Freya Marske really packed a punch in this novella. I know it is a Cinderella retelling but it really feels like so much more than that. You really feel the overflow of emotions Ella holds. I loved the way the ending worked out. I really treasure stories that find a way for their characters to be happy in the end in ways that don't complete disregard the rest of the story.

This was an absolutely great read. A Cinderella retelling, but very unique. Ella was murdered and is now a ghost that only her stepmother and stepsisters can see. I love how the author not only gave sentience to the house, but inanimate objects around the house. Freya Marske was also able to interweave Covid chronic illness and disability into the story, which I appreciated. Trauma and rage were also underlying tropes in this retelling. Such a great novella!

Cinder House is a beautiful and unique retelling of the Cinderella story. Marske brings a unique view to the often-retold tale with a main character who grows because she is stuck, rather than in spite of it. I was very pleasantly excited to see how well Ella is portrayed as both girl and house in this story. My only issue with this novella is that I wish it were a novel and we'd been able to spend more time with Ella, Jule and Nadya.

What a great little novella sized retelling of the familiar Cinderella story. Ella as a ghost, made of cinders? A delight. I would read more about the magical adventures of Ella, Nadya, and Jules. The slight touch of romance at the end left me wanting to know more about the three friends living together in magical ghostly polyamory. The tinge of body horror from Ella's grudge based haunting and her evil step sister's wicked tortures makes this fantasy a little bit horror, a little bit fairy tale, and a lot of fun.

At 16, Ella is murdered, but that is not the end of her miserable life. She continues as a ghost bound to her childhood home, the place of her murder, serving her stepmother and stepsisters. She cannot leave because she is the house. She feels its creaks, aches, and clutter. Yet somehow, she finds a loophole, which leads to an even bigger loophole with the aid of a befriended fairy, giving Ella the chance to attend the three balls of Prince Jule.

This Cinderella retelling has plenty of nods to the original tale without feeling repetitive. I found the idea of Cinderella’s character being a ghost, but I wish the story was more fleshed, perhaps as a full novel. I also struggled with the dynamics between Ella, Jule, and Nadya.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC!

I love a good fairytale retelling. Malinda Lo's Ash was probably the first queer bo0k I ever read! It's a reimagining of Cinderella too. Freya Marske's take is dark and twisty and full of suspense and heartache, am excellent match for the tone of the original. The writing was fresh and captivating, and this novella could have easily been a full novel. I do feel like the "LGBTQ" label is maaaaybe pushing it just a bit, but I always enjoy Marske's storytelling, even in books that don't have characters I particularly relate to.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group | Tordotcom and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and provide an honest review.

This was an accomplished and pleasing novella, and even better, one which manages to do something new and interesting with the Cinderella story in a time when we're seeing more fairy tale retellings being published than ever. The only thing I would have wished for is perhaps to see a little more done with the romance--and to see more development of the other relationships in the triad, since we do get more of Ella and the prince than either of the other two--because Freya Marske is such an amazing romance author, but I did feel it was satisfying as it was.

This was such a fun retelling! Ghostly cinderella with a twist, and so much mystery wrapped in. I love the way everything was set up for this one.

I wish this story was so much longer because I loved it so much and didn't want it to end. So beautifully haunting.

One of the most inventive Cinderella retellings I've ever come across! Marske took the bones of the original fairy tale and reconfigured it into a hauntingly beautiful novella. When Ella is killed by her stepmother, her spirit lingers to haunt the only home she's ever known. Bound by ghostly limits, Ella is unable to leave the house for years. But when she discovers a means of wandering farther, she discovers three people who change her life forever: a fairy selling wares, a young man at the ballet, and a mage from a neighboring country who helps her understand more about the bounds of her ghostly life. The connections to the original story are present from start to finish, but Marske reconfigured them into something entirely original. You've never read a Cinderella story like this before.

My heart is just BURSTING with joy and delight and love after finishing (and continually sobbing) my way through the last 30% of this book! I’ll admit that the beginning is a touch slow; though the premise is so fascinating and Ella is a gift, it’s not until the ball begins that things really pick up. And BOY DO THEY. I absolutely fell in love with Ella and Jule and just how well they connect with each other and intimately understand the other’s experience. And the twist with Nadya was DELIGHTFUL. I honestly just couldn’t stop crying throughout the end of this because I was so happy for these characters. A beautiful little story and a wonderful and refreshing retelling of the fairytale!

I really enjoyed this cinderella retelling. There were parts of me that wish it had been longer to flesh out some romantic aspects, but that may also just be because I know this author is so good at romantic details and it felt like there could have been more. Otherwise I think it was an excellent interpretation of the story and an enjoyable short read.

I was super excited to get to this one but I was a big let down. The writing was not for me and I had to DNF it. Skip for me.

This was incredible. It's a retelling of Cinderella if Cinderella had died alongside her father. Ella becomes a ghost trapped inside the house that now belongs to her stepmother. The outlines of the original fairy tale are there: Ella gets to attend a ball where she meets a handsome prince. But the HEA is so different from what I expected, even from a retelling AND even after having read the back cover copy, which indicates that you'll have no idea what's coming (you won't. I promise!).

This is a novella, meaning that I binged it in one evening. There's a lot going on, including revelations about Ella's father, the curse of fairy blessings, the revision of expectations (of the fairy tale itself but also of our own expectations about "growing up"). It may be short, but it's a rich text!

I don't want to say too much, because you deserve to be surprised as much as I do.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novella.

A well-written retelling of Cinderella, with great characters and some unexpected turns. I especially enjoyed the characters of Ella and of the princess who is also a scholar.. A great ending as well.

Admittedly, I didn't have much interest in reading another Cinderella retelling, but my love of Freya's writing- and the unique spin that she's put on the story drew me in.

I hate to say it, because this might've been a 5 star read otherwise, but the romance did absolutely nothing for me. I liked each of the characters individually- and as friends, but never really felt a connection beyond that.

Ella's grief was palpable. I think my favourite thing about this was seeing how she navigated those otherworldly restrictions and fought for some semblance of normalcy in a world that was no longer made for her.

A queer reimagining of Cinderella that puts a unique spin on the tale while keeping it unique and fresh as its own story.

Book Stats:
📖: 136 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: TorDotCom
Format: Physical Arc
Series: Standalone

Themes:
💫: Female Rage
💫: The power of a grudge
💫: Living with chronic illness and disability

Representation:
👠 : Family trauma
👠 : Queer characters
👠 : Polyamorous relationship

Tropes:
💗: Petty as a personality
💗: Sentient house

🥵: Spice: 🌶️
Potential Triggers: **check authors page/socials for full list.

Short Synopsis:
Murdered as a teenager, Ella is forced to stay bonded with the house in which she died. Exuding nothing but rage and a grudge over how she met her untimely demise, Ella is forced to take care of the house and therefore begrudgingly the family that executed her murder. When Ella meets a fairy who says she can give her a couple days of normalcy Ella jumps at the chance. But will it be everything I've ever hoped for? Or will it just highlight what she can never have again?

General Thoughts:
This unique and fresh story is supposed to be a reimagining of Cinderella. It was enough of its own story with the vibes of Cinderella to keep it fresh and unique while giving you the nostalgic feel.

The themes within this book most definitely touch on grudges and female rage. Ella is what Cinderella should've been in the original fairytale and happy with her circumstances and railing against what happened to her. Paired with the Gothic vibes and the sentient feel of the house, Cinder House gives a lush experience in the ways of description, imagery and overall feeling. I loved the way the author was able to convey real emotion from objects that are supposed to be "emotionless". It gave the story a lot of depth and feeling.

I tend to have a harder time with novella's because I always feel like something has to suffer in order to keep the story within the shorter page count. But in this novel, I felt like we got a lot of character development as well as world building. I don't feel like anything was really glossed over, making the story cohesive, and immersive.

The leading point of this novella is absolutely the fairytale storyline. Any romance within the novel is completely sub plot and doesn't come until later in the novel. The female rage is at the forefront. The parallels within the novel relating to long Covid chronic illness and disability are super well done, and do not necessarily jump out at you until you really look beneath the surface of the novel. It added so much depth to the characters and the overall storyline.

I hope the author continues to make reimagining of fairytales in this manner. I would absolutely read them all.

Disclaimer: I read this book as a physical arc from TorDotCom. All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and were not affected by the free copy.

Ella is dead, her ghost trapped in her house, and still stuck serving her stepmother and stepsisters. Can she still make it to the ball?

I'm so glad I decided to give this author another chance. I read Swordcrossed and was unimpressed, but this changed everything for me. This was such a fun, unique retelling of Cinderella and I loved it. It was quirky, slightly spooky, with darker Grimm-style vibes. I'm not normally a fan of novellas, they never feel developed enough for me, but for a fairy tale, it was perfect. I personally liked how the romance aspect of the story wrapped up, it just made sense to me.

I hope this gets turned into an entire series of fairy tale retellings, I would read all of them.

Possibly a new favorite fairy tale retelling! Cinder House reimagines Cinderella in a clever and emotionally poignant way that packs so much into a relatively small space. I loved the way this story plays with ghosts and hauntings (the difference between a house with a ghost and a haunted house... so good), the complex characters, the nature of magic and curses... honestly I just adored this and am already ready for a reread. On top of being an excellent novella in its own right, the author's note about chronic illness and disability made this hit in a whole new way. Just a fantastic book all around.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

I would have read a full novel of this is that's the way Freya Marske had gone. I loved it. I have such a hard time talking about amazing books. Books I have major problems with, I can pick apart and examine in great length, but books I love? I just want to go outside and scream for a minute.

I love Ella, I felt for her, I wanted her to be happy. The romance doesn't have spoilers necessarily, but it kind of does, so I won't say much but I loved the way the romance happened and also those characters. The plot is obviously Cinderella and it was done so achingly well. Ella is both part of the house and the house itself and Marske really explained how she felt well.

I just really loved it. I've loved everything Marske has put out and I will continued to read everything she releases. If you have any interest in this story, pick it up. I highly recommend it. Easy five stars.