Their complex relationship is what really stands out in this story - their selfish motivations unfolding alongside the sacrifices they make for each other. And unlike the original fairy tale, the stepsisters genuinely seem to care for each other in their own sisterly way. Maia clearly wants to protect her stepfamily, even though her stepmother isn’t good to her.

I even found the characters to be well-developed. Their relationship has buildup and feels natural - a hard feat considering the book hovers around just 100 pages.

Instead, Maia and Anax’s romance is well-developed. Something that I was pleasantly surprised not to find was insta-love. I loved that you could jump into this Cinderella story without any knowledge of the other book. Gilded Ashes is a standalone novella set in the same world as Cruel Beauty. But how can she ever be with him when every moment of his life would be in danger from her mother’s deadly bargain? Maia has begun to fall in love with him too. He can’t help wishing to see her again, and when he does, he can’t help falling in love with her. Despite this, Anax is charmed by the mysterious girl, who refuses to be anything other than genuinely uninterested. When preparations for the masquerade and a task from Maia’s eldest stepsister bring Maia and Anax together, their first encounter is prickly. He’s invited all the suitable girls in the kingdom to a masked ball and demanded that Anax finally select a wife. So what’s the point of pretending to fall in love with a girl when she’ll only pretend to fall in love with him? But his father has finally drawn a line. For years, his childhood sweetheart used him for his noble title.

And though Maia’s family has turned her into a despised servant, she must always pretend to be happy, or else they’ll be struck dead by her mother’s deathbed curse.Īnax, heir to the Duke of Sardis, doesn’t believe in love either. Her stepsisters are desperate for their mother’s approval, yet she always spurns them. And when Maia’s father died, she watched her new stepmother’s grief turn to madness. Years ago, her dying mother made a bargain with the evil, all-powerful ruler of their world that anyone who hurt her beloved daughter would be punished. At least that’s what Maia has come to believe. IN SHORT: This Cinderella story retelling is short but has well-developed characters and romance.

Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge