A fantastic and imaginative retelling of the Cinderella fairytale!

In Dragon by Midnight, Cinderella (real name: Ginevra Darlington) attends THE BALL at the personal invitation of Prince Benedict Charming, but rather than seeking the handsome prince’s attention as a prospective bride; she goes seeking a boon. She needs help from the royal family in reclaiming her rightful inheritance – Umberwood Manor, her childhood home - from her horrid stepmother and stepsisters. It seems the manor house was a gift to Ginevra’s mother for a heroic service she performed for the queen, Benedict’s mother. It is a heroic service of such a delicate nature that it has remained a well-kept secret since before Cinderella’s birth.

Still, the attraction between Cinderella and the prince is there, but before she can attain the assistance she needs from him, the magic hour of midnight is upon them. However, instead of losing a glass slipper, this Cinderella suddenly and inexplicably turns into a giant, blue dragon…

From its stellar opening line, “Before she became a dragon, the night had been a dream,” Dragon by Midnight proves to be a wonderful retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale with a dark underlying storyline featuring magic, a jinni, an evil curse, and, naturally, a dragon.

Kincy’s story unfurls simultaneously in the two kingdoms of Viridia and Azurum, the home countries of her two protagonists: Ginevra “Cinderella” Darlington and the sorcerer, Sikandar Zerian. Although great distances apart, both kingdoms are ruled by royal families with hidden agendas and dark secrets who are cruel and selfish. This is quite a difference from the traditional portrayal of the king and queen who parent Prince Charming in the familiar fairytale and scarily similar to our expectations for the demeanor of stepmother and stepsisters.

The story is told from alternating points of view, in the voices of the two main characters, Cinderella and Sikandar. They feel both genuine and representative of young adults 17 or 18 years of age, even under the extraordinarily fantastic circumstances of the plot. The two display the feelings and emotions one would expect: they get mad, feel an attraction to each other, and have aspirations and hopes that work well within their situations. Both must overcome the impact of being the black sheep, the disappointment, or the unwanted member of their families.

The excitement and non-stop action of Dragon by Midnight start on the first page and never lets up, and the ending, which left things open for a sequel, was still satisfying. I highly recommend DRAGON BY MIDNIGHT for readers who enjoy Young Adult fantasy, fairytale retellings, and dragon tales. ( )

Although I am not into retelling stories, ignoring such a beautiful cover and exciting blurb was hard. I’m so happy that I picked this book up. What a lovely and unexpected tale!

The story opened up with Cinderella going to the royal ball, and at midnight, she turned into a dragon and flew away after Prince Charming tried to slay her. While she runs away, Sikander, sorcery came from far away, made an agreement with the king: Cinderella’s head in exchange for a magical precious jewel.

Now at this point, the story left me with so many questions waiting to be revealed. We follow Cinderella and Sikander on their journey to discover how to break the curse.

The story had some unexpected good twists that I never saw coming. I loved, loved, LOVED the mix of cultures and names. The author brilliantly mixed the Arabic myth of the Jinni in a bottle with Cinderella’s story.

Cinderella was so sweet. She had a great sense of humor, a good heart, and she loved food. I felt so bad when she was a dragon, and she was hungry. The thought of killing an animal and eat it terrified both of us! It was heartbreaking.

The writing style was smooth and reach. The description of places was vivid and detailed.

The slow-burn romance between Sikander and Cinderella, OMG! It was so sweet and delicate.

My only problem was the dialogue. Sometimes it was too long for me to read. For someone with ADHD, I was irritated (I get bored very fast!) I hoped to enjoy reading them because they weren’t there to make the story longer. They were there to justify how the characters became close to each other - we all hate insta-love. We love to read about how the characters became close to each other. However, I found myself not enjoying reading the dialogues. But this happened only a couple of times.

Overall, Dragon by midnight was such a charming story, and I recommend this book to everyone who likes fantasy and retelling stories. ( )

I recently joined BookSirens, a site that is dedicated to connecting readers with new books! I was absolutely stoked to find Dragon by Midnight by Karen Kincy on the site because I had recently added it to my TBR, and I could not wait for it to be released! This wonderful book is kind of a mashup of Cinderella and Aladdin, and I did not know how much I needed this book in my life until I finished reading it!

The book is about Cinderella, who turns into (you guessed it), a dragon at midnight! She had literally no clue what happened to make her turn into a dragon, and she was desperate to return to her human form. Enter Sikandar, a mysterious sorcerer from a faraway land, who conveniently promises to help her break the curse. During their quest, both characters face tremendous adversity, and are left questioning where they belong in the world.

I was so pleasantly surprised with this novel! I love fairytale retellings in general, but when there is an unexpected twist to the original story, I cannot resist! Overall, this was a fun and whimsical story that left me wanting more. (Thankfully there is going to be a sequel!) The plot moved at a nice pace, the characters were likeable, and the conclusion is just *chef’s kiss*!

Honestly, many fairytale retellings are not really original, but Dragon by Midnight was filled with novelty while also incorporating aspects of the stories we know and love. I absolutely adored how the author wrote the ending, which is drastically different from the original fairytales! All in all, the book was a wonderfully enjoyable fairytale retelling with a compelling and unique twist!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. ( )