Cinder and Ella

by Melissa Lemon

After her father's disappearance, Cinder leaves home for a servant job at the castle. But it isn't long before her sister Ella is brought to the castle herself. What Ella finds there starts a quest that will change her life and the entire kingdom. Cinder and Ella is a Cinderella story like no other, and one you'll never forget.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairy Tales, Romance, Retellings, Cinderella, Fairy Tale Retellings

273 pages, Hardcover

First published October 27, 2011

About the author

Melissa has been writing stories since she could hold a pencil in her hand and she has a deformed, calloused finger to prove it. She began twisting fairy tales in the fifth grade when she wrote a story about George of the Jungle making his way to Neverland. Melissa enjoys writing, making music, reading, baking and running. She lives with her husband, three daughters and cat named Matilda.

Reviews

[Vinaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was... weird. I still can't make up my mind whether it's meant to be an MG-level read, or YA. The writing style is all mixed up, part traditional bardic narration and part simplified children's narrative. For example:

The end result was havoc in the place of happiness. Contention was now a constant guest in the house and the occasional, small quarrels between the sisters turned to fits of rage. They would often say nasty things to each other, hurt each other, or simply not speak to one another for weeks at a time. One day, one of the daughters was about to cut a cake for somebody's birthday. The older sister was relentlessly throwing a tantrum because she wanted to cut the cake. So the third daughter grabbed a handful of the cake and smeared it into the hair of her older sister. The eldest daughter slapped her very hard across the face and the third daughter ran to her room, her cheek stinging and red. After this happened, the mother announced that birthdays would no longer be celebrated in the house. *

The idea behind the novel is interesting, but the execution is severely lacking. Cinder and Ella, along with their parents and two sisters live happily in the village of Willow Top. Until the evil Prince comes to visit them one night and sows poisonous seeds in the father's mind. Soon their father becomes discontented and eventually leaves the house. Their mother, devastated by her husband's abandonment, retreats to her spinning wheel, leaving her daughters to fend for themselves. The eldest and youngest children turn into indulgent twats, and the burden of caring for them falls onto the middle siblings Conder and Ella.

But when Cinder gets a job at the palace as a maid, she becomes involved in magical intrigue involving the evil prince, and also manages to pull her sister Ella into it. Along the way, the two sisters find love, adventure and betrayal.

I've written three full-length reviews today, and I'm running out of steam, so I'm going to finish this up quickly.

The characterizations in this book are flat, to say the least. I never really got an idea of who the main characters were. The author told more than she showed. Some things were just outright ludicrous. For example, the prince wreaks havoc across the kingdom while the king sits in his room and watches. He never interferes until things get dire, and the prince is finally banished from the kingdom for hurting Cinder and Ella, but while the prince is stealing souls and enslaving his subjects, the king just sits back benignly and watches. Why is he king, again?

The story is allegorical, I get that (and if I didn't there is a list of 'questions to think about' at the end that point me in that direction!) but the allegory is handled clumsily. The fact that this story has underlying messages doesn't mean you can skimp out on the actual storytelling and characterization.

This book wasn't boring, exactly, but it wasn't anything to write home about either. Meh describes it best. It is nowhere near sophisticated enough for a YA read, and not interesting enough to appeal to MG readers. I would suggest that anyone looking for a fanciful fairy tale of this sort try Gail Carson Levine. Her books are charming and well-written and have great characters!

* Quotes are from an ARC and will be verified against a published copy.

An ARC was provided to me for review purposes by the publishers via Net Galley.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cinder and Ella is a re-telling of the classic story Cinderella. The story's main characters are two sisters called Cinder and Ella. The Evil Prince has put darkness into their Father's soul, causing him to change until one day he just disappears. His departure causes the family to fall apart. Cinder goes to work at the Castle and Ella having been forgotten by her family leaves to start a new life for herself. That is until three knight's turn up to take Ella back to the Castle with them. She unwillingly goes, and falls in love with the clumsy knight Tanner on the way. Soon the sisters find themselves in grave danger as the Prince seeks to destroy them in a battle between good and evil.

Cinder and Ella was a wonderful story. Full of magic and romance. I loved so much about the story and the world it was set in. One of my favourite things about the story was that every person had their own tree, and as long as the tree was alive and healthy so was that person and when the tree died so did they. It was written beautifully and kept me in suspense though-out. I enjoyed reading this and would recommend it to anyone who loves a good fairytale.

Everything a good fairytale should be and more.

[Libby Ames · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stumbled upon Cinder and Ella in the young adult section of my library and looked forward to trying it out. I love fairy tale retellings and the more creative the better. However, I got about 3/4 of the way through and couldn't force myself to finish this one. Lemon has a unique approach to the Cinderella story, but I'm afraid the execution needs some help. Before continuing with my review, know that I read with the intended audience in mind, but I can't entirely ignore my training and my personal ideas about good writing. As a test, I gave the book to my ten-year-old daughter and she has enjoyed it. She isn't devouring it like others, but maybe this book has potential for a much younger and less critical audience.

I decided to stop reading when I found myself thinking about how I would rewrite each section I had just read. Most of the book is 'telling' what happened rather than 'showing' through action. The new story has merit, but it could use more backstory and character development. I think characters are what make or break a story and I felt these characters were flat and predictable. The dialogue (especially Tanner's) was maybe meant to sound chivalric and fairy-tale like, but ended up sounding stilted and unrealistic. Also, a lot of the characters don't have reason (unless very vaguely implied) to act the way they do. The story could be improved with more background or insight into characters' thoughts.

With some revision, the story could be successful. Also, the writing seems better for a children's section rather than a young adult section. Maybe that was my library's poor choice, but whoever markets this book would do better to send this to young and undiscerning readers.

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

**This review contains spoilers**
I have read a lot of Cinderella retellings in my day, even ones about a boy named Cinder and a girl named Ella, but never one where both Cinder and Ella were girls. So that was creative and I liked it. However, I almost feel like this story doest qualify as a Cinderella story, because it doesn't have talmost anything in common with the original story. (I use the term 'original' as loosely as possible. I know all too well that we actually have no idea where Cinderella came from. Perhaps the word 'Traditional' would be better.) There was no running away from a ball, no shoes involved, lost or otherwise, and where did this whole tree thing come from? I mean ok, the tree idea was cool, but it just had nothing to do with... anything xD
Another thing that took a star away from this book was the way it was written. The writing quality was poor at best, and the story was left almost unresolved, in my opinion. The prince's powers were never explained, but it felt more like the author didn't know what they were than that it was simply not needed in the story. Considering the prince had Ella's father captured and had taken away his mind for some experiment that was also never explained, I feel like the author should have filled us in. The prince was banished in the end but he was still a threat... and that was annoying to me.
Despite this, I did think the story line was fun, if a bit odd and unconventional.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

(ARC copy provided by NetGalley, Pub date November 2011)

I requested this book because I love me a good Fairy-tale retelling. From the description, the author had created a fun variation of the classic Cinderella story.

But, this was so poorly written that I had to force myself to finish it. Seriously, did anyone edit this at all? I know it's an ARC, and I feel really bad giving it such a low rating, but it was almost unreadable.

Poor dialog, poor transitions, and poorly developed characters. I was actually annoyed by a few redundant and repeated phrases like "kingdom castle" and "prison dungeon". Also the very awkwardly-developed love threads were just painful and unbelievable.

Finally, a bit of a spoiler here, if Cinder and Ella both loved their family so much, why did they both leave as fast as they could? Cinder, visiting on your "days off" does not count as taking care of your family (if the wicked stepsisters were as "bad" as described here, they would not have even survived with a once a week visit). And the mother just sitting at her spinning wheel throughout the entire book-come on!

Very disappointed.

[Leigh Collazo · Rating 2 out of 5]

A huge thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this (and other) books free of charge.

More reviews and book trailers at http://readerpants.blogspot.com

Overall Rating: Neutral opinion. It is certainly a unique Cinderella story, and I have seen several 5-star reviews.

Give it to: Middle school girls who like fairy tale adventures with a side of chaste romance

What I liked: The story is unique. Cinder and Ella splits the character of Cinderella into two different girls, the only two normal sisters in an incredibly dysfunctional family. The sweet romance between Ella and Tanner kept me turning pages when Tanner is forced to retrieve Ella for the prince. I love how Prince Monticello is anything but Charming, another very cool twist on the Cinderella story.

I love Ella's character. The first to see her family for what it is, Ella is smart, courageous, and easy to like. Her sisters are mean to her and her mother completely forgets about her, and Ella sees that reality. Although, she hates her situation, Ella does not try to explain it away or excuse it; she accepts it for what it is and understands that only she can change her own future. At the same time, she still loves her mother and sisters, as evidenced in several tender moments with them throughout the book. She wants them to be safe and happy, but she understands that she cannot force them to change their behavior.

The story is short and simply told, which will appeal to reluctant middle grade readers. The virtual absence of mature content will enable me to recommend Cinder and Ella to even the most immature middle school reader.

What I didn't like: So many unanswered questions! Cinder and Ella has so much more potential, and I feel a bit let down that characters and their personal histories are not better explored. As a former middle school English teacher, one of the first rules of writing is "Show, don't tell." Prince Monticello is evil; Lemon tells readers that several times. But WHY is he so evil? How did he get that way? What is he after? Is he evil simply for the sake of evil? Where did Prince Monticello's relationships with his own parents go wrong? How did the trees come to have a symbiotic relationship with humans? How do people find their own trees (or do they already know where they are)? Do they seek out their trees to make sure they are well-cared for? Are the trees necessarily nearby, or can a person's tree be very far away? Were the brambles strangling Ella's tree magically-induced? Why are they so difficult to cut away? Why do they keep growing back almost right away? Why is Ella's tree at the castle, anyway? What does the prince want with Ella? Why does he fake a romance with Cinder? Why, why, why?

Aside from Ella, the characters tend to be one-dimensional, defined solely by their personal "characteristic." Cinder is the virtuous and hardworking sister. Katrina is the vain one. Beatrice is the bratty baby of the family. The mother is inexplicably uninvolved. Tanner is the chivalrous-but-clumsy knight. Prince Monticello is evil incarnate for no apparent reason. Granted, traditional fairy tales often feature one-dimensional characters; however, traditional fairy tales are not 200-page novels.

The dialogue is stiff and confusing at times. Characters speak to each other calmly, without passion, slang, dialect, or contractions. In the galley copy, some paragraphs include dialogue from more than one speaker, making it sometimes difficult to ascertain who said what. I had to reread several paragraphs because speakers were unclear. A few paragraphs included quoted statements from two different speakers, side by side, without the benefit of non-dialogue. Consider these two statements, made by two different characters, appearing side by side in the same paragraph: "You have not changed, Ella." "Nor have you." (190).

The Prince's fate and willing exit from the castle is way too-easily resolved. The king gives an order, and the Prince obeys. He does not try to fight, come back, trick anyone, or talk his way out of it. He leaves, and that's it.

Cinder comes to Ella's wedding. Why doesn't the rest of her family go? Beatrice didn't even know Ella got married until Ella tells her, so clearly Beatrice at least was not invited.

What happened to Cassandra? I loved that horse, and she just disappears. No comment made about her once they decide to get Ella a new horse. I would have loved if the story ended with Cassandra running in a field and, like Cinder and Ella, happy to be free from the bonds of servitude.

Some small tweaks in writing style will give Cinder and Ella, which has so much more potential, the edge it needs. Since I read a NetGalley copy (months before publication), I am hopeful that Lemon and her editors invest the time to beef up the details to add some color and fragrance and, well, character to the overly-simple plot.

Content

Language: none

Sexuality: mild--chaste kissing, a drunk man makes mildly sexual jokes/roundabout threats

Violence: mild--two stabbings, one of which does not even draw blood; a swordfight

Drugs/Alcohol: one minor adult character likes to get drunk

Status in my library: It's not out yet, so we do not have it. I do not plan to order it since there are so many better fairy tale retellings available.

Readalikes: Anything by Shannon Hale or Gail Carson Levine. Also the Once Upon a Time series is perfect for middle school fans of fairy tale spin-offs.

[Kay-c · Rating 3 out of 5]

We all know Cinderella’s story. A fairy godmother, Two evil step sisters and a step mother who ruined our heroine’s life. And glass shoes that saved her from that evil family and of course a charming Prince who would come to save the day and they live happily ever after. Well..FORGET THAT.

Cinder and Ella is not a fairy tale story we all know. Cinder and Ella are sisters. There was no prince( well not really) , no fairy godmother and no step sisters and mother and no glass shoes.
Cinder and Ella belonged to a happy family that consist six members. A mother, father and four sister. They lived happy so far as the story starts until one night the prince arrived to and bewitched their father’s mind and one night he disappeared. Making his family worried and wonder if he still lives. Soon after that, their love for each other has banished and replaced by selfishness and greed. Katrina being the eldest among the four is used about getting what she wanted. Cinder became the servant of her own family , Ella became a stranger and invincible having no one but her beloved sister Cinder to notice her existence and Beatrice is growing to be spoiled brat just like her eldest sister who is used of being served their whole lives. Their mother is busy mending her job and only noticed the three sisters and truly forgotten Ella.

The prologue itself was enough to grab my attention. Knowing what the classic Cinderella tale was. I consider trying this twisted story. At first I don’t understand as to why the prince would actually want Ella either. The plot was a mystery even at first chapter. But all I could do is to read and read and find out why and what did our heroine had done. I was skeptical that maybe I wasn’t really paying much attention. And I was about to go back to page one just so I could understand it fully. But then I decided that maybe I was too early for me to do so since I haven’t even finish half way. So I played detective and maintain the question mark on my head.

The plot was slow. The first half of the book is about introductions and stuff. Nothing interesting going on so far and not much action so I was tempted to skip that part and jump down to the real action scene. But that would ruin the story. The plot was finally revealed in the middle. Even so, the mystery wasn’t solved.

The characters are okay. Villains...well they remain villain and I hate them. The story lacks of action. I kept on yawning and my brain wants to stop reading. But the only thing that drives me from reading are the questions. I wanted to know what happened and how will they solve the problems. In the end the ending wasn’t satisfying. Not all questions was answered. And it just ends up like that like a ‘click’. I was eagerly waiting for the battle between the heroine and the villain. But I didn’t know that by just a single threat the villain will back away. All I could say is. It is indeed not the classic Cinderella with a happy every after. But a different story with no happy ending.

[Aleetha · Rating 3 out of 5]

When someone mentions Cinderella, I will straightly remember about her wicked step mother and sisters, a fairy godmother, the glass shoes, a great ball, and a prince charming with his castle. It is so easy to retell the story. But when I saw Cinder and Ella, I got no clue. I wondered what the author brought to the surface. How much it was related to the original story was the main question.

In the beginning Mellisa Lemon, the author, has warned the reader that in Cinder and Ella, there would not be any fairy godmother who could grant any wishes. There was not any prince charming. She told us to left the entire tale behind. Cinder and Ella brought a different story. It’s about two sisters who used to have a happy life with their parents and two other sisters in Willow Top. But everything changed when the prince came and met their father. Few days after, their father disappeared. A comfortable dwelling suddenly turned into hell. Quarrelling between the siblings happened almost everyday. Nasty words were in the air. Two of them just could not stop screaming or whining. If Katrina was the most demanding, Beatrice, the youngest, become much more spoiled. Adelle, their mother did not do anything but sat at an spinning wheel. She could no longer care her four daughters. So all things related to household was run by the remaining one, Cinder and Ella.

Cinder did everything without any complaint. Ella, herself, stayed in the house because Cinder was there. So when her sister decided to work at castle to get more money for the family, Ella chose to leave the house. Because she found no more reason to stay with her family who has totally forgotten her. After sometimes, the destiny brought Ella to the castle. Not only met Cinder, but she also found some revealed facts about her long lost father. She had nothing with her but she knew that she had to move fast or the evil prince would win everything.

The idea in Cinder and Ella was unique. I like the adventure inside. Almost all characters were interesting. Ella was my favorite. Her strength made me like her. Although they were so annoying, Katrina and Beatrice played a good role. Some knights were also in a great shape. The plain Cinder even took a part that made this book become special.

However I did not enjoy all of the part of the story. I almost lost my interest in the end of the book. Especially when it connected to the vicious prince. I was glad that I was not lost and could finish the book. But I still recommend this book to anyone.

Cover
If you have read the book, you will understand why they put the tree in the front. But I wish I could see Cinder or Ella, even both of them.

[Devon Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

As refreshing as it is beautiful - our beloved fairytale gets a supernatural twist.

Forget what you know about Cinderella. There's no glass slipper, no fairy godmother and the Prince isn't coming to sweep you off your feet and carry you off into the sunset - in fact, he may just drop you off a cliff. And there is no Cinderella - well, not really.

Cinder and Ella are the middle sisters in what was once a happy family of six. When the Prince came to visit late one night, he bewitched their father with an invisible spell and ruined their family dynamic forever. They watched in horror as their father deteriorated with time, eventually disappearing on them altogether. Cinder and Ella's siblings no longer understood respectable behavior and their mother went mad. In fact, their mother was so out of it the two daughters became one - Cinderella. Cinder became Cinderella and poor Ella became nonexistent to her mother.

When Cinder leaves to work at the castle, Ella can no longer stand the homestead without her and leaves to find herself a new life. When it comes to the attention of the Prince that Ella has gone missing, he sends out the knights to find and collect her, for the Prince has always feared Ella would be the one to hunt him down and kill him one day. In doing so, the Prince sets Ella into motion. Ripping her from her newfound happiness and flaunting the condition of her damaged family pushes Ella over the edge and sends her on a quest to the rid the kingdom of the evil the Prince has spread.


Cinder and Ella had a little bit of everything - romance, adventure and danger. Melissa Lemon has twisted the popular fairytale and weaved us an enjoyable new world that was both fresh and enchanting. We can only hope she'll put her creative spin on a few more popular fairytales.

Favorite Quote:
Tanner: "I think that I might kiss you to keep your lips busy from something other than insulting me."
Ella: "If you think you can do it without getting lost."

http://devonashleywrites.blogspot.com...

[Kellie Sheridan · Rating 4 out of 5]

We’ve all heard the story a million, billion times. Girl leads hard life, girl has crappy family, girl goes to ball, girl meets boy, girl lives happily ever after. Cinderella. We all know it. Or do we? Melissa Lemon has written a wonderfully creative new take on one of our favorite classics. She’s left the bare bones of the story and done something really wonderful with it, and as someone who is a sucker for rewritten classics, I loved it.

In Cinder and Ella there isn’t one girl but two. Sisters. They try to make the best of a bad family situation (sisters don’t have to be of the step variety to be jerks) and from there… adventures ensue! I won’t give anything away, but the story is a lot of fun. It has all the makings of a fairytale and yet you never know what little twist is coming next.

Most of the characters aren’t taken from the classic version (okay, for me that means Disney) of the story and for me that was a big part of what kept this fresh. I didn’t go into this book with any preconceptions about who these people were supposed to be (prince charming, evil step sisters etc) so I never got pulled out of the story because something wasn’t going how I thought it should. My favorite was definitely Ella, but I thought her sister Beatrice was pretty hilarious to read as well.

One issue I did have with it is that sometimes this book read a little awkwardly, and I couldn’t always tell which age group this story was meant for. Granted, usually I know going into a story who it was meant for, so that might have helped but I do think no matter which book shelf this story ends up on, it will be a welcome edition. Anyways! The solution to the story reading awkwardly problem…

This story was meant to be read out loud! I noticed it a few chapters in, and while I didn’t actually read the whole thing out loud to myself, it was so clear that the language used in this book is perfect for reading to someone. I even found myself thinking about the different voices I would use for each character. It made the whole thing really come to life. THAT is the making of a true fairytale.

Cinder and Ella review @ ReaWrite

[Jaime · Rating 2 out of 5]

(This review is for the ARC, courtesy of NetGalley)

Cinder and Ella, by Melissa Lemon, is nominally a revision of the Cinderella fairy tale. In it, the sisters Cinder and Ella are wrenched from their previously happy home after their father disappears. Their mother recedes into the shadows while their other two sisters, spoiled and useless, exhaust the girls with unrelenting demands. Cinder decides to obtain work at the castle nearby to help support the family, while Ella, less tolerant and more angry, runs away.

At the castle, Cinder is delighted to gain favor with the prince, but he is evil and has nefarious plans for her and her sister. He sends kidnappers after Ella, and after much ado, both girls find themselves at the mercy of the prince and at odds with each other. They must each determine how best to restore their family and save themselves, with some help from the young men who fall in love with them.

The reader is told, not shown, the action and emotions of the story. In this way, the style and simplistic language are similar to how an old-fashioned folktale might be related verbally. However, the style is perhaps not best displayed in a story of this length. There is a strong impression of allegory, though the underlying message may not be entirely clear to young readers. It is also unclear as to whom the target audience might be, but this book may have greatest appeal for middle school readers.

[Deborah Andreasen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review might be a little confusing, but once you read the book, it'll make more sense.

I think I have said before how much I love fairytale retellings. I was determined to love Cinder and Ella…but I found that I merely enjoyed it.

I thought the mother’s fusing of Cinder and Ella was too quick. I think the idea was good, but it seems like it happened over the course of two or three days, rather than a few years. And why was she stuck at a spinning wheel? Was she enchanted or something? That part was confusing to me.

Other than that, I thought the story was fascinating with the prince being the bad guy. I think Cinder started out strong, but she sort of morphed into a two-dimensional character. Ella, however, started off sort of weak and grew into a strong character. That was nice. I loved the playful banter between Ella and Tanner.

The element of the trees was really good. I enjoyed that. I was confused by the situation with Cinder and Ella’s father and the significance there.

All in all, it was a nice easy read.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love fairy tale retelling's! I eat them up, but this was so difficult to read. It starts out ok as you get the back ground of the family, but then as you try to get to know the characters and get involved in the story the author falls short of letting you in. The story is told in third person and is not done well. I never even liked these characters very much. The story is written in a very simplistic way and I felt like it was geared to an 8 year old reader, but like all fairy tales it had it's nasty characters like the princes helper that wants to rape our main character. Not exactly 8 year old material more like 12 to 14. So sadly lacking, I just can't recommend to anyone.

[Mariah Gerlach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the different story elements Melissa gave to this version. This time, Cinderella's mother is still alive, though she may as well not be. And the prince has a much more, um, active role in the story than in most Cinderella tales. She created some great villains altogether.

I would have liked to see a bit more of Cinder in the story. Most of it focuses around Ella so I didn't feel nearly as connected to Cinder. Many of the characters were well developed, though, and made me come back to the book whenever I had to put it down. That's always a great sign!

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cinder and Ella are for all intents and purposes abandoned by both parents. They have to figure out how to keep their family together.
I am only on chapter 1 and I am already annoyed at this book. First of all there is way too much “telling” in this story. The entire introduction was telling. There was not one thing that showed the reader action. It was tedious and boring to read. This book feels like an author’s first book.
Events in the story jump from situation to situation with little to no explanation in between. The magic is not even explained at all. Trees are tied to your life. Who or how? Who knows. You can cut down your tree though and not die. How? Who knows. The Prince is creepy and evil. He does bad magic. How? Who knows. He can talk people into doing bad things just by talking. The dialogue is juvenile and very stiff. The characters are flat with random backgrounds told about Cinder and Ella that feel like the authors actual life. These parts of the story rang with honesty and interest. I wish these portions of the story had been fleshed out in more detail. They were parts of the story that I longed to hear about.

I find this might be a really bad allegory for God and Satan. The king being God and the Prince being Satan.

The only glimmer of Good story telling I found was when Ella was brought or forcefully taken to the Prince. The storytelling here got a little more interesting but it still did more telling that showing.

Unfortunately this feels like an extremely rough draft of a book not at all a finished polished product. I feel like it has some potential to be an interesting story but it is miles away from it. I am not sure why this book was ever picked up by a publisher but it honestly makes me nervous to devote any more time to this author at all.

PG- There was some swearing. A girl is forcefully kissed in a way that made it feel like an assault.

[Elise Derr Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An evil prince attempts to overthrow his father's kingdom, causing darkness to enter the hearts and minds of many of the people in the process. One family is hit particularly hard: the father closes his business and leaves his wife and four daughters to fend for themselves; the mother becomes obsessed with her work, thinking only of making money to feed her children; one daughter is self-absorbed, while another is spoiled to the point of helplessness. Cinder is invited to work at the castle and becomes enamored with the prince. Ella is the only one who can withstand the dark influences and takes matters into her own hands to find a better life for herself and her family.


This story was so well written! The author tackles some difficult challenges that we are faced with here in mortality, but does it with such grace and skill. Both juvenile and adult readers will be able to make connections with and relate to the characters and the plot. She also weaves some eternal principles into the underlying message of the story, including the continual fight between good and evil, and the concepts of agency and forgiveness.

I almost took away a star for the not-so-perfect happy ending simply because I'm not a fan of those. However, she does warn the reader in the preface that this story isn't your typical fairytale and doesn't have the expected "happy ending". The conclusion is hopeful, though, and left me pleased with the resolution and excited to read more of her stories.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is of a family, with four daughters two of which are named Cinder and Ella. The father disappears and Cinder end up working in the Kingdom Castle to help support her family and to, in some respects, get away from her sisters and mother. When she leaves, Ella also leaves. Ella can't take the nightmare that she has to live with, with the remaining two sisters and her mother. Cinda returns home to find Ella gone, and her family has forgotten that Ella really exists and they call Cinda, Cinderella merging the two daughters into one. Cinda, in her despair, is overheard by a knight who wants to aid Cinder and find Ella. The Prince intervenes and commands that Tanner (the knight) bring Ella back to the castle (we never really learn why). The escape, capture, re-escape, re-capture, attempted murder of the Price, discovery of where the father is, failure of the King to intervene, almost death of both sisters, alluding to the legend of the trees... follows.

I had to check the description in NetGalley to verify what I had read and who the intended audience was. This is what is listed next to genre: "Children's, Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Teens & YA" The writing style changed so dramatically and so often that I wondered who the audience was, and it felt as if I was reading something written by more than one author. The prose often felt like it was trying to be poetic and then it would switch into something much simpler and less elegant. It had a sort of split personality thing going on.

Coincidentally (or at least, I assume it was coincidental), the story we are reading is not the standard Cinderella tale. Since, there is not one but two characters referenced. Much the same way the writing gets smushed together, leaving me wondering what I was reading, the matriarch of the family in the story smushes together Cinder and Ella and forgets that they are two different daughters. The idea was interesting and the legend that drove some of the plot was unique. And while I (sort of) appreciate the teaching aid the book is trying to be (as per the inclusion of "Discussion Points" after the Epilogue) the story telling got the short straw over the lesson that good should prevail and evil will never entirely go away. But Harry Potter taught the same lessons and the story telling certainly didn't suffer the way it did here.

An example: the legend of the trees. It's mentioned early on. And it's mentioned again a little later. But we never get what it is. We merely see a few decisions made based on the legend and we see a few trees in action. But, I still really don't know what the legend is. And why not? I don't understand why, from a story telling perspective, the author wouldn't include it somewhere.

The narration and the mix of dialogue into paragraphs made it hard to read sometimes. I often had to re-read text two or three times to try to figure out who was speaking. And the dialogue itself was appropriate for a children's book more then a YA book despite the fact that often the prose was much too advanced for the dialogue enclosed in the same paragraphs.

I didn't understand the Price either. His actions, or rather inactions, seemed to poke holes in the plot. We never really get a good and believable explanation as to why he's out to get Ella in the first place. And why he is toying with Cinder - we never really get that answer either. Is it just because he's evil? I find that hard to believe given the lengths he goes to. But then, to just give up? Well, that's not very consistent with the notion of evil.

I grow more and more frustrated with every book I read lately. None of the author's seem to really understand the purpose of an epilogue (or prologue even though this book only has an epilogue) or how to handle it. To have an epilogue that occurs immediately after the end... why not just have it be the last chapter?

Then, while the summary presents magic, murder, mystery, intrigue and adventure most exciting the story never really lives up to that excitement. The story could have been exciting and filled with tension and magic but it really just fell flat. The best part of the book was the end when we see the sort of happily ever after that comes with fairy tales. I was disappointed though too by the lack of a few, what I think were critical elements, of the original fairy tale. I understand it's supposed to be a novel retelling of the story. But really, all it felt like was a novel way to use the name Cinderella. At least in many of the other retellings I have read (from Wicked to Sister's Red) there are basics about the story that are still true. That really isn't the case here. Having a few chores at the beginning for her family didn't scream Cinderella. And while she attended two balls, the wasn't exactly a fairy godmother or wicked step-sisters. There was no step-mother and there wasn't really enough to make me feel like it was in any way related to the Cinderella tale. While splitting the main protagonist into two characters would obviously necessitate certain changes in the overall story, there was nothing to tie it back to. Instead, the story was left to stand on it own, and it didn't have enough strength in its legs to really do that.

If you are looking for a retelling, be prepared for a reinvention, not just a reinterpretation. And, I would say that this belongs in the independent reader (or younger), after a little editing of the more advanced prose, so that the readers will have a much much younger perspective.

[Lillian Slater · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely a different way to look at the Cinderella story! This would have gotten a "5 star" from me, but.... there were some questions that I had that the author did not answer by the end of the story.

[Rachel Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book started out really great and I was excited to see how it ended and all tied together. But the ending was too fast, dumb, and left tons of questions unanswered. It's because of the end I gave the book a 3 instead of a 4.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the twist of Cinderella

[Bibliojunkies · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review posted on www.bibliojunkies.blogspot.com on August 20, 2011.

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley. The book releases November 8, 2011.
From Benneville Books (Cedar Fort, Inc.):

After their father’s disappearance, Cinder leaves home for a servant job at the castle. But it isn’t long before her sister Ella is brought to the castle herself—the most dangerous place in all the kingdom for both her and Cinder. Cinder and Ella is a Cinderella story like no other and one you'll never forget.

This book is a slow starter. So much so that I put the book down for a week or so before going back to finish it. This is definitely not your childhood version of Cinderella. There are a few parallels drawn between the tales, but Cinder and Ella in this book bear very little resemblance to the Disney or Grimm version. For one thing, this tale is much darker. The Prince may be handsome, but he is not good. In fact, he is quite evil (and not in a good evil Jace or Patch way either). This Prince uses his dark magic to bring his subjects under his control, convincing them that there is no hope, no reason to go on and this darkness is spreading throughout the Kingdom. Cinder and Ella are sisters who live a miserable life in which their father became influenced by the darkness, and one day, just wandered off. Cinder and Ella then take over the household as their mother has a mental breakdown and their two sisters become spoiled brats.

One day, Cinder applies for a job in the King’s castle as a servant to help provide for the family. With her new job, she will have to reside in the castle most of the week and will return home on her one day off. She leaves the care of the family to Ella. Unfortunately, Ella has little patience for the tantrums and antics of her family and she too, wanders off. Ella finds a new place with a family far away, helping to take care of the family's children. This family is warm, bright and loving. Exactly as Ella wishes her family was. Ella finds a sense of peace and happiness, until one day a Knight and two of the Prince’s aids come to return Ella to the Castle.

The Knight worked in the Castle and each night during his rounds, he would hear Cinder crying and talking in her sleep from the hallway. One day the Knight, Tanner, approaches Cinder to ask her about the sister she speaks of during her sleep. Cinder confides in the knight that her sister has disappeared and she fears that Ella may be in danger. Tanner, being a brave and honorable Knight, seeks permission from the Castle advisors to go on a quest to find Ella. The advisors go to the Prince, who agrees for his own nefarious reasons and insists that Tanner take along two of his aids, the lecherous William and the stoic Flescher. Tanner does not trust the Prince or his aids, but must take them on the quest.

During the journey to return Ella to the Castle, Tanner begins to care for Ella, and in true fashion, then becomes a clumsy fool. Tanner soon discovers that the Prince may want to harm Ella and after an encounter with the drunken William, Tanner and Ella break from the aids and devise a plan to find out what the Prince wants without turning Ella over to him. The rest of the book covers the attempts of the good Knight and the sisters to thwart the evil plans of the Prince and the darkness that spreads throughout the Kingdom. I won’t get all spoilery, because truly, this book does not follow the fairytale path. You get the main points though, love, danger, intrigue, magic and a very stubborn horse.

As I said, it takes a while to get into the meat of this book. I kept going because I had never read a book told in the manner of a fairytale; therefore was intrigued and curious to find out where Ms. Lemon was going with the plot. Ms. Lemon kept me guessing until the end. I give the author credit, she kept to the fairytale style of writing and storytelling. She wove the different plot lines and points of view flawlessly. I am giving the book 3 stars. If you enjoy fairytales and want to see a different and darker version of Cinderella, I recommend you pick up Cinder And Ella in November.

~ Shel

[Tasos Anastasopoulos · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all one minor detail that still has quite an influence regarding this review... It's been almost a month since I read the book but some issues regarding my laptop (plus the fact that i had some sort of holidays and being lazy a bit too to start reviewing) so it's not so fresh in my mind the whole case of the book and normally i have forgotten some small things that i would normally point out if i had bothered to write this much earlier...

Cinderella, perhaps the most famous fairytale ever told or read, so many different versions of it shown on TV or cinema, animated mostly but ok more or less all of them look alike, it seems that nobody till now (apart from some versions that are probably not so widely known) dared to present a whole different case probably because of it wouldn't be accepted by those who like the authentic story. In this case the only similarity with the "original" Cinderella is that the name is mentioned there's a kingdom a prince and… that's all hehe.

In my opinion the title is just to attract readers that are fond of retelling fairy tales and it's a bit misleading. There is not even Cinderella as a person but it refers to two sisters Cinder and Ella that leave their home not being able to cope with their weird family. Their mom is like a robot working all day long while their older sister cares about her looks and doing anything else and there's also the young sister of them that cries all the time and is used to being treated by Cinder and doing nothing by herself...a mess in a way that was caused after the father had left home without anyone to know why and if he's still alive...

At the first chapters it seems that this novel is mostly written for young readers, the language is quite simple and everything is described in a quite shallow way (not analyzing the characters at all just mentioning what really takes place in every moment) looking to be like a modern fairy tale. As the book moves on to further chapters there are new things appearing that change the style of the book quite much. We see that it's getting a bit darker there are also evil forces, black magic... it gets totally different but still not so clear, things are happening without too much explanation on what's really hidden behind. Many mysteries remain unsolved even at the end of the book leaving us wondering why there were mentioned so many times throughout the book (for instance the fact that their mother was not aware that Cinder and Ella were two persons indeed and not just one... it is supposed to be explained but it's not persuasive at all). There's also a bit of violence and blood but ok nothing described in any way that would shock children or teenagers of an early age, but still there’s a bit of contrast between the two halves of the book like they have a different “readers’ target” in a way.

It would have been much better if the writer took advantage of some significant moments of the original fairytale and convert them a bit, the pumpkin, the phenomenon of everything disappearing after the clock would strike midnight, so many data that could be used smart but instead nothing but the names was really mentioned. Despite that the novel was quite short and easy to read, wasn’t tiring at all or didn’t go slow but since it’s not yet at its final form I believe that some small improvements are demanded to make it better and a bit bigger if possible. After all it’s Cinderella’s fans the ones that are willing to ask for it and read it and it wouldn’t be nice to let them down trying to find some relevance with the original story without any success.

[Julie Witt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

From Goodreads: "After their father’s disappearance, Cinder leaves home for a servant job at the castle. But it isn’t long before her sister Ella is brought to the castle herself—the most dangerous place in all the kingdom for both her and Cinder. Cinder and Ella is a Cinderella story like no other and one you'll never forget."

If you are looking for a retelling of the classic Cinderella story in this book, stop right here! You may be disappointed. If you are looking for a totally new fairy tale that just happens to have two girls with the names of Cinder and Ella, a prince, two bratty sisters, and an absent father, then please, continue reading! If you go into the reading of this story knowing the above, then I imagine you, like I, will totally enjoy Cinder and Ella!

The story begins with a happy family, with a father, a mother, and 4 sisters. But things begin to change when the Prince, with malicious intent, visits the father while on a mission to turn the people of the kingdom against his father, the King, so he can take over. The father becomes obsessed with this "mission" and one day disappears, leaving the mother to try to raise the 4 girls all by herself. When the story starts, the four girls are Katrina, the eldest daughter, Cinder, the second oldest, Ella, the third daughter, and Beatrice, the youngest by 5 years. Their mother spins yarn day and night, and withdraws almost completely from the world around her. Katrina is too selfish to take over the care of her sisters - this task falls on Cinder's shoulders, as she is the most caring of the girls. Ella can be kind, but she has absolutely no patience with her older sister or the youngest, who is a bit slow and very, very needy. When Cinder gets a job at the castle, Ella tries to take over her role as helper, but she can't do it and instead leaves the house in search of work for herself.

One of the reasons I loved this story is that each character is so well developed that you never mistake one for the other. The story is told in the third person, and goes from one POV to the next in such a smooth manner that you never get confused as to which person is speaking at any given time. The way in which each person speaks and acts makes it easy to go from one to the other without taking you out of the story. There are no jarring interruptions in the story, in other words.

This may not be your typical Cinderella story, but it still smacks of a fairy tale! The reason that Cinder and Ella end up being Cinderella is when their mother, who is so out of it that she has trouble dealing with reality, calls for "Cinder-n-Ella" to take care of their sisters, which then turns into "Cinderella". I really love how the author draws you this picture, which you will better understand when you read the book.

In summary, I really liked this book! It was a very quick read (I read it in under 24 hours) because it smoothly transitions between POVs, and it's just a really fun story! I am absolutely looking forward to hearing more about Melissa Lemon's books, and I will gladly read more of her books in the future :D

[Amy L. Campbell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note: Review copy provided via NetGalley.

Although this is billed as a retelling of Cinderella, I didn't find much that was even remotely related to one of the traditional versions. This wouldn't have been a problem for me had the story been strong enough to stand on its own, unfortunately there were numerous problems that kept me from fully enjoying the work. However, I want to discuss the positive aspects of this story first.

I thought that the legend of the trees was an interesting and actually wish Lemon would have led with that and woven the legend into the story a bit more.

The character of Ella is promising in that she is presented as someone willing to question the conditions surrounding her. As her family falls apart, she is the first (and possibly the only) one to recognize that her family was no longer functioning the way it ought to, and that the best thing for her personal health was to remove herself from that environment.

Unfortunately, none of the characterizations in the book are very strong and they seem to change their minds and motivations with almost no forewarning or development. Many of the characters were defined by their One Special Trait so repeatedly that they became mere caricatures, which they sometimes miraculously developed halfway through their portion in the book (Tanner is the obvious one here). Others got labeled as being inefficient or incompetent with very little evidence to support the label (i.e. Flesher).

The plot also suffered from a bit of inconsistency and didn't really have much of a climax, rather than building a sense of tension, we are treated to vaguely relevant side quests and then reminded that, "No the real problem is to take care of the evil prince." Sadly, we don't even find out how or why the prince is evil until the last third or so of the book, instead we have to rely on the author telling us this fact, rather than presenting us with even the hint of evidence.

The book is very heavy on Telling rather than Showing, which could easily have worked for this book if the language had more closely mirrored traditional fairytales, instead it fell short of this (particularly with the dialog between Ella and Tanner or Ella and Cinder).

Finally, I can't tell if this book was written for a middle grade audience or YA. The sentence structure suggests middle grade, but some of the topics are borderline YA. I think this would be a stronger work if it was pushed over into the realm of YA and given more of an edge. Perhaps then the author will allow the reader to see how evil the Prince is, rather than just telling us that it is so.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not your typical Cinderella story. There is a mother, a father, and four sisters. Everything was fine until one day the Prince came to their home and their father slowly started to become less like him self, until one day he just left – never to return. The house that was so full of love and happiness slowly became a place where the eldest daughter Katrina got everything she wanted from their mother, the youngest Beatrice, was a spoiled brat who still acted like a very small child, and then there was Cinder and Ella – complete opposites.

Cinder is the sister who takes care of everyone and everything without complaint. Ella is the sister that everyone ignores and has been taking care of her self since their father left. Cinder feels it is her mission to take care of the family no matter what they say to her. She even finds a great job in the castle that will help bring in more money then what her mother was getting for making yarn. That meant Ella would be stuck at home by herself with a bunch of people that don’t like her and that completely ignore her.

Ella decides to head out on her own as well and make a new life for herself, be in a place that people will love and respect her. And she does find that. The Robinson’s have taken her in and hire her to take care of the house and children. Life is going wonderful for Ella.

Life at the castle is going equally as good for Cinder, until she finds out one day that her sister Ella is no where to be found, and no one in the family knows where she has went. Her worry for her sister’s safety starts a snowball effect that she never planned on happening. She never planned for the knight Tanner to set out to find this sister, for the Prince to be so interested in Ella, and for her father to be found in the process.

Cinder and Ella is a wonderfully written young adult book. It is a great story with a remarkable twist to the traditional story of Cinderella. There is mystery, adventure, new myths and legends, good and evil, and most importantly love in a place you never would have thought.

The pace of the book kept me interested throughout and made me keep turning the pages. I had to know what happened to Cinder and Ella. There was enough action to keep me going, and enough internal dialogue to let me find out who the characters were and connect with them better.

I would highly recommend anyone to read this book, regardless of your age. I know I will be reading this version of Cinderella to my children one day.

[Carolyn Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the title: Cinder and Ella. I felt it was quite clever. That is what drew me to this book--and the hope of hunkering down in my chair with a heartwarming remake of a cherished childhood fairytale. If you join me with a similar expectation with this book, you might be disappointed. But if you want to read a book that throws story structure to the wind and concentrates more on teaching a lesson, then perhaps this book is for you.

Cinder and Ella are the only two functioning souls of a disfuctional fariytale family. The father has followed the evil prince to the castle and is absent from the home. (His reasons and involvemnt in evil are never explained leaving me feeling cheated in that arena of the story). The mother is a one-demensional character who is ALWAYS at her spinning wheel and does not give her kids any attention. Two other sisters are selfish, demanding, and unlikeable. Cinder accepts a job at the castle, leaving Ella to take care of her jacked-up family by herself.

I started out with high hopes for the MC, Ella (At least I assumed she was the main character. The point of view shifts in the story became quite distracting at times). After her sister leaves for the castle, and has dumped the responsibility of the disfunctionaly family on her shoulders, Ella decides to leave because she is not appreciated. I at first saw this as a character with some backbone, ready to set off in the world and perhaps help her family in a round about way. But Ella's challenges didn't seem to help her grow, they were just there. Her romance with a kind knight came too easily. At the end of the book, she was the same Ella as at the first of the story and her disfunctional family was still disfunctional. Even though the prince was finally banished from the kingdom, her father never changed. At the end of the story I asked myself, "What was that all about?"

And then I turned the page. At the end of the book there were questions for disscussion, I guess for use in reading groups, etc. As I read down the list of questions it was obvious that the author's intent in writing this story was to be used as an object lesson rather than entertainment. So if you like to read books with an agenda to teach a lesson, you might enjoy this book. As for me, I was looking for a storytale-like story similar to the Goose Girl by Shannon Hales. Because of my expectation, I was dissapointed.

[usagi ☆ミ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an absolutely wonderful retelling of “Cinderella”. I hadn’t thought about the particular angle Lemon spun on this story – that Cinderella had once been two people, mashed into one by their Mother’s grief. No evil stepsisters here, just a story of duty gone to an extreme and a forgotten child who will go to any length to support their family (Cinder) and to regain their lost sense of self (Ella), a story of two broken girls trying to put themselves together again in two different ways.

You rarely see the breakup of the nuclear family within fairy tales, and the tale of “Cinderella” has always broken the mold there by having the evil stepmother and stepsisters. Here there aren’t any of those, but a broken mother and spoiled younger sisters who have been fed by hand and cannot survive on their own. Have no fear, though, if you really love the original — these younger sisters (who I’m pretty sure would be the evil stepsisters in the original) are just as annoying.

I love how Cinder and Ella were broken into two different people for this retelling, because it completely makes sense. I also love how Ella eventually becomes the true heroine of the story, the fated savior of the land against the Evil Prince and who ultimately fulfills that prophecy.

And then there’s the Evil Prince – I love that the rescuer is now the villain, and that the ignored is now the victor — Lemon does this with amazing skill, taking turns I never would have seen coming in such a retelling and I laud her for it. I got lost in this story after a bit of a slow start (the beginning with the Evil Prince bewitching Dad was didn’t feel quite crystal clear as it should have been, though that could be just me), but after Dad disappears, the story takes off and keeps up a swift, awesome pace the rest of the way.

If you’re looking for a retelling where the heroine isn’t helpless and the hero isn’t the good guy after all, choose Lemon’s “Cinder and Ella”. Seriously. This is one of the better retellings of the story I’ve read, and it deserves to be reading for all middle grade and YA girls — it tells them that they don’t have to wait for their Prince to come to their aid, but to become their own Prince and to save themselves instead. Absolutely awesome!


(crossposted to witchoftheatregoing.wordpress.com, shelfari, and goodreads)

[Ellen Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Sometimes, things come to you whether you go looking for them or not – danger, disaster… love.” (p. 94)


Cinder and Ella are sisters. They live happily with their parents and two other sisters until one day a wicked prince comes to their house with a dark power. It is not long after, that their father goes away and leaves them without any notice or news. Cinder and Ella have to live and work hard for the family. Their lives are not easy after their father has gone, things change in the family. They also have to face their two annoying sisters and uncaring mother.

One day, Cinder goes out of the village to help finding things for her sister and there she gets an offer to work in the castle. When she has to leave her house for work, Ella starts to worry about her future living in the house where she is hardly being accepted by her mother and sisters. Then she plans to run away from the house and she finds a new life with other family who has loved her dearly. But it doesn’t last long because suddenly the wicked prince comes back, that he has planned something for Ella. Ella has to struggle to fight the prince so to save her father and her family.

I enjoyed most parts of the story. It is well-told and the flow is smooth. I can feel strong atmosphere of a fairy tale. The story line is different from the Cinderella story we used to know. While Cinder is described to be more naïve, gentle and loving, Ella is more independent, smart and rebellious. But both of them have a good heart that can beat the evil power.

Ella shows a lot of effort and bravery to fight the dark power. Although she is living a hard life, she never gives up. She finally finds a true love and savors her life after. It leaves me cheering for her life. As well with Cinder, good life awaits her. Beautiful things finally happen in their lives.

It’s just the ending that bothers me. Some things seem to be left unfinished, though it still ends sweetly. For example, I still wonder what happens to Cinder and Ella's mother. I don't get why doesn't she recognize Ella. It wasn't mention anywhere apart of Cinder's explanation which doesn't make sense either. But overall, I liked the story for the engrossing plot and the writing style is also really attractive. For that, I awarded 4 stars to this book.

[Inga · Rating 2 out of 5]

My review:

I was very happy when I won Cinder and Ella and when the book finally popped into my mailbox. I had previously followed Cinder and Ella’s blog tour which was organized by Cedar Fort and saw quite many good and very good reviews. My expectations to this book were quite high. When I ended the book, I was little disappointed.

Be aware, that there are some spoilers below.

Regarding the plot and characters:

The plot was very good, it was retelling of Cinderella story from very different perspective, and actually it had only few things in common with Cinderella fairytale. I enjoyed the narrative even though there were some questions I did not get the answer while reading. Idea of the Cinder and Ella was very good.

Melissa Lemon turns the Cinderella into two sisters – Cinder and Ella. After their father disappears, Cinder is taking a job as a maid in the castle. She is loved, appreciated and noticed by the evil prince. Ella leaves home too and finds a job as a babysitter and caretaker of children of a nice and sweet family. When Cinder returns home, she finds out that Ella has left and neither her sister nor mother know where Ella is.

Cinder is turning back to the castle and after one of the knights hears Cinder’s screams during her nightmares, he offer to help finding Ella.
This is how the story starts and it develops unpredictably. Both Cinder and Ella are put through several difficulties and adventures. But…

And now we come to the aspects which I had difficulties with. The story did not convince me. I was not drawn into the story even though the idea itself was very good. It was written in a way, that made characters superficial and superficial characters usually are unbelievable. I did not connect with any of the characters; I did not experience any feelings or emotions while reading. It seemed that the writing was technical and not able to convince me as a reader. The characters did not get life into them. They did not become alive and this was something that made an otherwise good idea into mechanical experience – the story was there, but no emotions. That is also the reason why I was disappointed.

Cinder and Ella gets 2 stars out of 5 from me and these two stars are for the idea of the plot. Brilliant idea with poor implementation.

2 stars

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review at http://fireandicephoto.blogspot.com/2...

I'll have to be honest, normally I am not a sucker for fairy tales or re-tellings of princess stories. However, Cinder and Ella kept me interested. In this version, Cinder and Ella are sisters in a family of six. Their father has disappeared since a mysterious visit from the Prince who plants seeds of discontent and darkness in the home,and their mother is a shadow of a woman who spends her days at the spinning wheel--isolated and mostly mute.

The sisters are left to fend for themselves, Cinder taking a motherly codependent role, Ella strong and silent. Ella's identity gets somehow merged into Cinder's and the two become simply known simply as Cinderella. Their mother forgets Ella all together and turns entirely to Cinder to care for her remaining two daughters, a vain self-centered one and a spoiled young child whiteout proper attention.

As Cinder and Ella grow weary of their daily routine, Cinder turns to the palace where she retains a job as a servant and Ella runs away. Soon Cinder is swept up into the beguiling trap of the sinister Prince and praise of the court, and eventually Ella is found,captured and brought to the castle.

Cinder must learn to discern good from evil. Ella must uncover the secret that awaits in the Prince's secret chamber. Melissa Lemon uses the legend of the trees, a twisted fairy tale and a knight in shining armor to spin a completely new take on an age old story. While some of the characters seemed a bit undeveloped and the ending was abrupt I must say I enjoyed Cinder and Ella much more than anything else I've read recently. I think it would be suited for middle grade readers ages 12 and up as the content is clean. There is one small swear word and only vague references to ungentlemanly behavior by some of the antagonists. I'll be curious to hear what moral other readers pull from this story. And, I can't help but to wonder where the Prince is lurking...will he be back?

Thanks so much to Cedar Fort and NetGalley for the early peek plus the thoughtful discussion questions at the end of the book.