Poisoned Empire: A Cinderella retelling, but so much better
Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, I picked up an advanced reader copy of Elyse Thomson's delightful book, "Poisoned Empire." With its Cinderella retelling, magical twists, and enough political scheming to match Game of Thrones look, this book had me hooked from the very first page. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a die hard Disney fan. Give me magic, give me love. However, I've always particularly hated Cinderella. I can't get past Cinderella meeting a guy for what, 3 hours?, and then deciding she wants to go off and marry him. Absolutely not the kind of story I'd want my daughter to look up to. However, in this retelling we meet our protagonists, Selene and Iliana, who are the epitome of strong independent women, who don't need no man. In the Mage Kingdom of Lethe, only elemental magics are deemed worthy of acceptance in higher nobility, and despite this, Selene with her mastery of Poisons magic and Iliana with her metals, the w...