justabluebee 's review for:

Cinder & Ella by Kelly Oram

5.0

---

Istyria book blog ~ B's world of enchanted books

So I picked this book up last night, thinking I'd just read a bit and then go to bed. But then suddenly it was 3.20 am and I finished the book with a smile on my face. That's the Kelly-effect. With Cinder & Ella, Kelly Oram once again proves why she's worthy of being on my author-autobuy list and why nearly all of her books have a spot among my all-time-favorites. Yes, this is, unsurprisingly, another home run for Kelly.

Cinder & Ella is, as you might have guessed, a Cinderella retelling and what a creative one at that! We meet Ella on a tragic day in her life. She's e-mailing with Cinder, her long-time best friend she met online and has never met in real life when she and her mother get in a horrible accident. Ella loses everything. When she wakes up from her coma in the hospital, her mother is dead and her home is already taken over by another family. She has to live in L.A. with her dad after a very long recovery. When she moves in, she can still barely walk and has to use a cane for support. She hides the terrible scars that cover most of her body and have deformed her feet. At her new school they make fun of her, especially her stepsisters. When her therapist insists she makes friends, she decides to contact Cinder again. But she has no idea Cinder's real identity is popular hottie Brian Oliver, star of the movie adaption of their favorite books.

First of all, Ella is part latina! Yay for diversity! I knew Kelly wouldn't disappoint when I signed up for this blog tour. Kelly never does. I always end up loving her books and this one was sooooo great! Just one thing, that one girl that wrote in her review that this was a light and fun read, must have read another book because this one was not light and fun! While the romance is perfect like all the rest, there is a very emotional side to this story! The stuff Ella has to go through is heartbreaking! I just wanted to hug her the whole time.

Ella is such a strong character, if I were her, I probably wouldn't survive to be honest. I hated her dad in the beginning. Sure, he redeems himself in the end, but still. He gave away her books when she was in a coma, man. If someone gives away my books, I'll kill them when I wake up. And if I don't, I'll haunt their sorry asses. I hated how mean his new wife was and her daughters. Ana was horrible! Julliette is quite nice when she wants to be though. She sets Ella up with Vivian. Vivian is also an outcast at school because she has two gay dads. I know, how medieval, right? Anyway, their friendship is so cute! It reminded me of me and my best friend! Oh and one of Brian's movies is called V is for Virgin. Very clever Kelly!

But the best one is easily Cinder. Aka Brian Oliver. He's so perfect! Yeah sure he has flaws, but I don't care. When Ella disappeared, he was heartbroken. He thought she had died! He didn't know who she really was after all. And when she mailed him again after all that time, he nearly falls of his chair. He's such a great friend to her and he loves her so much! When they finally meet, they don't know it's them at first. But then they realise and it's so sweet! But he has to call off his fake engagement to his co-star first! Kaylee is a bitch by the way. Anyway, Cinder/Brian is the best.

While this story was heartbreaking for the most part, it's also very sweet and touching! Kelly gave me yet another book hangover and I don't regret it for one second. Cinder & Ella is a modern retelling of Cinderella with a very tragic and sad twist to it. Even if you're not really fond of retellings, it's still a perfect contemporary! I love you Kelly!