Staff Pick
This spellbinding read is perfect for fans of fractured fairy tales or Celtic mythology. A coming-of-age tale about grief and love set against the backdrop of a richly imagined fantasy world, this Cinderella retelling has chilling specters at its edges, and will keep its claws in you long after you've turned the last page. Recommended By Madeline S., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Cinderella retoldIn the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.
The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash's capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.
Entrancing, empowering, and romantic, Ash is about the connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.
Review
"Louisa and Eliza provide a window into a shameful history of mental health care and women's incarceration that only ended in living memory."—
Kirkus Reviews "The author tenderly and expertly builds a romance between Louisa and an attendant, Eliza . . . The surprisingly happy ending—in which Louisa escapes and confronts her accusers—is a welcome relief after all of her angst and despair."—Publishers Weekly
"Eagland does a beautiful job of depicting the "real" Louisa in the end, with an unusual twist on the conventional romantic denouement. Teens will identify with her."—School Library Journal
"Fans of historical fiction or GLBTQ fiction will likely enjoy this unique story of mystery and romance."—VOYA
Review
"A rich and darkly moving tale I couldn't put down. Malinda Lo is an exciting and welcome new voice in YA."--Meg Cabot, bestselling author of The Princess Diaries series
Review
"Cinderella, gorgeously reimagined, captivating and winsome. After you've fallen into the storytelling world of Malinda Lo, the truth of love will transcend the romantic ideal of fairy tales."
--Julie Anne Peters, author of Keeping You a Secret and National Book Award Finalist Luna
Review
" This lyrically retold Cinderella tale is not just a beautifully updated fable, but an ode to the transformative power of love."--Cassandra Clare, bestselling author of The Mortal Instruments series
Synopsis
A queer Cinderella retelling in this lyrical, modern classic, by award-winning author Malinda Lo--now with a fresh, updated cover, a letter from the author, a Q&A, and more
In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.
The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash's capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.
Entrancing, empowering, and romantic, Ash is about the connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.
Synopsis
The queer Cinderella retelling and lyrical modern classic by award-winning author Malinda Lo--now with an introduction by Holly Black, a letter from the author, a Q&A, and more
In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash's capacity for love--and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.Entrancing, empowering, and romantic, Ash is about the connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.
Synopsis
The haunting, romantic lesbian retelling of Cinderella and modern queer classic by award-winning author Malinda Lo -- now with an introduction by Holly Black, a letter from the author, a Q&A, and more
In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.
The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Their friendship, as delicate as a new bloom, reawakens Ash's capacity for love--and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.
Entrancing and empowering, Ash beautifully unfolds the connections between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.
Synopsis
Entrancing and romantic, "Ash" is an empowering retelling of Cinderella about the connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults and "Kirkus Reviews" Best YA Book of 2009.
Synopsis
They strip her naked, of everything. Undo her whalebone corset, hook by hook. Locked away in Wildthorn Halla madhousethey take her identity. She is now called Lucy Childs. She has no one; she has nothing. But, she is still seventeenstill Louisa Cosgrove, isn't she? Who has done this unthinkable deed? Louisa must free herself, in more ways than one, and muster up the courage to be her true self, all the while solving her own twisted mystery and falling into an unconventional love . . . This well-paced, provocative romance pushes boundariesboth literal and figurative. Do beware: it will bind you, too.
Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Louisa Cosgrove has never enjoyed the life of the pampered, protected life girls of wealth were expected to follow in nineteenth century England. It was too confining. She would have much rather been like her older brother, allowed to play marbles, go to school, become a doctor. But little does she know how far her family would go to kill her dreams and desires. Until one day she finds herself locked away in an insane asylum and everyone--the doctors and nurses--insist on calling her Lucy Childs, not Louisa Cosgrove.
Surely this is a mistake. Surely her family will rescue her from this horrible, disgusting place. But as she unravels the mystery, she discovers those are the very people she can't trust. So who can she? There's one person--Eliza. As their love grows, Louisa realizes treachery locked her away. Love is the key to freedom.
About the Author
They strip her naked, of everything. Undo her whalebone corset, hook by hook. Locked away in Wildthorn Halla madhousethey take her identity. She is now called Lucy Childs. She has no one; she has nothing. But, she is still seventeenstill Louisa Cosgrove, isn't she? Who has done this unthinkable deed? Louisa must free herself, in more ways than one, and muster up the courage to be her true self, all the while solving her own twisted mystery and falling into an unconventional love . . . This well-paced, provocative romance pushes boundariesboth literal and figurative. Do beware: it will bind you, too.
"Louisa and Eliza provide a window into a shameful history of mental health care and women's incarceration that only ended in living memory."Kirkus Reviews "The author tenderly and expertly builds a romance between Louisa and an attendant, Eliza ....The surprisingly happy endingin which Louisa escapes and confronts her accusersis a welcome relief after all of her angst and despair."Publishers Weekly
"Eagland does a beautiful job of depicting the "real" Louisa in the end, with an unusual twist on the conventional romantic denouement. Teens will identify with her."School Library Journal
"Fans of historical fiction or GLBTQ fiction will likely enjoy this unique story of mystery and romance."VOYAJane Eagland taught English in secondary schools for many years. After doing an MA in creative writing, she now divides her time between writing and tutoring.Wildthornis her first novel, inspired by true stories of women who were incarcerated in asylums in the nineteenth century. Jane was born in Essex and now lives in Lancashire, in a house with a view of the fells.