Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge - book review

Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge is a novella set in the same world as Cruel Beauty. This is also a fairy tale retelling of the famous Cinderella, in a darker and really satisfying way!!

I read this novella right after finishing Cruel Beauty! 80 pages of pure delight! For more details on the Cruel Beauty universe visit my previous post here!

Before she died, Maia's mother made a bargain with the evil lord so that anyone who hurt her daughter would be punished. After her father also died, leaving Maia with her step-mother and two daughters, she is turned into a servant. However, she must always pretend that she is happy or else her mother's spirit will kill them. She has only learned to smile whatever the case and always hides her true feelings due to this curse.

Anax, the son of Duke of Sardis, is forced to choose a wife in his masquarade ball, even though he doesn't believe in love at all!
Who would he choose? What actually happened?
Read to find out!

This story may be short but it is REALLY GOOD!!! If you have read the Cruel Beauty and liked it, you'll like this as well! It has a new set of characters and a whole new story! For that reason, I would prefer it to be a full length novel but that's because I can't have enough of this world!

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I also rated this novella with 5 stars!

Some of my favorite quotes:

"I am the only girl in the world whose mother can protect her from demons."

“I'm the girl who never gets angry and never wants anything, and that's why my family is still alive.”

I never realized how tightly guilt and fear had been wound about me until this moment, when they unwind into the air and fly away, leaving me with nothing but this guileless delight.

“Love is madness,” I say. “Doesn’t everyone agree that you’d do anything, endure anything, to be with the ones you love? So either you’re willing to let them use you with any sort of cruelty, so long as they keep you—which makes you a fool—or you’re willing to commit any cruelty, so long as you get to keep them—which makes you a monster. Either way, it’s madness.”

Wishing you all a happy Monday!

I'll see you soon!

xoxo Joan!