Cinder House
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Sparks fly and lovers dance in this gorgeous, yearning Cinderella retelling from bestselling author Freya Marske – a queer Gothic romance novella perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and T. Kingfisher.
You think you know Cinderella’s story: the ball, the magical shoes, the handsome prince.
You’re halfway right, and all-the-way wrong.
Ella is a haunting. Murdered at sixteen, her furious ghost is trapped in her father’s house, invisible to everyone except her stepmother and stepsisters.
Even when she discovers how to untether herself from her prison, there are limits. She cannot be seen or heard by the living people who surround her. Her family must never learn she is able to leave. And at the stroke of every midnight, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died.
Until she forges a wary friendship with a fairy charm-seller, and makes a bargain for three nights of almost-living freedom. Freedom that means she can finally be seen. Danced with. Touched.
Rediscover a classic fairy tale in this spellbinding novella from Freya Marske, the queen of romantic fantasy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Marske (Swordcrossed) rekindles the fire of "Cinderella" in this gothic, magic-stuffed retelling. Ella is supposed to inherit her father's house. Instead, when her stepmother's murder plot goes to plan, the house inherits her: she becomes its resident ghost. Trapped and forced to clean and repair anything amiss, Ella tries to gain freedom from her stepfamily through researching arcane magic, trying her hand at trickery, and even questioning a dangerous fairy. When Crown Prince Jule announces a three-night ball to find his future queen, cruel and beautiful Greta, the younger of Ella's stepsisters, determines she will win him at any cost. Ella, who just wants three nights to enjoy the life that was taken from her, makes a fairy bargain to allow her to attend the ball in corporeal form—putting her right between Greta and what Greta wants most just as Ella realizes she longs for the same thing. The last time Ella got in the way of this family, she died for it—and her being dead already won't stop them from trying to kill her again. Marske uses handfuls of familiar tropes to construct a story that stands alone, as strong, beautiful, and clever as its heroine. Fans of T. Kingfisher will love it.
