If Cinderella is your favorite Disney princess, you should definitely check out A Spark in the Cinders. But this isn't just a Cinderella retelling—it's a stepsister-centric story of love and redemption and choosing who your family is.
A Spark in the Cinders by Jenny Elder Moke tells what happened after "happily ever after" for Ellarose—or "Cinderella," as her stepsister Aralyn always called her. After Ellarose marries the prince, things aren't quite so happy for her stepsister. Deemed a failure by her mother, Aralyn spends her days sweeping and cleaning as Ellarose once did, dreaming of revenge. But then Ellarose asks Aralyn for help saving the kingdom from ruin, and Aralyn spies a chance at achieving everything she's ever wanted. With an ancient prophecy guiding her, and a lady knight and scatter-brained fairy godmother at her side, Aralyn sets off on a quest to find a powerful weapon that might save the kingdom. As they search, she begins to realize that perhaps her mother was wrong about how to survive and succeed, and maybe power isn't the only important thing in the world.
No matter what you think you know about the story of Cinderella, this one is different. In Moke's version, fairy godmothers aren't simply magic wielders who can create dresses and turn mice into footmen. Instead, the fey are intricate beings whose power is intricately tied to humans, with courts, rules, and laws of their own. And just like with humans, not all of them are good. Each new detail about the fey is intriguing and unique, elevating this book from a typical retelling into practically a whole new world of its own. There were times I would have liked a bit more explanation, but it didn't bother me enough to ruin my reading experience.
And the characters! It's hard to feel pity for Aralyn at the beginning of the story, knowing how horribly she treated Ellarose, but she quickly becomes a character you can root for. You can see her struggle to become a better person and understand the effort it takes her. Vee, the knight she travels with, challenges her in a way no one else ever had. Not only does she point out the errors in Aralyn's ways, but she also forces her to empathize and understand her own beliefs as well.
I rate A Spark in the Cinders by Jenny Elder Moke 5/5 stars. Any Cinderella fan—or fantasy fan, for that matter—will enjoy this book.
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