This has been my favourite of the Ravenspire series. I am an absolute sucker for a hate to love romance and recently the only books in that trope have been weird dark erotica which is so unrelatable because as a woman I’d never be with someone who constantly degrades me. This was a much more believable version of the trope with crackling chemistry and of course C.J. Redwine’s incredible fantasy world-building. This one was a retelling of Cinderella.

Set in the Kingdom of Balavata (see below) the story follows budding alchemist Blue de la Cour and Prince Kellan who had a delightful cameo in the Traitor Prince. I felt like this instalment was a darker one given the disappearing children and the concept of the blood wraith, but it was fleshed out and all the elements of the story tied together beautifully albeit in a slightly more sinister fashion than the other novels in the Ravenspire series.

Balavata is described in a more fairytale-like fashion than the other books. With the rebellion in the first book, the prison in the third and the political focus of Sundraille in the second book, we don’t really get to see a fairytale-esque city. But with Blue traversing the markets and with her many encounters with Kellan we get a more of a fairytale city vibe filled with balls. I loved this coastal kingdom. I also really liked the alchemy aspect of the book. I haven’t read much of alchemy concepts in a fantasy novel so I enjoyed seeing it explored.

Character-wise I really liked both Kellan and Blue. They both complimented each other well and I liked their romance. Kellan returns and seems to see Blue in a new light and Blue’s opinion of him begins to change but it’s gradual so there’s enough fun banter which turns into a begrudging friendship which then turns into romance. It’s a very slow burn and it’s also forbidden because of Kellan being a prince and Blue a commoner. It was angsty, tension-filled, chemistry which was just fantastic. Basically, I’ll be reading the romance scenes whenever I’m blue (pun intended).

The story itself is quite heart wrenching and chilling. I couldn’t sleep with the lights off for a week. Dana is a chilling psychotic sort of character and while I suspected some sort of twist with her and the wraith I couldn’t actually tell what the plot twist was, so it came as a shock.

The actual Cinderella elements were subtle and I loved that they didn’t go for the classic lost item at the ball plotline. It was an ingenious retelling, the story was the same and yet different enough that I wasn’t bored.

This was a five star read for me and I can’t wait for the next Ravenspire book because C.J seems to get better with each one.