Review: A wonderful take on Cinderella in the world of Cruel Beauty!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 2, 2014
Rosamund Hodge's Gilded Ashes was a quick little read set in the world of Cruel Beauty and is a Cinderella tale. If anything, I would say it takes place before Cruel Beauty just based on Ignifex's appearance and him tolling out deals.I enjoyed this read very much! Maia is our Cinderella and for the most part it sticks to the fairy tale. She does all the chores, has a cruel stepmother. Her stepsisters are not as cruel though. But Maia has it harder than Cinderella. Her mother's spirit remains at the house and is connected to the apple tree in back--more connections to the original tale! And she also controls demons. All in order to make sure Maia is always happy and never sad. Should someone upset her, well, they're in for a cruel punishment of some kind for her mother will sic the demons on them. So Maia must always act happy.I enjoyed how in this one, Maia gets to know Lord Anax--our prince. She doesn't just sneak off to a ball and fall madly in love with him. She delivers letters written by her sister to him and ends up talking with him more. It's definitely a case of building love! Yay for no insta! However, if she were to allow herself to love him, it would be the death of him. I wasn't really sure why, I mean I get that she said it would be her mother who would wreak the havoc on him. But I guess I lost touch with why her mother would reign unholy hell on this man for loving her daughter and making her happy. I just chalked it up to, if she loved him and he her, and then he upset her in some little way...then her mother would likely kill him.I enjoyed how this one ended as well. For awhile I was wondering about its direction, not going to give out the details on my thoughts either! But yeah, Rosamund definitely had me wondering just what was going to happen before it all ends! And I was tickled to see more threads of the original Cinderella tale making its way into the story!A perfectly delightful read! I sooo cannot wait to see what else Rosamund will have for us in the future!Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars