Review: (4.5 stars) Amazing Cinderella Retelling!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 21, 2013
**A free copy was received from the author in exchange for an honest review**Honestly, I loved this book.It took a story that almost everyone is familiar with and made it completely its own. I have read a ton of Cinderella retellings, and Bristles is right up there with Ella Enchanted and Cinder!Like I said before, I really like how the author made this story her own. It doesn't stick to all the elements of Cinderella, but it is still recognizable as a Cinderella retelling. That can be really hard to do. One thing that may seem minor to some people, but that I really liked, is that the main character's name is Bryssa, not Ella like almost every other Cinderella tale. I mean, I know that's the original name, but it's nice to have something different every once in a while. Also, the fact that it is steampunk was awesome. I wasn't sure how a steampunk fairytale would work out, but I LOVED IT.The 'hair' element was also really interesting, and something that made this story really stand out. At first I thought, "Well, it's not so bad that she has to get her head shaved," but then I thought about how I would feel if that happened to me, and I realized how terrible it would be!The characters were all really well developed. There was not a single one that I can say wasn't a 'good' character.The one thing I didn't like was that Aydan and Bryssa seemed to fall in love really fast. I wouldn't say it was insta-love, because compared to other YA novels, it happened waaay slower, but it still was pretty quick.I absolutely ADORED this book! It's definitely one of my favorites in the 'retellings' genre so far!