Sarah Pinborough has flipped fairytales on their head with this modern adult retelling of Cinderella. The whole book feels like a fairytale with the opening chapter entitled, Once Upon a Time, but don't be misled as this is Cinderella but not as you know her.

There are many familiar figures such as Buttons and the handsome prince but Cinderella herself is spoilt and selfish, her step-sisters aren't ugly and the fairy godmother isn't very friendly. There is a huge sprinkling of magic with the enchanted glass slippers and their effect on the prince - if Cinderella wants to live happily ever after she'll never be able to take these slippers off.

Cinderella's relationship with the prince isn't all that it seems. Cinderella was infatuated with him and kept a photo of him beside her bed, but in reality he is flat and boring. His heart doesn't belong to Cinderella and when Cinderella follows him through the castle one night she gets quite a shock at what he is hiding. I had guessed the prince's secret, having read Poison, the first book in the series, but guessing early didn't spoil my enjoyment in any way.

The only thing that spoiled it for me was the reappearance of the wicked queen at the end; you can change the fairytales around to your heart's content but I'm sorry the wicked queen does not have a heart and she'd better not be the one to live happily ever after!

Beautifully illustrated throughout, Charm is the second book in the Tales from the Kingdoms series, and is an imaginative, fun and mischievous adult fairytale. I bought the full set in hardback and I'm sure you will agree they are quite a stunning set.

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This one gets an extra star because I actually wanted to know what was going to happen. This one had an interesting storyline. BUT there was too many masterbation scenes. Again, WHYYYYY????

Also, it’s unrealistic for two people to have sex three times in a row in a the middle of a snow bank. I’m sorry, not buying it. Also, gross.

I’m also not buying the sudden twist in sexual preference and incest that came with that shitty tacked on epilogue. That came out of nowhere and I feel like it was an afterthought to try and broaden her audience reach? It wasn’t done well. It was sudden, lacked emotion and wasn’t written well at all.

Cut out all the sex and this would have been a decent enough story. Flesh out that dumb epilogue and it would have been all fine. ( )

...Wha... I don't... huh? ...What... What just happened?

Maybe this book would have made more sense if I'd read the first one ("Poison") first... But I doubt it. ( )

This is definitely not for kids. I love how the author is bringing in characters from the first book and weaving them into the next story. The only disappointment for me was the printing I had was defective and some pages in the middle were not printed. However I was able to figure out what happened and go on with the story. Very quick read. Looking forward to reading Beauty. ( )

Sarah Pinborough takes a look at Cinderella and examines the story from a different angle, she looks at the complicated lives of as many of the people involved and asks some questions about the motivations of them all.

This is the story of Cinderella, a "be careful what you wish for" kind of story, a "people have motives for being nice" story, but a story that incorporates a lot of the details of the original fairy story. There are shoes that only fit one person, balls, a fairy godmother and a layer of darkness that gives it a bit more depth than Disney ever did.

An interesting story and well worth the read. Not for children. ( )