Ash by Malinda Lo

Target Audience: Teens/Young Adults

Genre: Faeries/Fantasy/Romance

I'm a big fan of re-tellings of fairy tales, but i am also aware that they are easy to mess up, so i was a little apprehensive about reading this. I shouldn't have been though because it was done really well, and i thouroughly enjoyed it.

Ash is essentially a re-telling of Cinderella but with one major difference: Cinderella falls in love with a woman, which is not your typical fairy tale. Although i'm sure it probably outraged a few homophobic people, personally i loved it and the idea of a lesbian Cinderella style story was both intriguing and different among all the usual hetrosexual love stories. Don't get me wrong, i'm a big fan of those too, but it did make a change!

Ash in herself is a wonderful character who is put through some very hard times, and who first finds herself being attached to Faerie man, who then procedes to try and trick her into coming with him. At first, Ash is so desperate and alone she goes along with it, but then she finds herself falling in love with Kaisa, the king's huntress, who falls for her in turn, and although her strange friendship with the Fairie man enables Ash to spend time with Kiasa, it also endagers their relationship as she becomes more bound to him.

Some elements of the story stay the same, such as the wicked stepsisters and stepmother and the ball where Ash has to leave at midnight and then drops something as she leaves (although not a glass slipper!)
The ending is wonderful and i couldn't help grinning like an idiot. This really is one of the best Fairy tales in existence. Give it a go, you won't be disappointed!