The kingdom needs an heir and Princess Charmaine is quite aware that the job rests solely upon her shoulders. When her elder sister dies, Charmaine has to take her place at the ball designed to find her a husband. With a hundred men to choose between and her wedding planned, all she has to do is pick one. But love can sometimes be found in the most unlikely of places and at the most inconvenient of times.
Cynder knows about the impending war between the people of magic and those of his masters, but working as an underpaid servant in the palace kitchens leaves him with little power to do anything about it. On one hand, he's a staunch supporter of equal rights for his own kind, but he can't deny the attraction he feels for the daughter of the king and queen he works for.
When the two meet, sparks fly and not just the magical kind...
Branded as a reverse retelling of the classic Cinderella story, I found the only obvious ties to be the names of Princess Charmaine and Cynder. The rest of the story feels heavily influenced by other very successful young adult books. In most cases, I would consider this to be a bad thing, but in Charm, all of these influences combine with the Cinderella base to create a truly refreshing and interesting tale.
The characters (for the most part) are enjoyable and I found myself wanting to know more about all of them (thank goodness it is a series!). The leading lady is strong and intelligent, but not perfect. I did find a few of the "woe is me" moments to be annoying, especially since these moments seemed to just be repeating the same things over and over again. However, that is my only complaint and it seems I now have yet another series to keep up with.
Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5
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