Happy Monday, everyone!
Thanks to the author and Van Horton Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review 🙂
SLIPPER – Hester Velmans (out tomorrow!)
Now, my bookshelves are mainly filled with horror and thrillers, but I have a soft spot for retellings.
My Thoughts: 5/5 stars!
I’m a big fan of historical fiction and retellings – all thriller and horror fans have to have those books to have as palate cleansers in between books. SLIPPER by Hester Velmans is a combo of a fairytale retelling and some historical fiction. We are necessarily getting the fairytale version, but more so the inspiration for Charles Perrault and his story of Cinderella.
We follow Lucinda, a poor Englishwoman that is forced into working as a cinder-sweep for her abusive relatives. After receiving her inheritance, a pair of glass slippers, she flees to France to escape her evil family. She boards the baggage train of Louis XIV’s army, and along the way to Paris she manages to survive a horrible massacre. Upon arriving to Paris, she befriends Charles Perrault and tells him her life story.
I loved all the aspects of this book. You get the right amount of historical fiction without it being overwhelming or boring and you have enough of a unique spin on the Cinderella story to keep it fresh. All of the hidden references were fun to pick out! If you like retellings then this will definitely be one to add to the list. Don’t let the fact that it’s a dash of historical fiction deter you. Velmans does a great job bringing Lucinda to life and the pacing was perfect to keep pulling you along without any lulls in the story.
I’ll be looking out for more from Velmans in the future!
What’s your favorite fairytale retelling?
–Jess
Jessicamap Reviews 