Summary from Goodreads:
Once upon a time, Alliana believed in dreams and fairy tales as sweet as spun-sugar clouds. Alliana wished on shooting stars, sure that someday she and her grandmother would be able to travel to the capital city to see the queen. Then her grandmother passed away—and those dreams disappeared in a disenchanted puff.
Now Alliana’s forced to attend to the whims of her wicked stepmother—with long days of cleaning her stepfamily’s inn as her skin burns raw or staying up until the crack of dawn to embroider her stepsister’s ball gowns. Until she meets two beings who change her life forever—the first is a young nightdragon who Alliana discovers she can magically talk to. And the second is Nela, a young witch.
Nela needs Alliana’s help navigating the mysterious abyss, filled with dangerous beasts, a place Alliana knows by heart. Alliana sees Nela’s request as a chance to break free of her stepmother’s shadow and to seize a chance at a life she’s barely dared to hope for—but there’s a risk. If caught, Alliana will be stuck working for her stepmother for the rest of her life. Can Alliana truly make wisps of dreams into her own, better-than-a-fairy-tale happily ever after?
Inspired by the Japanese Cinderella story and set in the same world as the Eva Evergreen series, this story can be read as a standalone.
Review:
If you liked Julie Abe’s Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch, you’ll need to read this one too. I was lucky enough to get an ARC from my favorite book store in Chicago. I’m not a huge Cinderella fan, but I am a huge Julie Abe fan at this point. And how can anyone not fall in love with the cover of this book? Its publication date is sometime in August 2022 (so in a few weeks, I think).
What I loved about this version of Cinderella is that Alliana is no damsel. There is no prince. If you’re looking for the romance element of the tale, you’ll be disappointed. This one is more about self-worth, girl power, friendship, and choosing your own family. There is still a big ball where everything culminates, but what Alliana wants from the ball is a chance to get into a royal program that sounds kind of like an Ivy League school.
There are special magical elements to this book that really reminded me of old school Tamora Pierce. Alliana’s gift was a lot like the main character of Wild Magic. And I now have this strong itch to go back and read some old childhood favorites. I love how much time is spent talking about magical creatures. And this author also, weirdly, always makes me hungry….She spends a lot of time talking about baked goods!
The other thing Abe excels at in her books is a strong emphasis on the importance of kindness. Alliana (like Eva, and Eva’s mother before her) values helping others above almost all else. She wants to do right by her step-grandmother. She wants to help everyone. She sees value in doing the right thing. She never questions whether she should save the town she lives in or do what would value her more. In other words, Abe’s main characters are heroes. And it’s so nice to read about girl heroes.
I didn’t find the suspense or plot quite as riveting as I did in the Eva books. Maybe we all know the Cinderella plot so well, so there couldn’t exactly be a lot of surprises. I still read it rather quickly. I loved the characters and creatures. I liked the emphasis on kindness, and the overall message about standing up for your dreams and choosing your own family. I give it an 8/10.
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