Thanks to PenguinTeen for the digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Is it weird to say I don't think this author is for me even though I've only read two of her books? (The other one being [book:The Queen's Assassin|45478154]. I ended up giving that one 2 stars as well.) CINDER & GLASS was very average for me. Yes, it is a Cinderella retelling in a historical France setting but almost everything about this was incredibly dull. Characters felt two-dimensional or flat, and I wanted so much more from the setting. I felt plopped into this world with nothing to hold on to and nothing to see me through.

I really wish I could say more, and you might be wondering why I'm not giving in one star. Some of things I clung onto were Cendrillon's relationship with Elodie and Marius, along with her bumbling maybe hopeful relationship with one of her step-sisters. I wanted Cendrillon's godmother to play a larger role and it sucked that she was resigned to her fate. The romance between Cendrillon and Auguste seemed rush and not really concrete. I hate it say it but it felt like a silly teenage romance which <i>yes</i>, I know it is but I didn't feel...anything toward them.

I also think this is suited toward a younger young adult audience in terms of the writing.

My thing with retellings is that i enjoy them a lot especially when they’re done in a way that is super creative and has the original tale well incorporated. And this was it. I loved the direction the author took with the retelling from the world of France, to the godmother, to the ball and the competition esque type of thing.

For me personally, I struggled with the pacing a bit. I felt like it had a very slow start and struggled to get into it initially. I also struggled to connect to the protagonist. However I think this is due to my preferred protagonists age group and Cinder is far younger than what I’m used to reading as of late. Which is fine. That’s just me personally.

Which is why I highly recommend this to younger YA fans!

I really liked this book. The only reason I didn't rate it 5 stars was because I think it was kind of hard to get in to. The good thing was that because it was a story I was familiar with, I could jump in whenever I wanted and understand what was going on. Overall, a very good read!

While this might now have been my cup of tea, younger audiences may enjoy it more. The plot and characters lean younger YA and because of that, the plot and the characters felt flat. I wouldn't mind recommending to younger teens, but not be the best read for older ages.

Cinder and Glass was a light and easy read centered around a fun retelling of Cinderella. Definitely geared towards a younger audience, but anyone can pick it up and have fun with it. Because it is a retelling, you already kinda know what to expect from the story, but even with that, the main character is very oblivious to the world around her, to the point I found her very annoying. The book does provide a few interesting plot twists for those interested in a unique spin.

As a big fan of Melissa de la Cruz, I was very disappointed with Cinder & Glass. I was unable to connect with the characters at all. This is a very young YA book and it shows because the characters felt extremely immature and childish. The pacing of the entire book also felt extremely awkward. It was fast-paced but I felt like the entire story was in fast-forward the entire time and readers were barely getting any substance from the story. I ended up skimming the last half of the book because I pretty much wanted the story to end. Unfortunately, this book was just not for me.

This is a Cinderella Retelling that's Cinderella in France at Versailles in The Selection. Her name is Cendrillon and she is invited to multiple balls and events with a selection of other available prospective brides for Prince Louis.
Cendrillon, who is called Cinder, once she's reduced to being a servant to her stepmother and stepsisters in her household after the death of her father, attends the ball where she catches the eye of Prince Louis and his brother, Auguste. She is invited to compete with the other women for marriage to Prince Louis, who she dislikes, but feels she has no other choice if she wishes to escape her stepmother. As Cinder/Cendrillon continues in the competition, she grows closer to Auguste, the prince's brother, and finds herself disliking Prince Louis more and more each day. In the end, she has to decide whether she can stand Prince Louis to escape her stepmother and if she can give up the boy she loves.
It's a light-hearted and charming tale with swoon-worthy romance. It also has fun and feel-good moments like The Selection did. It's a nice, easy, and quick read to help cleanse your mind if you've been reading heavier-duty topic stories or dark and more distressing stories. It was a nice, refreshing read for me that reminded me of The Selection and love stories, etc where the good wins over the bad. If you're a lover of retellings, fairy tales, and such then make sure to check this out if you haven't already.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group/G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for letting me read and review this lovely retelling. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a fairly predictable Cinderella retelling. I like the fairy tale aspect but I missed having a magical element to the story. Overall it was a light cute read but it seemed geared towards the younger crowd of ya. Closer to middle grade.

Cinder & Glass is an entertaining young adult retelling of Cinderella. After seeing the cover, I thought there might be a magical element, but you won't find that in this retelling. The story unfolds as expected, but the selection/bachelor style competition around the midpoint was an interesting twist. I wanted to love Cendrillon, but she was a bit dense throughout and it was frustrating when she couldn't figure things out that seemed very obvious.

I both listened to and read Cinder & Glass, and Lauren Ezzo gave a wonderful performance. I was very impressed by the variety of voices she utilized. She nailed Cendrillon perfectly and captured so much emotion in her narration. Sometimes it was difficult to differentiate between the numerous female voices (especially during the courtship scenes), but overall this was a great listening experience and a cute fairy tale retelling.

Audiobook Review
Overall 3.5 stars
Performance 4.5 stars
Story 3 stars

CW: death of parent & loved one, emotional abuse, poison/drugging, mentions of physical abuse (secondary character), classism

*I voluntarily read and listened to a review copy of this book*

A fairly unremarkable and basic Cinderella retelling, which reads very young and verges on middle grade. Unfortunately, despite the marketing of the twist in the classic Cinderella tale, this book doesn't diverge enough from the original story in any unique way to be interested or engaging. The book also felt very slow paced and the writing style, though fun in the way it slightly imitated classics, made the entire story feel bland.

First of all, thank you so much to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for sending me an ARC of this book! Cinder and Glass follows Cendrillion de Louvois in 1682 France over the course of a fairly large span of time, so we get to see many parts of her life. The book begins with her preparing to become a lady of the court, and evolves into a almost exact replica of the classic Cinderella story. After her father’s death, she is forced to endure both verbal and physical abuse from her evil stepmother and stepsisters, before being rescued and brought to the ball by her “fairy godmother,” hosted in order to find the prince a wife. My favorite aspect of this book was the setting. From walks at court in the orangeries to royal balls, this book encapsulates one of my favorite periods of history so beautifully. I also absolutely loved her relationship with her godmother as well as all of the court drama and political intrigue. With that being said, I didn’t feel that way about everything in this book. Usually, I prefer my fairy tale retellings to be a bit more “retelling,” whereas this felt like more of a “rewrite” of the same story we all know. I also didn’t think that the abuse she endured had to be as intense as it was. There were times when I felt physically ill while reading, and it didn’t feel like it contributed anything to the story. The book starts with an overall much lighter, happier tone, but once her father passes, it feels like every time something good happens, something much worse follows. I do want to point out though, that while these critiques aire things that kept me from enjoying it as much as I could have, I still really liked the book, and they are mostly opinionated critiques that could very easily be someone else's favorite parts. This book is described as Bridgerton meets the Selection, and while I only saw a few episodes of Bridgerton, I couldn’t agree more.

Quick read for me. It's a good book for young readers. The plot was just okay, I got to invested to stop reading I wanted to know how it ended.

Thank you to PenguinTeen for the earc in exchange for an honest review.

👗Pub day book review!🥿

Title : Cinder & Glass
Author : Melissa de la Cruz
Publisher : Penguin Random House
Published : March 8, 2022
Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was my first book with Penguin! Mega huge thanks to @penguinteen and @authormelissadelacruz for my copy of this book!

It's 1682 in France and the king has just announced that they are looking for a wife for Prince Louis from among 25 specially chosen ladies.
Cendrillion is one of those ladies and she is desperate to escape her step-mother and step-sisters.
Although she has no positive feelings toward Prince Louis, she knows it may be her only chance of escape for her and her two dearest friends. She also knows it means losing her chance at happiness with Auguste,the boy she has begun to fall for. But ultimately what means more to Cendrillion: love or freedom?

Read this if:
💜You love Fairytale retellings
💜You've ever been curious about court in France
💜You're waiting for your own Fairytale
💜You love a good, sweet romance
💜You've ever dreamed of being Cinderella

I was so pleased with this book! It was sweet and charming and sad all at once. I loved the strength and fiestiness of Cendrillion as she navigates so many hardships and unexpected changes. And her friendship with Elodie was so sweet and pure. The romance with Auguste was definitely a top highlight for me though. He wasn't perfect and that's what made him so perfect for Cendrillion, even though she was forced to choose between him and Prince Louis.
This was my first Melissa de la Cruz novel, but I don't think it will be my last.
Pick up a copy of it for yourself! I've already spotted it at Barnes & Noble and Amazon!


#cinderandglass #melissadelacruz #penguinteen #netgalley #ebook #cinderella #fairytaleretelling #twistsandturns #royalty #france #lostslipper #princess #bookreview #penguinteenpartner #dreamscometrue #adreamisawishyourheartmakes

I am an absolute fan of all of Melissa de la Cruz’s works. She is such a talented author, she has such a unique way of portraying retellings, (with a twist).
This Cinderella retelling is no different.. spectacular! With a bit of a twist from the Disney version we all know and love.. was would you do if Prince Charming, well.. wasn’t necessarily your prince to be?
Maybe you’re in love with his brother (the other prince😂)
This is such a cute, royally fun read, and definitely for anyone who loves retellings, Bridgerton style.

<b>Quick Stats</b>
Age Rating: 13+
Over All: 2 stars
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Setting: 2/5
Writing: 2.5/5

<i>Special thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.</i>

I love retellings, but this one disappointed me. Honestly, it just didn’t feel fleshed out enough. It was the definition of telling instead of showing. I felt no connection to the characters, no connection to the plot, nothing. Interesting things were happening, but the writing was so sparse that I was never able to truly engage with what was happening. It also had the worst case of instalove I think I’ve ever read.
We get three scenes in which they have no chemistry aside from platonic. Then a time skip of a year. They run into each other and have a quick conversation and a dance—still no chemistry. Then the next time they see each other it’s true love. The only scene that I felt any connection between them was the one in the fountains. Also the kiss was so poorly written. It was supposed to be this world shattering kiss, and yet it had no description or anything, only Cendrillon telling us that it was a world shattering kiss.

I flew through this book, but it was painfully boring and predictable, and I really just didn’t enjoy it, unfortunately.

This book is everything a well-done Cinderella retelling should be. Set in the French court at Versailles, the Hall of Mirrors and descriptions of beautiful dresses feature prominently.

When Cendrillion de Louvois arrives at court, she's nervous as years at home have left her ignorant of court customs. She quickly gets off on the wrong foot with the Dauphin (crown prince) when he finds her in the Orangerie without permission, though his illegitimate half-brother Auguste befriends her. But then her father marries Lady Catherine and suddenly dies, leaving Cendrillion without access to her inheritance. But when a ball is announced to choose ladies for the Dauphin, Louis, to court, Cendrillion sees her chance to plead her case with some of her fathers' old friends. But, at the ball, she ends up impressing the Dauphin himself, and he names her one of the ladies competing for his hand, along with Cendrillion's two step-sisters. Unfortunately, Louis is not the brother Cendrillion finds herself falling for.

This story stays mostly true to the original storyline, except for here the Dauphin courts the different ladies, taking them on outings and eliminating them a few at a time Bachelor-style.
Cendrillion is a headstrong protagonist who matches wits with royalty and her evil stepmother alike. The story sparkles with romantic tension as things heat up between Cendrillion and Auguste.

This is a fun retelling with enough differences from the original to make it interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book.

This is an interesting spin for a Cinderella retelling. I'd agree that it's one for fans of The Selection series. The layout of the story is well done, but the pacing and dialogue felt slow. It was an overall charming, light read. I would have appreciated some more depth even for YA.

I didn't like how Cendrillon was portrayed so.. inept almost? Completely clueless and nearly helpless at times. I didn't vibe with this story like I hoped I would when I heard the premise.

I love retelling’s, especially Fairytales, but they can be hit or miss for me. This one is about Cinderella, set in Versailles, and the king has requested a ball for all suitable lady’s to meet the prince. Cinder grew up in the court as her father was the kings advisor, but as you know the story goes she ends up fatherless and becoming slave to her evil stepmother and sisters. And like the story she goes to the ball against her step mothers wishes, and finds herself competing against all the other women at the ball. But it isn’t the prince she falls for, so Cinder has to decide what and who she truly wants.

This book was hot and miss for me. It was light and airy and fun, but I also felt like I was reading an alternate version of The Selection. I also find dating mass people disgusting. I get this is how it’s done, and I do love shows like The Bachelor, but it’s still skeeves me. It does have some interesting twists and history.

This ended up being a DNF for me but I do think it might fit someone else better. Can’t put my finger on why I didn’t wish to keep reading this one…

this book is absolutely amazing! a perfect medium pace that keeps you stuck reading and wonderful characters that you fall in love with. this book is the perfect mix between cinderella and the selection but set in versailles. let me tell you i am absolutely in love with dauphin louie and his brother auguste. both brothers are absolute dreams and the story is just perfect. this one is definitely a must read and a new favorite of mine.