Cinders: The Untold Story of Cinderella (2024)

I like this book was expecting something a little different a but all in all a good story.

A few weeks ago, an author friend of mine shared a post to promote Cinders by Finley Aaron. When I first saw it, I thought, "Oh great. Another retelling of Cinderella." I assumed it would be much like other tales. I decided to click on the post to read more about it and was intrigued.

"Everything you’ve been told is wrong.
Oh, not everything, I suppose. Yes, I turned a pumpkin into a coach and mice into horses. The stroke of midnight, the glass slippers, and the prince searching for a girl whose foot fit the shoe…those were all part of the story.
And yet, the prince didn’t just fall in love with Cinderella because she looked good at the ball. Pigeon feathers and pollywogs! Could you respect him if he did?
I most certainly could not.
No, no, there was vastly more that happened before the night of the ball, and a great deal of international intrigue after. Cinderella was a warrior who saved the life of the prince and defended her kingdom from oppressors who were plotting to overthrow the king.
They didn’t tell you that part?
It’s time, past time, for you to know the true story of the real Cinderella."

-Synopsis from Cinders: The Untold Story of Cinderella
I was intrigued. I had to learn more, so I immediately marked it on my wish list and waited until release date to download. I use Kindle Unlimited, so was able to read for free with my subscription. I generally only download Christian Romances or Clean Chick Lit, but I have a soft spot for well done fantasy books. This one definitely fit the bill.

The story is told from the POV (point of view) of the Fairy Godmother, which I found very touching. I loved her wit and her way of seeing and stating things. The story telling reminded me a bit of the Princess Bride, but make the Princess the tough hero. Ella showcased a grace and toughness combined that made her more endeared to me than ever before. Normally in the story of Cinderella, the prince is a bit of an afterthought, but in this tale, he holds a major role from quite early on in the story. Right away, different antagonists are showcased by Ms. Aaron and it was quite easy to choose which characters the reader would want to root for. The characters were all extremely relate-able and well thought out. The plot was complex and included a few unforeseen twists.

I don't like to give spoilers, so I will leave my review here. I definitely recommend this to any girl who grew up loving Cinderella, but was also a tom-boy. You will not be disappointed. Huge kudos to Finley Aaron for bringing a new and relevant twist to an old familiar favorite.

I've had this ebook on my kindle for a while, I loved the cover so much I had to have it, but only finished it now and it was SO MUCH BETTER than I thought it could be! I completely agree with this endorsement...."Cinders is perfect for every fan who ever wished Cinderella could be a bit more like Mulan, and for everyone who loved The Princess Bride, but wished Buttercup would pick up her sword and fight for herself once in a while." Jess Evander

I kept thinking this is the Cinderella who is like Mulan, what a great re-telling!!

The characters are so tangible that every time the villains show up I had a reaction to those scenes.

Filled with horses, danger, adventure, loss and a girl who is so much more than her looks, all told from the Fairy Godmother's perspective...loved this story from start to end.

I have always loved the Cinderella story and really looked forward to this book. It definitely falls into the YA category and was fairly simple. The "good" characters were too good, the "bad" too bad and pretty stereo typical. I admire the effort to focus on Cinderella's good qualities above and beyond her looks, but it was too much. She was portrayed as omnipresent, for example she picked soldiers who had the best record and she had never fought with them, so how would she know? Below average read.

One thing that always sucks is a book after a five-star. Quite unfortunately, this one happened to be such a book.

This is told by the fairy godmother. She has been the godmother from mother to daughter for generations. They all shared the same name, Eleanor. Now Cinderella’s mom was called Nora and of course, Cinderella is called Ella.

I can tell you I didn’t like the narration. I was tired of having to be reminded of the narrator being a 1) fairy, 2) a godmother, and 3) this family’s fairy godmother. The narration also sounded like talking to a ditz.

I just can’t do the writing style. It sound like it was going to be a good story.

My new favorite retelling!!

Absolutely loved this retelling. Ella is strong and brave and kind. Henry is a great prince who sees through her secret but keeps it to himself. He falls in love with her for more than just her beauty and they are splendid together. Raedwald reminds me of Gaston! Loved it!

i loved almost everything about this book, except how easily she yielded to the "Madame" and that the she and the Richards didn't suffer enough imho, neither did the Stepsisters, other than that, it was awesome! I really loved that fairy 😊😊😊!!!

One of the best Cinderella retellings I've come across.

My favorite line was when the narrator was describing the relationship between Ella and Bertie(brother and sister).

"Ella and Bertie were inseparable friends and equally inseparable enemies. When they weren't fighting together they were playing . . ."

I seriously have a little brother and sister that were the EXACT SAME when we were growing up. Who am I kidding, that's still them. Anyway, I then had kids of my own and yep, I have two that are like my siblings reincarnated.

So I laughed my butt off about that. It's good to know there's someone else in the world that shared this experience and stuck it in a book.

Okay, so I'll start with the negative points of the book since there weren't many.

While I loved the godmother's narrative voice, as the story went on it faded(which was fine) but then would suddenly get inserted strongly enough to be jarring as I forgot she was narrating it. I'd be like, wait, what? Oh, that's right. So I wish that this had a dual pov where the godmother hadn't been the only narrative voice(though since she's the only one living I see why it was so) since the random insertion of her own comments later into the book did yank me out of the story since they'd dwindled to the point where you'd forget she was the narrator. Not to mention that in other regards it felt like it was the pov of Ella and a little confusing how the godmother had such intimate knowledge of her thoughts/feelings as to relay them so well.

There was a few typos. At one point the tunnel she's in is "brunching off" instead of branching off. That got a chuckle out of me. A few other small ones like "reigns" instead of "reins". Nothing too bad or frequent though.

The way Ella handled somethings like the loss of her mom and then her dad was very distant and impersonal. I expected her to be a lot more shook up and emotional. Yet she just kind of rolled with it and went on with her life. It made her seem really heartless and callous at times because she didn't seem to care that those losses had happened.

I also feel like the way the stepmother or whatever her name was came to be her stepmother(instead of more than just the nasty lady Ella worked for) was a bit contrived. Too much like trying to follow the points of the original than having it make sense.

Now to the positives!

In the beginning the godmother's narrative voice was really strong and it was executed perfectly. I really loved how much the beginning of the story grabbed me. Even with relaying some history before getting to the point, it was done so well that I was completely hooked. I love when author's convey the voice of the narrator in such a seamless fashion.

Though I'm not sure of the credibility of some of Ella's skills having practicality in battle(a side effect of knowing an expert in combat who discusses what's feasible and so on), I really liked that she was a fighter. Seeing her in tournaments and stuff was a lot of fun.

I enjoyed Henry and he had a great personality. When things come out in the open, he handled that amazingly. Plus he knew the whole time and never judged her or thought differently of her. He just waited for her to tell him herself when she was ready. And how awesome is that?

A nice rich cast of characters that were more than cardboard cutouts. From the MC's to the secondary's, Finley did a great job of developing them all.

A lot of fun, a nice rousing adventure full of danger, battles, intrigue, loss, and love.

Also reviewed on my website @http://tenilleberezay.com/#!/review-t...

This retelling starts with Ella in her youth and gives some great backstory to our heroine. It has all of the classic elements of Cinderella in the end, but the best part of this story is all the history given between the Prince and Ella. This wasn't love at first sight, but a relationship built over a long period of time. Another unique aspect to this story is that it is told by the fairy godmother who has a hilarious voice and interesting view of the whole thing.

Of course I loved our main character. She is a girl who worked hard to be a talented fighter. She wasn't just given abilities, she earned them and she suffers for her sport. I liked that she was part of the jousting and knight's tournaments. But she was spunky, but smart and knew when to use her strength and would hold back when needed.

I like the Prince and how we got to know him through Ella's eyes and see him grow into a leader in his kingdom, even standing up to his father and overpowering his cousin and uncle. I wish there had been a bit more of a battle at the end for him, some of the resolution came almost too quickly. But I did enjoy the political problems brought into the plot.

This book seemed longer than it actually was. I think it's because the fairy godmother would sometimes go off on tangents. I liked this in some instances, but sometimes it was too much. The timeline was a little unclear in places and some of the character's motivations didn't make much sense to me. But people are fickle, right? Overall, I would give this book a 4.5 rating. I look forward to more fairy godmother lead fairy tales and more powerful, believable female characters from this author.

I found this book thanks to KU. I thought it was pretty good. It reminded me of the movie Ever After, especially since the princes name is Henry. I liked how this Cinderella was different from the other ones, she was more like a Princess Bride type of Cinderella. This book is good if you are wanting to read a fairy tale...or if you ever wanted to know more about the Fairy Godmother as well.

A slow start, but then I was hooked!

Like this book .. to showed the Cinderella is not weak ...
Able to fight and defend ...
This part should be included in the Cinderella fairytale ...

And so they lived happily ever after ......

2024 Reads #115/250

****3.5****

This story is the Cinderella re-telling and I think it was a cute story woven around the original Cinderella. The book is being told in the Fairy Godmother's POV. She's been with Ella since her birth. Fairy godmothers have been assigned to all the girls in Ella's family who can grant three wishes before they go poof! only to come back to you if you have a daughter.

The story revolves around Ella and her family who are merchant nobles living in Caprese. She has a good enough life and her parents love her and her brother. Growing up she learned how to fight with the best of tutors and eventually, sword fight. Being a girl she had to disguise as a boy in order to fulfill these dreams. (I always enjoy stories like that cuz it puts an extra amount of fun/difficulty for the character trying to dupe everyone.) Eventually, she learned to compete in competitions and became the best of the best aka perfect. Although, I found it hard to swallow at times how perfect she was at everything....but, she is Cinderella, right? She becomes the best sword fighter in her area (better than some seasoned knights). Eventually, her path crosses with the Prince (still disguised as a boy) and things turn differently for her and her family. The question remains whether the Prince knows of her truth or not?? Well, we sure do find out.

The story is written in a way that the whole Cinderella and stepmother/step sisters come into play for her. Although, I found these events tad forced but it all comes to play in her life neatly. I would have liked more dialogue interaction vs. more telling the story from FG's POV. Some parts of the book felt long/dragged a bit. Other than that it pretty good.

It was an enjoyable read overall.

I liked this so much. It's a sweet, warm retelling of Cinderella - if Ella Enchanted and Tamora Pierce's Keladry/Protector of the Small had a kid, it would be this book.

The only thing that didn't quite work for me early on is that it's narrated from the point of view of the fairy godmother, whose voice is occasionally intrusive and jarring, but this fades away after the first third. It has a tight mythology, with enjoyable jabs at Perrault for being obsessed with Cinderella only for her looks, and surprisingly goes on to become a gender-bender, of all things - and I do enjoy a good cross-dress! I love that this version gives Ella a sword and she's damn good with it. She's strong, efficient, and smart, but events overtake her, forcing her to play out the Cinderella role we're all familiar with. It's not reinventing the wheel, but it's such a spirited, friendly book, and I'd read any and all sequels. (That's wishful thinking on my part - it's a standalone, as far as I know.)

One of my Favorites!

I love this retelling of a strong, intelligent, feisty, and determined Cinderella. We are given the story from the fairy godmother’s narration. I️ love the spunk and sometimes almost silliness that spills into the story because of the point of view. We are given the whole story, of years of growing up and watching how Ella fights her trials through life, not just given the three days or so from most other retellings. The characters are all different and interesting and on top of all of it it’s a clean read also. I️ highly recommend this book if you like retellings of old fairytales with kick butt heroes. XD

I read this with Kindle Unlimited (free trail). Of course, I am always a sucker for re-telling fairy tales especially for Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella.

This retelling of Cinderella is different. First, it is told from the Fairy Godmother's point of view. Because how it was writing where it's first person but then feels like third person, I almost stopped reading this book all together. It would kind of annoying at first. I figure to give it one more chance. I am grateful I did because I enjoyed it to the end.

Since the day Ella was born, she has a Fairy Godmother (just like her mother and her grandmother previously). The Fairy Godmother is her companion until she makes three wishes. And only three in her whole life time and then she disappears until the birth of the next generation daughter. Ella's father is a merchant who often travels. At a young age, Ella and her brother Bertie travels with their father to the different countries (leaving their mother to attend the estate) while learning to sword fight. Ella disguises herself as a boy during these travels. Ella and Bertie fought in tournaments as they traveled. As Ella turns 14, she has to put away her sword and become a handmaid for Madame Augusta to learn to be a lady. Before she travels, she is given one last chance to be in a tournament. There she makes an enemy, but ends up saving the prince's life.

What I like about this story how the prince and Ella work together. Both characters balanced each other well and worked together to fight and protect. While the story had some of the classic Cinderella, I enjoyed the different twists like the Fairy Godmother. The Fairy Godmother is there throughout the whole story and plays more of a role than just spinning a dress with her magic.

I highly recommend this re-telling/story.

This has got to be my favorite retelling of Cinderella(besides Ever After, of course). I'm rather picky about how fairy tales are told in stories, but this was amazing.

It was interesting how the story was told from the perspective of the fairy godmother. I was grateful that her telling the story didn't distract from the story actually playing out. She didn't interject at weird times and talk about herself.

It was very believable that Ella could beat grown men in sword fights, because she trained for years and learned many different techniques. She wasn't a mary sue; she lost several times and didn't always come out on top.

I love how strong she was, just like the 'cinders' in the fire that her father compared her to. She went through so much in her life; a lesser person would have let their fire burn out, but not Ella.

Henry and Ella's relationship was very much an equal relationship. They were partners in everything and he did not once think her below him because she was a woman.

Their first interaction was interesting, when Ella saved his life. And all of the sword fights in the book are so realistically described.

The plot was well developed(nothing like the selection series plot ugh). I couldn't put this book down and I stayed up until 4 a.m. to finish it.

The surprise her father's alive! at the end made me very happy. I thought for sure that wouldn't happen because of how it was in the usual telling.

The tournament parts in the book were all so engaging. Ella wasn't invincible, but she was definitely very talented. I liked how she could count on her horse Mirage not to balk during the mounted melee.

I loved this book so much and everybody should read it, whether you like fairy tales or not.

Cinderella + swords and war= 5 stars + favorite
OH MY GOD. What a wonderful book! Never in my life had I seen a book with such a funny narrator. I thought it was wonderful the idea of this author to make the narrator of the book the fairy godmother. Because it made the book funnier and easier to understand how the fairy godmother's magic worked.
I loved that the author modified the story a little, changing some strange things that happened in the original story like how the prince didn't remembered Cinderellas face if he literally spent all night with her and said he was in love with her! But without deleting the main scenes just changing them so it wouldn't be so wierd.
The emotional roller coaster that this book took me was very big. One hour I was laughing and the other one was crying and then I was anxious. I fell in love with this version of Cinderella where she is determined, driven, loyal, strong and much more.
This book made me reflect a lot on how women of that time had to deal with the sexism they always suffered being judged as the fragile sex and the standards they needed to reach. It was very good to accompany Cinderella on her journey against this, because she wanted to fight, and to use her talent with the sword for something.
The prince is another one who got 100 times better than the original, he ALWAYS listened to her and treated her not as an inferior but as an equal. He supported her and helped her with everything she needed, without doubted her motives even for a second. Which were very advanced actions for the society in which the characters live in this book. AND HE REMEMBERS HER FACE!!!
In short, a light and wonderful book with a super cute romance.

I have been always a Disney princess fan but then i am also a feminist at heart, so the basic concept of a "Damsel in Distress" never set right with me. The way Cinders start leaves you with an impression that you are not going to be reading another one of your typical fairy tale where the female protagonist plays the character of a helpless lass, but you are going to be privileged with a tale about a strong woman who knows how to stand tall, fight her way through a battlefield and at the same time be subservient enough if the circumstances ask for. I always thought of Prince Henry as a shallow and condescending persona since Cinderella's looks were the only characteristics which attracted him towards her. However, Finley's Henry is not only smart and brave and courageous, He is also just, fair and believes in treating an individual with respect based on their humility, perseverance and skill and not on their gender, caste, status or any other superficial criteria. His resilience at knowing the true identity of Cinderella and his acceptance of who she is or she may be is astounding and definitely a lovable characteristic. Very rarely it happens that you find a story where the male and female protagonists truly deserve each other and when you find that in an old fable which has been tainted with misogyny, humiliation and cliches, you find your TRUE fairy tale in every sense. I so wish the writer can bring his amazing skills to the other age old fables and can showcase them with this new enlightening perspective.

Cinderella Re-told

This Cinderella story is told through the perspective of the Fairy Godmother. It's a fairly good re-telling of the fairytale. The "insights" from the Fairy Godmother can be a bit distracting as most of the book reads just like a regular story. But, then you get a sentence or paragraph in the Fairy Godmother's point of view interjected. And while at the beginning of the book, the Fairy Godmother says she has super good intuition that helps her understand things about people that most humans overlook or are too blind to see... I don't think that's enough to warrant the fact you get insights to the characters thoughts. So, I kinda wish we either just had the story told OR got the Fairy Godmother's perspective. Not both. The actual story seems like a mix of a couple ideas: the basic story of Cinderella (of course), Mulan, and another re-telling of the Cinderella Story that's known as the movie Ever After. All around a pretty easy read and decent story.

Loved it!

I've always loved the story of Cinderella, and when Disney remade the movie a couple of years ago, I loved that they focused on "Have courage and be kind." I love that much more than her outward beauty, she had such kindness and inward beauty, and no matter how cruel her step mother was, she always reacted in kindness. Enter this story. I loved that the perspective is from the fairy godmother, and that she tells of how Ellas mother and father met. But I loved even more so that she made Ella such a strong character. Strong physically and well as emotionally and mentally. And all with that kindness and innate goodness. I also loved the love story of her and the Prince. None of this, they see each other and no nothing about each other but think they are in love. Hogwash! I love that they got to know each other's character - the essence of who the other was, and had that trust with each other. Such a delightful story!

I really really liked this book! I have always been a great fan of Cinderella before and I have probably watched the movie a hundred times(really). And in this book I loved Ella more and more and more! I loved the chemistry between Henry and Ella and I loved the fact that Ella wasn't only beautiful and pretty but strong and smart and kind! There were some moments where I could predict what would happen but there were also times where the author actually blew my mind! I enjoyed that the whole book put the romance aside and concentrated on Ella and her life. But whenever the romance came, I loved every bit of it! I will recommend this book to every Cinderella and Disney lover!!

Ps: I have never read a book as fast as I read this! I actually flew through this book like the fairy godmother!!!

The best Cinderella tale I've read in a very long time

I love fairy tale retellings, I can't begin to count how many of them I've read, but this one is among the best tellings of Cinderella I've read. I love Ella, her brother, her father, Henry, Sigismund, and even Jerome, odd ball that he is. It's been a long time since I've been so engrossed in a book, the characters, plot, and writing, that I stayed up far too late two nights in a row to finish it.
Honestly I recommend this book to any lover of Cinderella tales, tenacious lady characters, fantastic events, or interesting narrators. Give this one a shot, even if you think you've seen every variation of a Cinderella story, this one is worth your money, and, more importantly, your time.

This book features another example of the heroine-who-can-do-no-wrong-and-is-good-at-everything-she-tries, but in this case I actually enjoyed the story. I'm a sucker for coming-of-age novels, and this one starts prior to Cinderella's conception, through to her happily ever after. I don't know my medieval European history, so I don't know if any of the book's events actually happened, but I was tickled by the idea that they *may* have happened. My biggest complaint about the book was Fairy Godmother's narration, particularly her oaths - I get it, their cheesiness fits with who she is, but I won't pretend it wasn't annoying. 4.5 stars, rounded up because I like a kickass heroine who doesn't apologize for who she is.

Ella's story is not the one you know in the fairy tale in this retelling of the classic story. She is, as we learn from the very beginning a brilliant, skilled swordswoman, fighter, and tactician. She is, in fact, a little too perfect. She does not see much character growth during the story. That said, the story itself is a fun tale, even if the writing style is sometimes a bit more oriented toward telling than showing. If anything, I would have liked it better if it had let itself be merely an inspired-by-Cinderella story. Some of the more awkward elements came from trying to adhere too closely to the original. (Also, Fairy Godmother's alliterative exclamations got on my nerves.)

Borderline 2-3. Upgraded to 3 because the core story was delightful.

This book didn't hold my attention like other books I have read. I love Cinderella re-writes, but this was not my favorite. I just had a hard time getting into the story overall. There were scenes I enjoyed, but overall I was left feeling disappointed. The ending felt too abrupt. I found myself skimming at parts because I was bored. It was clean, which I appreciated. I did enjoy the relationship between Ella and Prince Henry. I appreciated that Henry was never stupid in holding grudges. There was not "this could be solved if they spent five minutes talked to each other" drug out scenes. The concept had good potential.

A Cute Retelling

It was a really entertaining story, albeit a bit slow in moments, but I was a decently paced. It was told in first person by Fairy Godmother as she followed Ella on her journey. We not only get a look at Ella's childhood in the backstory, but we get to love Robert and Nora (Ella's parents), and how they met and fell in love.

I enjoyed the details along with the development. My only issues are really in the grammatical errors. There aren't a ton of them, but it's enough to get annoying.

I have a “thing” for Cinderella stories, in fact if I ever have a daughter I want to name her Ella. Needless to say I’ve read quite a few Cinderella stories in the past. Some I’ve liked, some I could barely finish. This is one of my favorites! I love strong female leads, and Ella certainly is that! The writing was vivid and I loved how everything came together so seamlessly. My only negative was I wish there had been a little more dialogue between Henry and Ella. I felt as if the romance between them could have been developed a tad more (being a YA novel, however, I can understand why it wasn’t), but I still loved everything about it!

ADORED

I LOVED this book! It was a fantastic take on Cinderella and was written very well! I thought the fairy godmother usage and myth (attending mother and then daughters) was really neat. Ella's weapons and martial arts training and the way she uses it is AWESOME! This was sweet and clean, I'd rate it PG. I TOTALLY recommend this to fairy-tale enthusiasts, and anyone who loves strong heroine!