Review: A Wish of Ashes and Glass

The story of "Cinderella" has been told so many ways with a prince as the main love interest that I think it is the best candidate for a queer-friendly adaptation. With her latest novel, A Wish of Ashes and Glass, my favorite fantasy artist, Selina Fenech, agrees. The ARC I received of this book contained every new element I've seen in a "Cinderella" retelling with the addition of a female love interest for our tormented heroine. Political intrigue? Check. A selfless heroine with magic powers? Check. A royal conspiracy revolving around the use of magic? Check. Nicer stepsisters? Check. Despite having so many similar elements to other retellings, the story remains fresh and interesting thanks to its surprise romantic lead, a mighty warrior princess who exudes qualities that are similar to queer-coded anime heroines of the past like Princess Knight, Utena, and Oscar.


Ellasyn was born with healing powers that allow her to absorb other people's pain, sickness, and wounds, but in order to do so, she takes on their ailments herself. Despite the scars and suffering that it causes, she made a vow to her mother, from whom her powers were inherited, that she would use them whenever encountered someone in need. After losing both of her parents, El became stuck with a wicked stepfather and two timid stepsisters. Trolaine is just as determined to marry one of his daughters off to royalty as the stepmother from the original fairy tale, but he also has a violent temper, which makes him a physical threat in addition to an emotional one. El's only solace comes from the magic tree that grew over her mother's gave and provides her with incredible things, including a cool-looking clockwork horse that carries her to the three balls that the king holds to find a bride for his son.

When El arrives at the balls in her magical gowns, she has little interest in meeting the prince and tries to enjoy the ball from the sidelines in more secluded areas of the castle. On her quest to remain hidden, she continually runs into Ara, a brave captain from the royal guard. Ara is impressed with El's humility and mystery and seeks her out at each ball to learn more about her. El, in turn, is amazed by Ara's strength and questions how a woman could have gotten such a powerful position. However, she doesn't have much time to solve this puzzle when each ball she attends has some sort of catastrophe that forces her to use her healing powers. Because of these catastrophes, the prince suspects that someone is trying to assassinate the king, and Ara and El are his number one suspects.

The book contains many unexpected twists and turns as well as the same glittering magic and romance that one would expect to find in a "Cinderella" adaptation. Both gender swaps to breathe new life into this commonly retold. The dangerous and strong stepfather provides an explanation for why Cinderella's stepsisters avoid standing up for him as well as posing a bigger threat than the wicked stepmother due to his abusive temper. Ellasyn's female love interest provides a rare opportunity for a strong and powerful heroine who is not the lead character, and the lesbian romance is handled with care and sensitivity, making the story appropriate for younger teenage readers. Selina's skills as an artist shine through her descriptive narrations of Ellasyn's beautiful gowns and the enchanted clockwork horse that brought her to the balls.

A Wish of Ashes and Glass skillfully weaves together familiar elements of the "Cinderella" tale with refreshing new additions. Selina Fenech's storytelling prowess shines through her vivid descriptions and imaginative narrative, breathing new life into the beloved fairy tale. By introducing a queer-friendly romance and exploring themes of selflessness, resilience, and love, the novel captivates readers of all ages. With its strong, empowered heroines, intricate plot twists, and a touch of enchantment, A Wish of Ashes and Glass stands as a testament to the enduring power of storytelling and the limitless possibilities of reinventing timeless classics. I would recommend this both to anyone looking for a new take on "Cinderella" or seeking a clean LGBTQIA fairy tale adaptation.
I have always dreamed of being a writer and creating the next great fairy tale princess heroine. Princesses inspire us to be our best selves. While you're here, feel free to follow my page on Facebook, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and check out my books. I'm also on Instagram and Twitter.

Would you like to contribute to The Princess Blog? Become a patron, and you could pick the topic for my next post!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fans "Wish" Disney Had Used These Abandoned Concepts

Image
Happy New Year, princess fans! When a new year begins, many of us think about things we can do better than the year before. There is no company this notion applies to better than Disney, which has been failing in every direction  now more so than ever. Their latest feature, Wish , was a genuinely solid movie that sadly did not make the profits it deserved. Following its theatrical run, many fans noticed that the concepts presented in the official  Art of Wish  book  would have elevated it from a good movie to a great one. Most of these concepts revolved around love and romance , which has been strategically removed from modern Disney Princess archetypes , despite being a staple of the brand prior to the past decade. Despite some early rumors that Asha might be the daughter of King Magnifico and Queen Amaya, the film's director Chris Buck explained in an interview  why he was adamantly against making her a princess, which may have been another mistake that could have altered the m
Read more

Review: Mountain of Dragons and Sacrifice

Image
As a member of the street team for the Sacrificed Hearts series , I have been eager to read these books about unexpected romance from many of my favorite authors. The series plays on the trope of sacrificial maidens  who learn that their "captors" are not what they appear to be and grow to love them. In other words, they can be interpreted as loose retellings of "Beauty and the Beast,"  one of the most beloved love stories. The first book in the series, Mountain of Dragons and Sacrifice  by Tara Grayce , is a quintessential starting point for this series. I recently reviewed Netflix's Damsel , which had a similar premise but was marred by modern agendas and stereotypes of what it means to be a princess today . In many ways, this story is the opposite of Damsel , taking a damsel who believes her life will be threatened by a fearsome dragon before learning she doesn't need physical strength to defeat it and that what is inside her heart is already enough. I wa
Read more

Princess Fashion

Image
I've been seeing several viral posts recently about historical fashion lately. One was  a gallery of women's fashion every year from 1784 to 1970 , and another was a video re-enactment of how women got dressed in the 18th century . These got me thinking about some of my favorite princess fashions. Though princesses are not known to be  historically accurate , their fashions drew inspiration from many different places, and history is one of them. If you take a look at the way fashion has evolved over time, you can get an idea of which parts inspired the princess movies and which parts were altered. Something that surprised me in the re-enactment was how many pieces were assembled on a woman to give the appearance of a single dress. Today, most dresses are a single piece, but historically, gowns consisted of a corset bodice and a large skirt with a crinoline underneath. This was something I also noticed about Disney's  theme park princesses . Though they look like one dr
Read more

Review: The Spanish Princess/White Queen Trilogy

Image
Yesterday, the Starz network  released the series finale of The Spanish Princess , concluding  The White Queen  trilogy of miniseries that began in 2013. Based on a book series called The Cousins' War  by Phillippa Gregory , the trilogy covers the women who stood behind the men in power in the English monarchy from 1464 to the 1530s, preceding the first two sovereign queens, Mary and Elizabeth. The White Queen , The White Princess , and The Spanish Princess  grant us a rare opportunity to see what life was like for medieval monarchs. Watching them reminded me of why I prefer the fairy tale versions of royalty. Those stories do not contain the gory deaths, gruesome births, and invasive politics that historical dramatizations like these exemplify. In fact, I had very little interest in watching the second season of The Spanish Princess until I watched some historical videos and learned that the king that Catherine of Aragon was married to was none other than King Henry VIII, who was
Read more

Review: Disney Princess - The Concert

Image
Update:  I just received confirmation from Christy Altomare (Wow!) that she will be attending the fall leg of the Disney Princess concert tour and was unable to attend the first few months because she is performing in a new musical at the Paper Mill Playhouse  and that Anneliese has always been part of the concert. If you attend this concert in the fall, you will have the good fortunate of seeing her live! It's been ten months since Disney launched the Ultimate Princess Celebration  when they announced that they had acquired the Broadway Princess Party  and retooled it into Disney Princess - The Concert . After several cast changes  and  the cancellation of the entire 2021 leg of the tour, I was fortunate enough to attend one of the first successful performances at the Bass Concert Hall . Initially, I was excited to see Anastasia's Christy Altomare , but she was replaced with Disney Channel's Anneliese van der Pol , who played Chelsea Daniels in That's So Raven and Rav
Read more

Review: Unicorn Academy (Netflix)

Image
As soon as I saw the previews for Netflix's new animated series, Unicorn Academy , I couldn't get over how similar it looked to Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders . Teenagers forming magical bonds with unicorns to save the world from evil? Yes, please! With a Jewel Riders graphic novel on the horizon, this is the perfect time to revisit that premise. Unicorn Academy is loosely based on a book series of the same name  that got picked up by Netflix and recently aired its first season. The premiere movie and successive eight episodes follow six unicorns and their riders on their quest to protect the magical realm from the evil Ravenzella, who performed reprehensible acts to previous generations, including the father of the main character, Sophia. The show contains a lot of teen angst and drama as well as rainbows, sparkles, and magic. Although Unicorn Academy features an entire school full of unicorn riders training to be protectors, it only focuses on the six students liv
Read more

Review: Time Princess - The Underground City

Image
Where Infinite Shimmer , the last visual novel in Time Princess , encompasses everything romantic and girly in a seemingly misplaced cyberpunk setting, The Underground City: Stirring Shadows does quite the opposite. Although the dystopian world of The Underground City is so similar to Infinite Shimmer that it could have easily been a spinoff about a different character living a different life, Sera's circumstances are not nearly as appealing as Aurora's. This visual novel takes everything a player would expect from the genre instead of twisting it into a Barbie-like setting . While this is great for fans of dark gritty dystopian worlds, it feels out of place for such a bright girly game as Time Princess that features a fairy who gives the protagonist the power to become anyone. While not appealing to my personal tastes, this novel demonstrates the game's versatility to players who enjoy all types of stories. Underground City players are transformed into Sera, a tragic figur
Read more

One Hundred Princesses for My 100th Post

Image
Today is a major accomplishment for me. I started this blog 100 days ago, and I've managed to write a new post in it every day since then. Some of the topics were easier to come up with than others. I also had to go back and edit some after the fact due to poor proofreading. Speaking of which, I'm really sorry about the disastrous short story from my first Story Saturday post . The whole thing was written on my phone on the way to a Mermaid Art Show event in San Diego, so I was a little distracted. I promise to put more effort into future Story Saturdays, which should be easier now that I will no longer be writing new posts every day. Don't worry, though. I will still keep everyone informed of the latest princess news and review all the new princess movies and specials. Without further ado, in celebration of my 100th post, here is a list of 100 princesses with all of the posts I've made about them (in no particular order). Thank you so much for reading my blog. 1-11:
Read more

Review: Song of Trails (Singer Tales)

Image
After reading Deborah Grace White 's Sacrificed Hearts book, Island of Secrets and Sacrifice , I decided to check out Haiden's origin story in the Singer Tales  after reading most of the other books in the series. Song of Trails  is a retelling of "Hansel and Gretel" set in the world of the Singer Tales. Though "Hansel and Gretel" has never been one of my favorites, this book featured Prince Otto as a love interest, who I had previously admired as Rosa's stepbrother in Song of Moonrise . With so many familiar characters, this book should have been the perfect storm to improve upon the original fairy tale. However, it follows a "road trip" format that drags on and on to the point where nothing interesting happens until close to the end. Gisela and Haiden are troubled children whose mother regularly tried to abandon them in the woods after an elf prophesized that Haiden would use his singer powers to take down a kingdom someday. Overly protecti
Read more

Review: Time Princess - Twilight's Crown

Image
I was elated to learn that the next visual novel in Time Princess  would be a return to noblebright stories about royalty! The now massive smartphone app originally premiered with a visual novel about Queen Marie , so it was only a matter of time before it returned to its roots. Twilight's Crown is a mix of history and fantasy, with a disclaimer that any relevance it has to real-life events is purely coincidental. However, the game is packed with references to famous princesses and queens. Its main character, Eleanor, shares a similar backstory to Queen Elizabeth in regards to living in a world where  primogeniture  laws favor male heirs over female ones and a series of unlikely events that lead up to her becoming a sovereign queen after her brothers die young. Her royal gowns feature a red and green flower insignia that strongly resembles one used on the iconic necklace from Anastasia  to prove her regal lineage. There are also visual and plot-related nods to "Beauty and the
Read more