Dark fairy tale retelling at its best!

A dark fairy tale retelling that surely isn’t for everyone – but it most definitely was for me!

Oh, I’m such a sucker for dark fairy tale retellings. And when it’s one written by my favorite authors for the dark and twisted, you can bet I’ll jump at the chance to get my grabby hands on it.

And OHMYGOSH! It’s SO good. So delicious, so dark, so surprising. A Cinderella retelling different than anything you’ve read before. The story of poor, good-hearted Ella and broody, cold-hearted Prince Thorsen. Two characters that couldn’t be more different, yet so utterly perfect for one another. Seriously, I’m obsessed!

But beware, the story is not for the faint of heart. It’s violent, edgy, gruesome and questionable. It contains a hero that is hardly redeemable. And the things he makes Ella endure are evil and wicked – and not always safe, sane and consensual. Forget Prince Charming, Thorsen definitely is anything but.

And yet, between all the depravity and wickedness of it lies a raw and emotional love story of two tortured broken souls with traumatic pasts. Two souls that have to work hard, lay their wounds open for anyone to see before they are able to heal and get to have something even remotely resembling a happily ever after.

The audio book is narrated by Kelsey Navarro and James Anderson Foster, both new narrators to me. Both characters have accents, which were both too strong yet not consistent enough at the same time. It took some getting used to. That aside, I loved the intonations and emotions they provided their characters with, which added another layer to the experience that is this story.

If you’re looking for some BDSM-romance wrapped in a fairy tale, look elsewhere, because this book is not it. But if you’re looking for an all-encompassing, well-written, raw and insanely emotional – the good, the bad and the ugly, and more of the ugly – love story full of malice, love and, ultimately, redemption, then this is the book for you.

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Good have been better

Had the potential to be a listen great but the narrators accents spoilt it for me.

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As addictive as it is dark

This is probably the darkest retelling of Cinderella that I've ever read.

I think someone on the level of A Zavarelli is the only author who could make this work as well as it turned out.

This is very dark. Really quite steamy (steamier than I expected it to be TBH)

All the Cinderella basics are there; dead father, abusive step mother, bullying stepsisters, prince and a ball.

It's the minutia. The way the story is retold. That's what makes this so darn good. Retellings could be tricky to handle, but this one was knocked all the way out the park.

There's triggers a plenty in this so please be warned and careful.

This sinister retake on a classic was a real winner.
The audio on this is pure fire.

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