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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Review - Cinderella’s Inferno (Cinderella, Necromancer #2) by F.M. Boughan

"Cinderella’s Inferno starts after two years in which the main protagonist had time and many occasions to use her powers, to gain their control and decide the way in which she wants to use them. But this was a process that went in both directions. The powers changed her too. So, it’s time for our Cinderella to go on a self-discovery journey." - Mythical Books

REVIEW

Cinderella’s Inferno starts after two years in which the main protagonist had time and many occasions to use her powers, to gain their control and decide the way in which she wants to use them. But this was a process that went in both directions. The powers changed her too. So, it’s time for our Cinderella to go on a self-discovery journey. 

And this journey, as Mrs. Boughan already shown us in the first volume, it will not be an easy one and, if it is not quite clear from the title, then the motto will make it clearer: Cinderella’s Inferno is a modern, young-adult-ish version of Dantes’s one. 

The pace of the story could look a little slower at first, but I find it normal due to the fact that, even if the story is full of dangerous events, deadly twists and trials, victims and losses, the main interest is the discovery of Cinderella’s moral grounds and the set must be prepared properly. 

Ellison, our Cinderella, is changed and not only her good traits were enhanced since the last events. She’s looking for her “real” place and purpose not only in the battle between good and evil but also in William’s life. Is their relationship strong enough? Is their love real and powerful enough to reach the self-sacrifice? The reader can find all the answers (and others) in the story; a story in which the more visual layer of pure action flows together with a more profound one. So my advice is: look for meanings. They will enrich the story and give reasons and purposes to all it is happening. 

William… is William. And you could not ask him to be different. His evolution is a deserved and “normal” one. He’s the good boy but in a badass way. Other characters will come and go (serving their scopes); the presence of some of them will avert a Deus ex machina solution.

Mrs. Boughan succeeds to create a very visual Inferno, but at the same time, her descriptions leave room for the reader's imagination to round the final image of his/her own hell. 

Also, it is worth mentioning that, as in the first volume, the author prepared for her interested readers some Historical Notes that now I cannot make my mind if it is better for you to read them first or not. But I tend to recommend you to let them for the end. As the author said herself, it is not necessary for you to have read Dante’s Inferno in order to enjoy Cinderella’s, but I think it would be a good exercise (and education) for you to do it. 

In a time in which everything is made with high speed, take a breath and enjoy the story! And learn from it!

Description:

Published: May 29th, 2018

Purity cannot abide the darkness.

It’s been two years since Ellison defeated her stepsisters and sent her evil stepmother back into the Abyss.

Though she’s learning to control her dark magic and has spent time traveling with Prince William and bringing peace to the kingdom, one fact remains. She is a necromancer and he is a paladin of light. And so, the king refuses to give his blessing for them to marry.

To appease his father, William has begun to avoid her. But when even her younger brother Edward grows distant, Ellison learns her mother’s spirit has been visiting Edward in secret, threatening to overwhelm him with her own loneliness and longing. When Ellison accidentally touches her mother’s spirit, her tainted touch condemns her mother’s spirit to eternal damnation.

Ellison resolves to descend into hell to save her mother’s soul and bring her physical body back to the world of the living. William hopes this good deed will bring Ellison into favor and finally allow them to be wed.

But the journey through hell is fraught with peril. Temptations abound and the demons Ellison sent back to the Abyss are thirsty for revenge.

Evil cannot be defeated without sacrifice—but when that sacrifice means choosing between the ones Ellison loves and her very own life, how far is she willing to go to make her family whole again?
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About the author:
F.M. Boughan is a bibliophile, a writer, and an unabashed parrot enthusiast. She can often be found writing in local coffee shops, namely because it’s hard to concentrate with a cat lying on the keyboard and a small, colorful parrot screaming into her ear. Her work is somewhat dark, somewhat violent, somewhat hopeful, and always contains a hint of magic.

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2 comments:

kim hansen said...

Sounds like a good read.

Deb Hollow said...

I adore this cover.