Moonlight and Ashes

Moonlight and Ashes written by Sophie Masson is a captivating novel, which explores the ideas of magic, love and betrayal. This mystical story is based on a girl called Selena who struggles to desert her old life as a servant girl and transform into a princess. On the way Selena discovers her moon sister heritage and realises that her magic is not to be feared but to be embraced and celebrated by others. Ultimately Sophie Masson’s purpose in writing this book was to create “The story of Cinderella as you’ve never heard it before.”

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Moonlight and Ashes largely due to the fact that this novel was enriched by many convincing and believable characters. Masson was able to successfully develop these throughout her story and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring their personalities who were often shaped by past experiences. These believable characters convincingly held the magical and mystical plot together to make this book both intriguing and exciting. In particular I loved the way the main character Selena perfectly matured throughout the novel into the true epitome of Cinderella. I also admired her streak of extreme impulse and eagerness to escape the past and discover her role as a moon sister. At the end of the novel she was ultimately able to take charge of her own destiny and help other characters discover theirs along the way.

I was also thrilled by the story line and plot of Moonlight and Ashes. Sophie Masson was able to successfully twist the story line of the original fairy tale Cinderella to produce a novel full of revenge, desire and drama. I believe the beginning of this story effectively set the scene and revealed Selena’s past in an informative and engaging way. However the middle of this novel lacked interest and adventure. Even though Sophie Masson described the escape of Selena and her friends with great detail I felt it lacked excitement and was slow moving in pace. Nevertheless I believe the novel was saved by its ending which was riveting and was able to combine many of the twists and turns previously introduced in the storyline to create a nail biting conclusion. I admired how Sophie Masson whilst concluding the story was at the same time able to outline the outcomes for all the characters involved.

Moonlight and Ashes by Sophie Masson is an enchanting read, which I recommend for readers who not only enjoy fantasy but drama, adventure and romance.

By Emily Barker