oliviakateamerica's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
arian_dragonelf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and War
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Body horror, Slavery, and Torture
alliebookworm's review against another edition
3.0
Much less about magic and a Cinderella story, and more about the horrors of World War I. Not quite the book I thought I was getting, and a bit too long to boot. The ending was interesting, but a good 100 pages could have been cut from the middle.
shadowcas's review against another edition
5.0
Let me start this review by saying that I have read this book dozens of times already. Mercedes Lackey is one of my favorite fantasy/sci-fi authors and Phoenix and Ashes is, by far, one of my favorites. It’s a wonderful retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale set in 1917 England. One thing that makes this one great is that it isn’t your typical damsel in distress novel. Yes, Eleanor is enslaved by her step-mother, an evil Earth Master, but Ellie is far from weak. Yes, Reggie is handsome and rich and an Air Master in his own right, but he is broken, shell-shocked, and without his powers. This isn’t a story about a powerful man coming and saving the day; it’s a story about two damaged people coming to each other’s aid equally.
Lackey did an excellent job with fleshing out her characters. The villains, while evil and powerful, still come across as real. They aren’t the all-powerful, impossible to defeat villains; they still faced setbacks enough to let the reader know that “this too shall pass.” Reggie and Eleanor become like friends to the reader. You’ll sit there in despair with Reggie as his night terrors grip him, and your laugh with Eleanor as she plays with her Salamanders. Lackey definitely brought all of these personalities to life for me.
Another great thing (and the last that I’ll mention) is that Lackey stays pretty true to the Cinderella fairy tale while not being chained down to an almost word for word retelling. The story is clearing about Cinderella, I mean the main character goes by Ellie in most of the book. But at the same time with the addition to Elemental Mastery, magic, and mythical creatures, it isn’t the same old story told over and over again.
I highly recommend the read. Despite being #4 in the Elemental Masters series, it can be a stand alone book and it is well-worth it.
5 out of 5 stars.
Lackey did an excellent job with fleshing out her characters. The villains, while evil and powerful, still come across as real. They aren’t the all-powerful, impossible to defeat villains; they still faced setbacks enough to let the reader know that “this too shall pass.” Reggie and Eleanor become like friends to the reader. You’ll sit there in despair with Reggie as his night terrors grip him, and your laugh with Eleanor as she plays with her Salamanders. Lackey definitely brought all of these personalities to life for me.
Another great thing (and the last that I’ll mention) is that Lackey stays pretty true to the Cinderella fairy tale while not being chained down to an almost word for word retelling. The story is clearing about Cinderella, I mean the main character goes by Ellie in most of the book. But at the same time with the addition to Elemental Mastery, magic, and mythical creatures, it isn’t the same old story told over and over again.
I highly recommend the read. Despite being #4 in the Elemental Masters series, it can be a stand alone book and it is well-worth it.
5 out of 5 stars.
tonyarb76's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ladimcbeth's review against another edition
4.0
Fourth in a series of fairy tales retold with elemental (earth, air, fire, water) magic mixed in. Cinderella set in England against the backdrop of World War I.
raemelle's review against another edition
3.0
Well, the hardback edition of this book that I read had a slew of typos/grammatical errors. These made some of the rambling and unclear sentences even harder to understand. My biggest problem was when a pronoun wouldn't be defined, and one paragraph would refer to two or three people of the same gender. I had to read those parts several times, and sometimes still move on while unclear who was talking about who.
And though it was a touch less prominent in this book, the back door bragging and "I don't care about rich things" bull was still present and annoying. The overly goody-two-shoes good guys versus the blatantly all-evil bad guys. Black and white. No shades of grey in these stories.
I did appreciate the twist on the original slipper story, and its bloody involvement with the stepsisters.
This story didn't keep me very attached. It was an okay read, and I'll read the next book in the Elemental series, but it was easy to find more entertaining things to do than read this book. For that reason, it took me longer than usual to finish.
And though it was a touch less prominent in this book, the back door bragging and "I don't care about rich things" bull was still present and annoying. The overly goody-two-shoes good guys versus the blatantly all-evil bad guys. Black and white. No shades of grey in these stories.
I did appreciate the twist on the original slipper story, and its bloody involvement with the stepsisters.
This story didn't keep me very attached. It was an okay read, and I'll read the next book in the Elemental series, but it was easy to find more entertaining things to do than read this book. For that reason, it took me longer than usual to finish.
rachel_abby_reads's review against another edition
3.0
A retelling of Cinderella set in England during WWI. Pretty good.
12/21/12: I just reread this book. Way too much Tarot stuff, but it was fun to combine my affection for fairy tales, fantasy, and Downton Abbey stuff into one book.
12/21/12: I just reread this book. Way too much Tarot stuff, but it was fun to combine my affection for fairy tales, fantasy, and Downton Abbey stuff into one book.
jennderqueer's review against another edition
4.0
Cinderella retelling, set during WW1. Entertaining.
eak1013's review against another edition
3.0
Lackey does much better with the World War One stuff than she does with the "ooooh mixing of cultures" stuff she maunders through in some of the other books. Some of it is quite touching, and I'm such a sucker for the fairy tale hurt/comfort of deprivation/luxury (or even basic creature comforts) that are especially well played in a Cinderella retelling.