I absolutely loved this gothic retelling order Cinderella, it was very well written and not like anything I have read before

A beautifully gothic retelling of the classic Cinderella, can't believe it's a debut novel. It's very gripping and I found it very effective. Thank you for the chance to review this book.

I loved this gothic feeling Cinderella style historical fiction. Following Ella as she is offered 7 wishes in exchange for her soul we see how she tries to use the wishes in an attempt to improve her life. Trying to avoid the unwanted advances of her employer while also protecting her friends Ella slowly begins to descend into more selfish and dangerous wishes.

I loved the way this story unfolded and the way the author built the tension and gothic atmosphere throughout the story. I rooted for Ella from page 1 and loved her character.

An excellent book I enjoyed every page.

First off disclaimer I received a review copy from Netgallery for my honest thoughts.

I love anything Cinderella related and this is a loose interpretation and dark. Fair warning in some places it can be a little triggering as I was not expecting how it unfolded.

Eleanor “Ella” is a ward of the Pembroke family and was cherished by Mrs Pembroke. Then Mrs Pembroke died and the master moved her from ward to maid. Without spoiling anything the household and Ella’s life is not a happy one. So much then when a mysterious woman from a book grants her seven wishes in exchange for her soul… Ella accepts but as with all things has not thought things through or the consequences and what this will actually cost her.

Ella herself tries to be good and kind but as the story unfolds you see her struggle with her conscience as the toll and affects of each wish becomes apparent.

I wasn’t so keen on the ending as had so many questions left over! But overall a good read as an author’s debut, but Ella was a hard character to be invested in but love the lesson be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.

Thanks very much to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. Many thanks, Dave

The Shadow In the Glass is marketed as a dark re-telling of the Cinderella fairy tale. And whilst I can certainly agree that it is dark - trigger warnings include off-page rape, child abuse, abuse of power, physical abuse, miscarriage/abortion, alcoholism and drug use m- I'm not so clear on the link with Cinderella. Faustus yes, but not really Cinderella. There's a tenuous link with a pair of shoes and that's about it.

Ella was once destined for greatness. Adopted by a wealthy couple when her parents died, she is brought up as a bonus daughter, moulded into what society expect of young women. But when her benefactor dies, Ella is left with the lecherous widower and finds her fortunes much changed. Thrown into the life of a servant, Ella spends much of her life trying to avoid Mr Pembroke's attentions, knowing all too well what happens to the girls he sets his eye on and inevitably gets pregnant.

So when a strange and forbidding woman appears out of a book one night - and of course it's Faustus - Ella finds herself offered a deal. She gets seven wishes. But once that seventh wish has been granted, she loses her soul. Talk about a deal with the devil. But Ella soon discovers that every wish comes with consequences, few turn out exactly as she would have wished and a trail of dead bodies soon litters her life. You'd have thought she's have got the message by the second wish. But nope, Ella is clearly not particularly good at using her brain cells.

Whilst I was interested in seeing how the story would pan out, I couldn't help but get frustrated at the characters - particularly Ella. There's a whole lot of 'I can't make a wish because someone might die', followed by 'I have to make the wish and someone might die', the guilt of her being responsible for these deaths is overshadowed by the fact that she just keeps on bleeding doing it! The first time she didn't realise the consequence, the second time it was made abundantly clear to her. After that there's no excuse and yet she is full of every excuse in the book.

I did enjoy how the historical context was woven together with the supernatural fantasy elements. Harwood does an excellent job at describing the stark and abject misery of a young serving girl under an abusive Master. It did help to round out the dilemma's that Ella kept finding herself in, but never quite justified the means.

I suspect my main complaint with the book comes down to the lack of subtlety. We all know that Ella is going to keep on making wishes, we all know - including her - that those wishes come with steep and tragic consequences. There's no grey area here. For Ella to continue behaving in the way she does, for her to keep using the wishes despite witnessing the cost, is frankly unforgivable. And so she's a difficult character to empathise with. If the consequences had been a little more grey scale and less absolutely horrific, maybe there'd be some wiggle room... but there isn't.

Either way, I did quite enjoy this and would be interested in reading the authors future works. But it lets itself down by making everything so starkly black and white. I also wasn't a fan of the ending, which felt like a cop out.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this title.

This is a dark Cinderella tale. Ella is left in the care of her Master as his ward and is set to work as a servant. After finding refuge in a library she is visited in the shadows and offered to be granted 7 wishes but does Ella want to pay the price?

Overall I lived the way that a typical Cinderella has been twisted as it left you guessing at each turn. I did find it very slow at the beginning and just willing her to make a wish. I felt as though there were opportunities for more a certain wish to backfire and send her on a spiral as I was willing there to be more action. Whilst this was a good book it was very slow.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book, unfortunately I wasn’t able to get to it before it was archived but will review in full when I do.

This was a suspenseful story and had me guessing about how it would turn out from the start. When I thought the story was going in one direction it turned right around and went in another and didn’t relent right up to the end. A good entertaining read.

I really wanted to love this book, I love twisted retellings of fairy tales. Unfortunately this version of Cinderella doesn’t live up to the competition.

I absolutely love a retelling so was really eager to read The Shadow In The Glass. I'm not a big historical reader/lover though so I did struggle slightly with that element. It's a gorgeous story though and anyone who enjoys gothic and historical fiction will love this.

Somehow hard to rate.. i didn't enjoy the gothic dark setting. Hence unable to get around to finishing this.. i will attempt again since the premise is interesting but the atmosphere isnt

The Shadow In The Glass is a fascinating retelling of a classic fairytale. I love these type of books as it’s always interesting to see what the author comes up with.

Firstly the historical detail in this book was very vivid and I soon found myself in Victoria London, experiencing all the sights and sounds alongside the characters. It was interesting to see how the author wove historical details into the story and very poignant to see the vast differences between the rich and poor. My heart broke for Ella and her fellow housemaids who were subjected to their master’s unwanted attention and had to suffer the consequences of unwanted pregnancies, which usually resulted in being thrown out of the house without reference. It’s incredible to think that this happened and people were allowed to behave like that.

I thought the story was well written and there always seemed to be something happening to keep my interest. Fair warning it was a bit darker then I expected but I didn’t feel it was overdone and helped add to the story and it’s morale. There were lots of twists in this clever tale that kept me guessing and I liked the overall message in the book. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’ll definitely be reading more in the future.

Huge thanks to Suzanne from Harper Collins for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Harper for my copy of this book.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me, couldn't get into the story and wasn't a fan of the writing style sadly!

A gothic retelling of Cinderella, this tale follows Eleanor, a girl who has her own riches to rags tale which leads her to become a maid for the awful Mr Pembroke.

Soon enough she accidentally summons her own ‘fairy godmother’ who will grant her wishes in return for her soul. But is everything as rosey as it first appears to be? I will let you figure that out!

I can’t say I liked Eleanor, which in turn meant I struggled to enjoy this book. She had some hard luck in her childhood and her life was pretty terrible…but I didn’t feel sorry for her at all. Her personality just didn’t gel with me!

It took me a long time to finish the book, I kept putting it down and then restarting it again. I just couldn’t get into the story to begin with. After about 40% it finally got me hooked but not enough to engross me.

It’s not a bad story, it’s Eleanor.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

A creepy an atmospheric read, full of suspense and mystery. I loved being drawn into this complex, sinister world. Masterful.

2.5 stars

Since Ella's adopted mother died, she has gone from a lady in training to working as a maid for her guardian/adopted father.
Ella finds refuge in the library, sneaking in to read books in the middle of the night.
Then, one night, Ella encounters a woman who offers her seven wishes, but there is a price to pay.
Will Ella use the wishes?
Can she have the life she dreams of?

The concept of the book intrigued me, especially the Cinderella aspect, but, unfortunately, I ended up being disappointed.
Ella was a protagonist who I felt sorry for in the beginning, but as the book went on, I found it harder to sympathise with her and began to find her a bit annoying.
My favourite characters were probably Aoife and Leah, who worked as maids with Ella.
The historical setting was interesting, and it had an impact on Ella's life as well as the other women in the book.
The plot was enjoyable to begin with, but as the book went on, I found myself liking it less. I lost interest at one point and did consider stopping reading. Nothing that happened particularly shocked me, and I didn't feel invested in Ella enough to care about what happened to her.
The writing style was easy to follow, but while the premise for this book intrigued me, it didn't live up to its potential.

Overall, this was an okay read.

Overall Rating: 4/5

The Shadow in the Glass by J.J.A Harwood is dark, gothic fantasy retelling of Cinderella – however I would say ‘Cinderella retelling’ honestly is a bit of a stretch! The similarities are there, but I think it’s better to look at it as its own thing.

The story revolves around Eleanor or ‘Ella’, a young girl who comes into the service Mr Pembroke as a maid, having previously being cared for by his recently deceased wife following the death of her parents. In her new role as a house maid Ella finds her daily life a struggle – contesting with the harassment of some of her fellow maids and avoiding the unwanted advances and threat of her employer. She feels there is no way out and just wishes for her life to get better.

One night she finds a mysterious black book in the house library, and with this, a woman appears out of nowhere to offer her a chance of a better life…Seven wishes, in exchange for her soul.

I really enjoyed this book! Like other readers I did find it a little repetitive at points and it dragged on ever so slightly, but despite this it was enjoyable, and I whizzed through it in one sitting. I love how all through the book you are questioning Eleanor’s choice and actions, not just from the decisions she is making – but is what’s happening really what you think?

I will admit the book is very bleak and there are several trigger warnings which I think is good to know about going in: abortion/miscarriage, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual assault.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

A striking cover which was eye catching. A deliciously devious tale that starts slowly but gradually gathers pace until the fateful date with destiny at midnight.. Along the way the novel explores Victorian attitudes to women and the wider hypocrisies of the age.
The author has created a genuinely creepy atmosphere in a darkly decaying house and the introduction of the fairy godmother in particular is haunting. Overall a thrilling read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Intriguing but maybe not quite for me. I thought the blurb promised a little more than the book delivered, but all the same, it is a well-written tale, and I'm sure for the right audience this will be an unreserved hit.

Unique enough to hold my attention, and I'd still recommend this to all Historical Fiction lovers. Overall a decent read but unspectacular.

3 stars