About the Book

Born and raised in the forgotten and broken kingdom of Ashbury, Elora has spent years resenting the royals of Pumpkin Hollow, the kingdom that forced the fall of Ashbury and procured the town as its own.

Separated by a mysterious glass bridge, Ashbury is treated as the orphan kingdom, left to squander and starve with only the promise of protection from King Jasper, preventing anyone outside their realm from searching for the magic that lay within the ashy valleys and red skies.

Because twenty-five years ago, the Cinder Fae arrived. As mysterious as the magic encompassing Ashbury, the Cinder Fae bargained for their lives by promising to keep the entire realm warm with their ability to mine mountainsides into coal.

But Elora and the Cinder Fae hold a secret that could bring the end to Ashbury and the mysterious winged creatures, who, despite Elora's best efforts to pry, refuse to share where they came from or why they can't return.

In her desperation to prevent the downfall of her kingdom and the death of her beloved Fae, Elora drinks from an enchanted spring, convinced she can make the prince of Pumpkin Hollow fall in love with her and guarantee their safety.

But magic takes to give.

And Elora didn't realize her heart would be the sacrifice.

Review

I'm not entirely sure how to rate Rise of the Cinder Fae. On one hand, I finished the book without being overly disappointed. On the other, I had issues with how the story was composed. As the book progressed, it felt like the author was still figuring out the fantasy aspect. The author would introduce ideas, and those ideas didn't feel as migrated into the story or feel organic. There were several instances where something was being introduced, and I wondered what that had to do with the overarching plot. Other ideas –like the Fae—would be dropped for several chapters and turned out to be less prominent than the title promises.

At its core, this book is a dark Cinderella retelling. Not all the plot points within Cinderella were hit; however, you best believe there were pumpkins. Lots and lots of pumpkins. Oh, and the kingdom was called Pumpkin Hollow. That part felt a bit silly to me.

Final Thoughts

Rise of the Cinder felt like a bunch of pieces trying to fit together, and it mostly did not work. The book felt overly long at times. The romance was fine. At the beginning of Elora and Finnian's relationship, there were several moments that I really enjoyed from them. I think I enjoyed the earlier parts more. The later parts of them felt repetitious. In summary, I would have loved this book if it felt more focused and edited.

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