Phoenix and Ashes
Mercedes Lackey
4/5
I once again started on the third book in a series without knowing that it was the third book. That's okay though, I think that these can easily be read as standalones. Kind of urban fantasy? I'm not entirely sure where to place this, like historical fantasy fiction? It's also a fairy tale retelling, so once again there is a lot going on here.
Eleanor was set to be one of the first females to attend Oxford, though they aren't yet handing out degrees to women. Then her father married an evil woman and World War I happened. Suddenly, her father is dead and her stepmother cuts off her finger to bind her forever to servitude. It's a harsh and hopeless life, she isn't allowed to go against any of her stepmother's commands and works till she collapses of exhaustion for years without end.
Reggie is an Air Master and flew planes against the Germans until another Air Master took him out of the sky and he was captured beneath the earth for days. I'm not really sure what the age difference is between him and Eleanor, I think he's a couple years older but he already attended Oxford for a couple years. He and Eleanor meet again after years without seeing each other and are able to speak clearer than they have with anyone else. It's all about dealing with her super powerful stepmother from there on out.
I really liked it, especially the base story line. There's just something so interesting about fairy tales told with more modern context yet with the same amount of magic. I loved it and I loved the characters. I do wish they had had more face-to-face conversations before they decided they were in love. But I think that was validated with the ending, not too fast for that period or even compared to some of the books that come out today. It's not incredibly original because it keeps so many of the elements of Cinderella, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment