Before Midnight in Into the Forest

May 27, 2012 Lauren rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fairy-tales

(a similar review was originally published at http://storybound.blogspot.com/2012/0...)

The opening paragraph grabbed me and from the first few lines, I was hooked. I was easily caught up in Cendrillon's story, a girl whose mother died at her birth and whose father couldn't stand to look at her or be around her, since it brought him nothing but grief, and that of Raoul's, the mysterious boy who arrived only two weeks after Cendrillon's birth and was raised alongside her.

This took the Cinderella (a similar review was originally published at http://storybound.blogspot.com/2012/0...)

The opening paragraph grabbed me and from the first few lines, I was hooked. I was easily caught up in Cendrillon's story, a girl whose mother died at her birth and whose father couldn't stand to look at her or be around her, since it brought him nothing but grief, and that of Raoul's, the mysterious boy who arrived only two weeks after Cendrillon's birth and was raised alongside her.

This took the Cinderella story I'm used to and turned it upside down. Her father isn't dead. In fact, he's very much alive, but he just cannot bear the sight of his daughter so he neglects her and she grows up under the care of servants with her friend Raoul. When her father remarries, her stepmother and stepsisters are not at all what I was expecting. The step-mother, Chantel, is not cruel, but she is cold. Her heart has been broken and now she has been forced into a loveless marriage and then shipped off to her husband's home, far away from everything she knows with only her two daughters. As for her daughters, Anastasia is at first what you would expect, cruel and snobby. She speaks with scorn, orders Cendrillon around constantly, rebukes Raoul, and is just generally rude and obnoxious. But, there's more to Anastasis then meets the eye and I really liked that. And then there's Amelie, the other stepsister. She's kind and eager to find a place in her new home. She likes exploring and even exchanges her fancy dresses for common clothes so she can garden and enjoy the outdoors. Because Cendrillon's father has never spoken to her and has no desire to see her, her new stepmother and stepsisters do not know that she is actually his daughter and therefore part of the family. Cendrillon's not quite sure how to break that news to them and when she finally does, the results are quite startling.

The glass slipper, pumpkin carriage, godmother, the ball, dancing with the prince, her beautiful gown all make their appearance in this book. But there's also some political intrigue, a kidnapping, a charming soldier who falls for one of the stepsisters, and lessons on the power of love and heartache and anger.

I truly enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and I loved every second of it. I loved the characters and seeing the bond grow between Cendrillon and her new family. I liked finding out the mystery behind Raoul - who he is and why he's grown up in Cendrillon's home, banned from ever leaving the grounds. I appreciated the theme of the power of wishes and truly loved watching wishes come true. As always, I liked seeing my favorite fairy tale aspects come to life in new and surprising ways. And my favorite thing about this book was that there wasn't just one happily ever after. Nope. There were multiple and I really, really loved that!

Quotes: "I wonder if I might persuade you to try on this shoe, so that I can be certain it fits you and you alone. Please show me I haven't dreamed this whole thing from start to finish."

"'This is why they say love stories end happily ever after,' I whispered. For surely, if this was anything, it was the power of true love. The power to bring life and hope where none had been before."

"My story had been given the start of its happy ending at the very same time in which it had first begun: just before midnight." ...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Michele rated it liked it

Shelves: reviews, fairy-tale

This short Cinderella retelling is rife with all kinds of magic--mysterious wishes and winds, plants that burst with different fruits on different days. Cinderella, known as Cendrillion, is abandoned at birth by her father who despises her for being the instrument of her mother's death. The plot of this story also includes tension between the king and queen of the country and a unnamed boy that Cendrillion's father leaves on the estate with her. The estate life with Cendrillion, the boy (given t ...more

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Aug 18, 2019 Mindy rated it liked it

Shelves: beat-the-backlist-2019, practice-o-w-l-s-august-2019

I enjoyed this addition to the Once Upon a Time series a lot, but it had a much slower pacing than many of the other books in the series.
There were several choppy, repetitive, or out of place lines throughout, as well.
But the story was sweet and I enjoyed the characters and the little message.

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