone else? I'm still not sure, but I feel like she was on that scale. The other characters were either equally hidden (her stepmother and sisters) or completely flat and one-dimensional. The thin worldbuilding meant that I never figured out the magic and its rules, the politics, or much of anything else.
There were really good ideas here, and a lot of potential. But the book dragged in the beginning and then went on longer than it should have in the end. Ash never seemed to know what she was doing, despite priding herself on always being in control. And I never felt like I knew the world or any of the characters enough to feel even a touch of magic for this story.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
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