Midnight Wings: A Science Fiction Retelling of Cinderella. by Ariele Sieling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve been reading a lot of fairytale retellings based on science fiction worlds, so I loved to see this one come across my Kindle. In the retelling of Cinderella, El (short for Eleanor) is a lowly mechanic, forever “employed” by her stepfamily. In her world, class ranks determine what you can do and who you can be in life, and El’s is the lowest of the low. Yet, she yearns and dreams of being a pilot, and she secretly trains in her stepsisters’ simulators even though there is no chance for her advancement. El is a dreamer, and she is hardworking so when an opportunity comes her way, say a tournament hosted by the queen to select new fighter pilots, El will do anything to compete. She also finds out that some people, are not who or what they seem.
Really nice story had a good pacing and the writing was good. I’ve read other books by this author, but this one is so far my favorite. El could have been a tad bit less naive, and the family punishments towards her were extremely harsh. And yet, as human beings today we can be exceedingly cruel and wicked to even those who need the most protection, so it is hardly out of this world to think that what transpired in this book would not happen. Good for YA, no sex involved.
I received an ARC from Book Sirens in exchange for my honest opinion.


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