Review – Cinder & Glass

Item: Cinder & Glass
Rating: 3.5
Author: Emily

Posted May 8, 2025 by Emily in review / 0 Comments

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

TITLE: Cinder & Glass
AUTHOR: Melissa de la Cruz
SERIES: Cinder & Glass #1
Publisher: Penguin
PUBLICATION DATE: March 8, 2022
Source: NetGalley
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New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz pens a lush, swoon-worthy retelling of "Cinderella" set in lavish Versailles. Perfect for fans of Bridgerton and The Selection!

Cendrillon de Louvois was poised to be the most eligible maiden in all of France. But the death of her father, the king’s favorite advisor, has left Cendrillon at the will of her cruel stepmother and stepsisters.

Dubbed Lady Cinder by the court, Cendrillon is forced to become a servant to her new family. But when she attends the royal ball, she catches the eye of the handsome Prince Louis and his younger brother, Auguste.

Even though Cendrillon has an immediate aversion to Louis and a connection with Auguste, the only way to escape her stepmother is to compete with the other girls at court for the Prince’s hand.

As her stepmother’s cruelty grows, Cendrillon captures the prince’s heart . . . though her own heart belongs to Auguste. Cendrillon’s fate rests on one question: Can she bear losing the boy she loves in order to leave a life she hates?

Review

Cinder & Glass tells the story of Cendrillon, aka Cinder, aka our late 1600s French Cinderella, as she tries to win the heart of the Prince to escape her evil stepmother.

Cinder & Glass was a pretty fast read and I flew through it really quickly. It was light and fluffy, but actually quite a bit darker. After all, this book is a Cinderella retelling and so we all know Cinderella lives a pretty miserable life until her fairy godmother shows up.

Cendrillon makes a nice Cinderella. I really enjoyed reading about her and watching her character development. She did give a lot of second-hand embarrassment, though. Like, enough to involve some speed reading as my only way to get through it. But embarrassment aside, I really did feel for her and how bad her life is going and how poorly she’s treated. Her terrible situation even got me to tear up a bit. Which was impressive since everything she was going through was predictable based on how the retelling was progressing and the abundance of foreshadowing.

I do wish there was some more mystery that would leave me guessing what’s going to happen next. The story was far from boring, but I wasn’t the least bit surprised at anything that happened. Beyond changing up the setting and the characters, Cinder & Glass didn’t really deviate that much from the original fairytale, or rather the popular Disney version of Cinderella.

That said, it was quite fascinating to see how history and fairytale are woven together in this novel. It did such a good job of transporting me to 1600s France and all the glamour that goes along with it. I really did feel like a fly on the wall, watching everything happen.

As for the romance, it’s not bad, but I think it could have been better. There’s a love triangle, which was kind of annoying, even if I did eventually grow to like both the male love interests. I do wish the primary romance was a bit more developed, though. It’s not that it’s not convincing enough, but it kind of feels a little random since we learn about the basis of the relationship directly from Cendrillon rather than see it happen in real-time.