Nicolette Lampton’s mother died at age nine, from a sickness that could have been cured by an illegal substance. Once when the kingdom, Esting, worked with the Fey people. Magic was found throughout the kingdom, but when the Queen was poisoned by the Lovebane, a magical plant that can cure Fey Croup, but if given too much can be poisonous. After his wife died the King Corsin banned all Fey and Fey magic throughout the kingdom. Thus, her mother suffered the painful death of Fey Croup, because her father would not buy the Lovebane for her. When her father announce that he was going to marry this women, who herself had two daughters, Nicolette was beyond excited. Carefully planning out their rooms, Nicolette imaged her and her new sisters, Piety and Chastity, gossiping, reading, and bonding in that room. What she got for instead was two tormentors, who would never see Nicolette as an equal. When her father died when Nicolette turned ten, …show more content…
The plot for the novel was predictable, as Cornwell stayed with the Disney Cinderella plot of the stepmother and stepsisters’ drama, the ball, and the prince. Cornwell added in the new drama of the Fey’s magic being illegal, Nicolette being an engineer, and the mysteries of the Ashes, which one assumes she explains more about in the next book. The whole plot was easy to understand, and you were able to connect the dots a lot faster that Nicolette did on who the heir was. The ending strayed from the original story, that may surprise the reader, but overall works for who Nicolette is as a character. The only part that Cornwell did not cover much of, was how easily Nicolette fell for the heir, even after only speaking to him a few times. Must have been a love at first sight kind of deal. Overall, not a bad story, and with only fourteen, long, chapters, this book can fly through your hands, almost like