About ‘Fury: A Cinderella Story’ by David Allen:
Genre: Fairytale Retelling; Horror; Horror Comedy
When Cindy Tremaine showed up to the office work meeting Monday morning, no one was surprised given her legendary work ethic. Except for Cooper Washington, who killed her three nights earlier.
Cindy Tremaine is the best employee Cleaning California has, and helped turn is from an idea to a regional powerhouse. She and her best friends, the stepsisters Anna and Jay Hildebrand, are elated when they find out they are going to be merging with Royal Crown industries, a global leader in technology and architecture, founded by Gable Washington.
At a ball to celebrate the merger, she meets Cooper Washington, the unbelievably handsome and charismatic son of Gable, and heir to the company. Along with his two friends, Ronnie and Emery, he uses his prince charming persona to lead Cindy into a night out, in which she ends up drugged and dies as a result. The three men panic and hide her body and put a plan together to get away with the crime. A plan which didn’t account for Cindy arriving back at work. Cindy, along with the stepsisters, now vow vengeance as the men try to figure out a way to stop her.
Y’all know I love horror, but what you might not know is that I’m also a sucker for fairytale retellings. ‘Fury: A Cinderella Story’ is both in one. I was pleasantly surprised at the originality of the author’s plot because let’s face it: exploiting the traditional role of Cinderella as the victim of abusive siblings and mother figure is too easy.
The book features Cindy, a cheerful, optimistic businesswoman who keeps the company spirits up at all times. She is the honorary daughter of the company’s female owner and honorary sister to her two biological daughters. The relationships in this little family appear wonderful and Cindy seems genuinely positive so I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Lo and behold, it is the “prince” who is the villain.
After he drugs her to coerce her into sex, Cindy dies of overdose. I want to take a minute and point out my appreciation of the way the author handled this. Rape is a fairly common precursor to revenge stories in the horror genre. However, Cindy was never raped and the two never had sex. She was left in a bed to die, alone and severely intoxicated. Why I appreciate this is because it points out that rape or other violence needn’t be involved for a matter to be serious. Privilege and mindset can be severe enough by itself, as it leads to reckless and selfish behavior which affects others. You don’t have to go “all the way” for your actions to be despicable.
I also loved that Cindy (from beyond the grave) teams up with her stepsisters to take down the three men responsible for her demise. It’s a nice contrast of women helping women rather than women attacking each other like the original tale touts. The prince not having a redemption arc while Cindy does is another beautiful aspect of the story. The prince and his goons are largely idiotic, but their riches and privilege allow them to be most disgusting. Meanwhile, Cindy’s justified revenge has led her down a precarious path of rage.
There was a lot of depth to this story and the characters. The development was spot on. I could not put it down, was on the edge of my seat the entire time needing to know what happens next. I love absolutely everything about it. I do have a lot more to say, but I don’t like giving spoilers. Suffice it to say that it’s a great retelling, a great horror story, and even if you don’t typically like either genre, I think you should give this one a go.
You can buy the ebook on Amazon!
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(Review submitted to Amazon and Goodreads))
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~Sahreth ‘Baphy’ Bowden
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