Gilded Ashes

3.5 stars. I would have enjoyed this more if it were full length lol

Rosamund Hodge is a master storyteller. Even her short stories make an emotional impact.
It was nice to dive back into Cruel Beauty world again.

Well, that was...kinda depressing. I'm all for dark retellings - after all, I knew that's what I was getting with this. But there's a difference between ‘dark' and ‘depressing' and this feels too much like the latter for me to say I loved it.But, really, my biggest issue is that the climax scene reminds me of another book. One that it took me forever to recall - so that was time during the ending where I was supposed to be greedily reading that, instead, I was setting down my kindle and searching through Goodreads to remember the book. I'll have to check my copy when I get home, but I'm pretty sure it was [b:The Stepsister Scheme 3598195 The Stepsister Scheme (Princess, #1) Jim C. Hines https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1305016198s/3598195.jpg 3640889] by Jim C. Hines. Almost 100% sure. So, yeah, to me this seems a little...less original than it was probably supposed to feel. I will say, whatever flaws I have with the author's writing, I do love the leading men she creates and Anax is quite possibly my favorite of the bunch.