Cinder House

by

Hardcover, 144 pages

English language

Published Oct. 7, 2025 by Tordotcom Publishing.

ISBN:
978-1-250-34171-6
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
1534518639
ASIN:
125034171X
Goodreads:
222376570

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(3 reviews)

Sparks fly and lovers dance in this gorgeous, yearning Cinderella retelling from bestselling author Freya Marske—a queer Gothic romance perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and T. Kingfisher.

Ella is a haunting.

Murdered at sixteen, her ghost is furiously trapped in her father's house, invisible to everyone except her stepmother and stepsisters.

Even when she discovers how to untether herself from her prison, there are limits. She cannot be seen or heard by the living people who surround her. Her family must never learn she is able to leave. And at the stroke of every midnight, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died.

Until she forges a wary friendship with a fairy charm-seller, and makes a bargain for three nights of almost-living freedom. Freedom that means she can finally be seen. Danced with. Touched.

You think you know Ella's story: the ball, …

3 editions

reviewed Cinder House by Freya Marske

Cinder House

I am sometimes a grumpus about fairy tale retellings, because it's been done so many times in so many ways that it's hard to find anything fresh.

This book is Cinderella by way of: what if Cinderella dies in the first paragraph, becomes a ghost that is also a haunted house, and goes to the ball mostly to eat food. Honestly, delightful.

The final scenes come a little too quickly for my tastes, but there's only so much space in a novella. (Something something, I guess that's what fanfic is for.)

reviewed Cinder House by Freya Marske

None

Stars: 4.0
Start Date: 9/21/25
Ending Date:9/23/25
Genre: Gothic Romance Retelling
Form: E-Arc/ALC
Page Count: 144
Publishing Date: 10/7/25
Point of View: 3rd Pov
Setting: Cinder's House lol
Content Warning: Murder, Violence

My Blog: tanyasreading.wordpress.com/2025/09/30/cinder-house-by-freya-marske/

Thank you Edelweiss for the E-Arc and Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

CinderHouse is a gothic queer retelling of Cinderella. Cinder and her father were killed in the house where she is the only one that has been hunting the house for six years. It is an interesting twist on the classic fairytale with magic and gothic themes running through it. . For some reason it needed something else but I don't know what it is but it still kept me interested to finish. I recommend it for a quick read just in time for the fall and Halloween season.

reviewed Cinder House by Freya Marske

None

Stars: 4.0
Start Date: 9/21/25
Ending Date:9/23/25
Genre: Gothic Romance Retelling
Form: E-Arc/ALC
Page Count: 144
Publishing Date: 10/7/25
Point of View: 3rd Pov
Setting: Cinder's House lol
Content Warning: Murder, Violence

My Blog: tanyasreading.wordpress.com/2025/09/30/cinder-house-by-freya-marske/

Thank you Edelweiss for the E-Arc and Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

CinderHouse is a gothic queer retelling of Cinderella. Cinder and her father were killed in the house where she is the only one that has been hunting the house for six years. It is an interesting twist on the classic fairytale with magic and gothic themes running through it. . For some reason it needed something else but I don't know what it is but it still kept me interested to finish. I recommend it for a quick read just in time for the fall and Halloween season.

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