Release date: October 7 2025
Publisher: Tor Books
Pages: 272
Find it: Goodreads Waterstones
Source: I received an E-ARC via Netgalley
Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Synopsis

Ella is a haunting.

Murdered at sixteen, her ghost is furiously trapped in her father’s house, invisible to everyone except her stepmother and stepsisters.

Even when she discovers how to untether herself from her prison, there are limits. She cannot be seen or heard by the living people who surround her. Her family must never learn she is able to leave. And at the stroke of every midnight, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died.

Until she forges a wary friendship with a fairy charm-seller, and makes a bargain for three nights of almost-living freedom. Freedom that means she can finally be seen. Danced with. Touched.

You think you know Ella’s the ball, the magical shoes, the handsome prince.

You’re halfway right, and all-the-way wrong.

Review

Cinder House is a new fantasy novella from Freya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light. The story follows a young woman named Ella, who is murdered by her stepmother and now haunts the house she once lived in. Unable to leave, she is trapped as a servant to her stepmother and two stepsisters. Ella’s days feel endless, until she manages to strike a bargain with a fairy – three days to be real again, to attend the ball at the palace, but when she gets there, all is not what it seems.

This is my first book from Freya Marske, and I thought it was a really interesting take on the Cinderella story. Unfortunately, this one just didn’t work for me. I enjoyed the beginning chapters of the story, but I found as the story progressed, I just couldn’t connect with Ella or her story. I wasn’t particularly sold on the romance, and overall, it felt just a little bit too quick. I think perhaps if the story had been longer and a bit more fleshed out, I would have enjoyed it more. This is definitely a unique take on the Cinderella story, and at less than 200 pages, you can absolutely read this in one sitting. While this one wasn’t for me, if you love fast-paced fairytale retellings with a twist, this one might be just what you’re looking for.