What do you think?
Rate this book
Destined #0.5
Torn
Cook, clean, study, repeat. Cinderella is exhausted.
After years of misery thanks to the plague, her city is recovering at last. But recovery has a price, and it may be more than Cinderella’s willing to pay. She thought winning a scholarship to the best school in the city would lift her family out of poverty. She never expected it to ruin her life. Now she has to make an impossible choice – support her family or protect herself?
Commoners are replaceable. Mages aren’t. That’s just the way of things.
Weslan’s not the best mage student in the city, so when his old friend convinces him to skip school, he’s happy to oblige. Too bad his friend has something far more sinister in mind. A mysterious threat is brewing in their city and it seems that some mages now think nothing of endangering commoners. As one of the city’s elite mages, Weslan shouldn’t care. So why can’t he stop thinking about that beautiful common girl with light-green eyes?
—
This 12,000-word novelette is the prequel to Fated: Cinderella’s Story. Read it before or after Fated, the first book in the Destined series, to catch a glimpse of the intersecting lives of Cinderella and Weslan two years before Cinderella’s story begins. The Destined series is a collection of overlapping fairy tale retellings, all set in the same magical world.
After years of misery thanks to the plague, her city is recovering at last. But recovery has a price, and it may be more than Cinderella’s willing to pay. She thought winning a scholarship to the best school in the city would lift her family out of poverty. She never expected it to ruin her life. Now she has to make an impossible choice – support her family or protect herself?
Commoners are replaceable. Mages aren’t. That’s just the way of things.
Weslan’s not the best mage student in the city, so when his old friend convinces him to skip school, he’s happy to oblige. Too bad his friend has something far more sinister in mind. A mysterious threat is brewing in their city and it seems that some mages now think nothing of endangering commoners. As one of the city’s elite mages, Weslan shouldn’t care. So why can’t he stop thinking about that beautiful common girl with light-green eyes?
—
This 12,000-word novelette is the prequel to Fated: Cinderella’s Story. Read it before or after Fated, the first book in the Destined series, to catch a glimpse of the intersecting lives of Cinderella and Weslan two years before Cinderella’s story begins. The Destined series is a collection of overlapping fairy tale retellings, all set in the same magical world.
70 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2017
14 people are currently reading
198 people want to read
About the author
Kaylin Lee
13 books79 followersKaylin Lee lives in the Pacific Northwest with her real-life hero husband and two sweet kiddos. After a lifetime of staying up too late reading stories, she now wakes up too early writing them. It was probably inevitable.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 11, 2018
Well, that was annoyingly tantalizing. Now I really want Fated from Weslan's pov!! That's all this short served to do, make me want more of Weslan's pov. It ended far too soon!! Sweet little glimpse into a day two years before Fated starts. Definitely shoulda been more...
January 11, 2026
This is a pretty interesting and unique twist on the well know fairy tales. It's not just a standard retell. This world is a bit different with a past magical plague, mages that seem to be enslaved (or nearly so? Yet at the same time, valued), various classes of society, a step-mother and sisters that are not hateful towards the Cinderella character, etc. I am curious where things go with Ella and Weslan. Will this Cinderella not end up with a prince like the fairy tale, but a mage?
November 2, 2022
For a prequel I thought it was a good introduction to the characters, but I did read if after I'd read some of the others, so the world was familiar to me. I'd suggest reading after "Fated". It does give some fun background but would be hard to understand on its own. It is called a "novelette" and really is quite short.
March 20, 2018
e-book short story
March 26, 2018
A nice introduction to characters, world, and series.
I wish Book 1 had included Weslan's POV. I felt more connection to him in this novella than in the book.
I wish Book 1 had included Weslan's POV. I felt more connection to him in this novella than in the book.
September 29, 2022
This is a story of two people from very different backgrounds. One is a commoner who has been granted a scholarship to an academy and wants a government job that will provide for her and her stepmother and stepsisters. The other is a spoiled boy who is a mage but doesn’t take school seriously and while skipping school sees the boy he thought was his friend perform cruel tricks with his power to humiliate girls-one in particular.
It sets the stage for Fated which I’m going to read next.
It’s a twist on Cinderella early on wherein the stepmother and stepsisters in this book aren’t mean or vengeful like the fairy tale I always loved. I recommend you get and read this book and then get Fated so you can also read “the rest of the story’ as Paul Harvey always said.
I have always liked fairy tales and I liked this short introduction to Cinderella and look forward to reading the next book entitled Fated which picks up where this story ends.
It sets the stage for Fated which I’m going to read next.
It’s a twist on Cinderella early on wherein the stepmother and stepsisters in this book aren’t mean or vengeful like the fairy tale I always loved. I recommend you get and read this book and then get Fated so you can also read “the rest of the story’ as Paul Harvey always said.
I have always liked fairy tales and I liked this short introduction to Cinderella and look forward to reading the next book entitled Fated which picks up where this story ends.
February 22, 2018
As a prequel it felt choppy. I probably would have understood it better if I had read the first book before this one. There were a lot of new names, places, and things I didn't fully understand. However it is an intriguing introduction to the series. I'm looking forward to reading the others.
June 13, 2019
Notable Content: A mage uses his magic to blow girls' skirts up. A girl's white shirt gets wet and is see-through, drawing boys' attention.
An interesting glimpse into the characters' lives before the series.
An interesting glimpse into the characters' lives before the series.
August 28, 2018
I'm not sure what I think of this so far...this was a little prequel to the series. Hopefully once I read the first book it will make a bit more sense.
August 21, 2019
A fun little prequel that gives some good insights to Weslen and Ella’s life’s before they met.
June 22, 2020
I enjoyed this story.
Content: clean
Content: clean
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews