Ella by Jessilynn Steward Peaslee
Fairytale. 240 Pages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
What if the slipper fits someone else?
Ella’s fingers hovered over the beautiful shoes in the box, afraid that if she touched them they might burst like a bubble, vanishing into a million pieces. They were clear as a teardrop, but when they caught the light, they glistened faintly with all the colors of the rainbow.
“Are they made out of fairy wings?” Ella whispered.
Since her parents’ deaths, Ella Blakely has lived as a stranger and a servant in her own home. Treated cruelly by her stepmother and stepsisters, Ella’s only hope comes when Prince Kenton announces a royal ball in just one week.
But without mice, magic, or a fairy godmother, it’s all up to Ella to overcome the odds, get herself to the ball, and take a chance on a new life that’s better than she ever dreamed.
This charming Cinderella story puts a novel twist on the classic fairy tale. With a surprise ending and plenty of romance, it’s an enchanting read you won’t want to put down.
My Review:
Okay, y’all know I love a good Cinderella story <3 I’ve had this one on my to-read shelf for a while and I finally bit the bullet and read it in a day while I was flying across the nation. I ended up staying up late that night once I landed just to finish the story!
First, I just have to say how much I love the cover. It’s beautiful! Props to the designer there!! Also the Lewis quote at the beginning <3 That wasn’t one I’ve read before, but I really liked that one. And it suits the story well.
The best word I can think of for this retelling is sweet. This is a sweet story. It’s not particularly twisty or surprising or even intriguing, suspenseful, or page-turning in the traditional sense. But it’s heartwarming. It’s not fluffy or shallow, necessarily. But it would be a really good cozy read when you just needed a pick-me-up, a reminder of what is good and right in the world.
Okay, so let me start with the setting, because for some reason that riverbank just stuck out to me. That setting was the most vibrant and it was certainly not how I expected the story to open (post-prologue). I loved the barefoot girl, the muddy bank, and the fisherman friend. I fell for Will almost instantly. His character was so much fun–and a little infuriating! Ella was good and kind and selfless, as our classic Cinderella is. I liked how Peaslee portrayed survival vs. living. Ella got by. She did what she had to, but she took it in strides. And how Will got so bent out of shape for her was cute. I loved their friendship, but pretty quickly into the story I wanted a little…more. More depth and complexity. The story is pretty simple and straightforward. The characters even are pretty straightforward. I wouldn’t call them flat per say, but I wanted to dig deeper.
In terms of plot, it started out pretty stereotypically, but there’s a reason we all love the Cinderella story. The relationship dynamics were pretty predictable, but again, it’s the kind of book that scratched that silky fairytale itch. I think my favorite tie in to the classic was the coachman and the coach and the godmother’s house. I loved that servant! And I loved how Ella got to the ball and back, that whole explanation for the midnight rule. It’s something I thought of as I was reading it and I felt good to see that it worked! It was also really neat to see how invested Will was in giving Ella a better life.
Victoria was something else, truly. Her utter denial made me shake my head. It’s insane to think someone could reach her level, but Peaslee pulled it off I think. I will say the whole hand-striking thing was a little strange to me. I didn’t really understand why Ella so willingly just held her hands out. It seemed such a simple thing to just say no or to argue or fight it. But Ella never even tried to argue, which frustrated me. It’s also sad to think that someone could get to the point that she believes she has no chance and so doesn’t even try to escape. Victoria just never really gave me a reason to believe she was a true threat to Ella, so that was kind of hard to swallow. And, I’ll say the way it wrapped up was…not my favorite. Thematically, it was beautiful. But it was too easy. And quick. I’d hoped to, again, dig a little deeper and see a little more. But the heart Ella had was still beautiful and I see why Peaslee made the choices she did. And leading up to that resolution was interesting for sure. And it was fun to see Will taunt Victoria, too XD
Ella’s friend, J, also seemed a bit odd. Again, I just felt like there was so much opportunity and potential to dig into some of these characters and delve in deeper thematically, to really show some of these growth moments, but most of the characters and themes only felt like we scratched the surface just to get to the thematic point and tell the classic tale. The stepsister kind of did her own thing. She didn’t really feel like she added a whole lot to the story, but she had to be there because, well, it’s Cinderella. But her interactions with her mother were interesting, especially toward the end. And the prince was fun! I liked him a lot when he was first introduced. He didn’t develop the way I’d hoped, which was kind of sad. But the story was still fun to follow. It’s almost like the characters grew off-screen if that makes any sense, and I wanted to go on that growth journey with them.
And, I know I’ve kind of already said this, but thematically, I think much the same as I do about the characters. It was stated pretty bluntly (and repeated in a few places). I got it easily. But it was so easy. There wasn’t much of a struggle or wrestle with the questions and situations, so it didn’t really feel like I’d earned it.
But even though the story didn’t go as deeply as I’d wanted, I did still really enjoy it. It won’t be one of my favorite Cinderella retellings ever, but it was, well, sweet.
No foul language, clean romance, very little violence (although, this is a Cinderella story–she’s emotionally abused, neglected, physically abused with the strange hand slapping thing, mentally manipulated, etc.). I’d probably say it’s safe for a preteen/early teen.
More:
The second book in the Ella duology is Ella’s Will
I actually just learned there was a second book, so I’ll have to see if I get around to that one some day! But you can check out the link to find out more on Goodreads if you’re interested.