There was no fairy godmother, no glass slipper. There was no wicked stepmother or wicked stepsister. There wasn’t even a prince, at least not in the way that you might think. And if you’re expecting everyone to live happily ever after, you may end up being disappointed. But a happy ending isn’t something that can be expected or predicted. And while it all happened long ago, the events that took place were enough to stand the test of time, even if the details have been altered.”
Once upon a time there was a good and beautiful young girl…. Wait! Did I just say “a girl”? Sorry, I meant two beautiful sisters, Cinder and Ella. They lived with their father, their mother, their eldest sister, Katrina, and the youngest, Beatrice, in Willow Top. They were a happy family until darkness crept into their lives in the form of Prince Monticello. He cast a dark and invisible spell on their family that changed their entire lives. Their father, Weston, began to mistreat his wife and his daughters and later abandoned them.
Adela, their mother, was shattered and decided to shut out most of the world. Katrina became insufferable and demanding while Cinder, the second oldest daughter, kind and loved by all, worked as the family servant. Ella, the third daughter and the one closest to her father, suffered watching her beloved sister Cinder work as a servant and take care of everyone in the house, including the increasingly spoiled Beatrice.
Ella could take care of herself and was the only one in her family to feel the evil in her house and around the kingdom.
One day Cinder heard that the king was looking for castle servants, so she went to work at the castle, leaving Ella at home to take care of the family, but things didn’t go as she expected.
“Cinder and Ella”, as you may have already guessed, is not the usual fairytale with the usual happy ending, and this is the thing I loved most about this book. This is a story that deals with real problems, a fairy tale that wants to make you stop and think, that doesn’t give solutions but questions, but mostly this is a tale of hope.
The story revolves around the “Legend of the Trees”:
“Each human on the earth has a tree to care for, and that will care for them. As long as the tree is thriving, the person will live, and as long as the person is living well, the tree will survive.”
The whole fairy tale is a metaphor and the characters, each with a different behavior, give the readers different lessons.
Cinder is a good girl, but she can’t see the good in others. She is only attracted to beautiful appearance.
Ella is brave and willing to fight the evil in the world, but she can be selfish and doesn’t understand that everybody needs their family.
Prince Monticello has a dark soul, but he is handsome and many are willing to believe his lies.
Tanner, a knight as good-looking as clumsy that can’t seem to help Ella without accidentally hurting her, is the true prince charming.
Every character changes as the story unfolds and you can see some of them grow.
“Cinder and Ella” is the perfect story of imperfection, a true tale of personal growth.
I would love to tell you more about this enchanting fairy tale, but I don’t want to spoil the book.
This is not your traditional Cinderella story, but something much more interesting and definitely refreshing.
You are warned!
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