Cinder House
About the book
Author: Freya Marske
Publisher: Tordotcom
More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.
Buy and support indie bookstores (+ I earn a small commission):
Bookshop.org (print or ebook) | Libro.fm (audio)
My Review
Oh, how I loved this wickedly smart, gothic reimagining of Cinderella! In which Ella *IS* the house (or, rather, the house’s ghost), her stepmother is her murderer, and her stepsister is her torturer, and the prince is — well, I won’t spoil it.
All I can really say is that you must take the small handful of hours it will take you to fly through this novella, because it manages to feel comfortable and extremely fresh all in one. It’s emotional, it’s magical, it’s delightful, it’s dark, it’s queer, and it’s so dang good. I would gladly have stayed for a whole novel’s worth of this story and then some. This is retelling at its best.
Content and Trigger Warnings
Murder / death / violence
Torture
Domestic abuse
Sexual content (minor)
Death of a parent
Animal cruelty (off page)
