Read for work.

Good fun! Mischieviously gory, and full of lush language. Illustrations are full of character and wonderful to linger over. Sort of story that's begging to be read outloud. Perfect starter book for the nascent gothic lit kid.

"Go body-bag a prince!" Deliciously dark Cinderella.

A librarian warns us that rot has set into his books - be warned! So none should be surprised that the erstwhile sentimental fairy story has now become Gothic Horror.

DEFINITELY one to avoid if you have sensitive children who really wouldn't like mention of death (including a very sad horse death), vampires, severed limbs. I know that sounds rather gruesome as a list, but it's not graphic and adult, think more Roald Dahl. Even David Walliams has killed off child characters before.

This follows the rough structure of the tale, though with marked differences. Cinderella has FAKE sisters and a FAKE stepmother, the prince is a little darker and hungrier than you might expect. The Godmother of Death raises the deceased girl from her eternal slumber to attend three balls, some unfortunately-perished pets provide the coachmen. And there's no glass slipper...

I loved it. Seeing the changes made to fit the theme, it delighted me actually. With autumnal colours, spooky and imagery-laden language, it's a delicious twist on the overdone tale.

The illustrations reminded me of Tim Burton in the characters' lankiness, but remained child-friendly. It was lovely to see Cinderella and 'family' portrayed as women of colour, without mention of it, with modern-style clothes and hair. Dahl-esque cracked feet. A dark story but illustrations that kept it suitable for a young audience.

I'm giving this to my 9-year-old son to try. I suspect it'll be much more palatable to a wider audience than CInderella stories generally are. It isn't as long as it looks, and an independent reader won't have huge issues with it.

One to read aloud on a dark winter's night.

For ages 7-11.

With thanks to Walker Books for providing a sample reading copy.

Cawpile: 8.43 4.5*

The book Zombierella didn’t only look wonderful from the outside, but the story inside was wonderful too, with all the peculiar twists and turns in the life (or death?) of Cinderella written in the most amusing and comical way. It was literally the best twisted version of Cinderella I HAD EVER READ.

This adorable book revolves around Cinderella, who lives and works all day for her FAKE sisters and mother in the most tiresome way. One night, after her FAKE family goes out to the ball to dance with the mysterious prince, Cinderella slips on the stairs and DIES!! The death angel walks in then and revives her for three nights ahead so she could live and enjoy life for a limited time and dance with the prince! Things take a mischievous turn then that makes you wonder, did this fairy tale really go bad, or did the fairy tale go riotously right?

The illustrations in this book were so beautiful, SO BEAUTIFUL, I felt all giddy like a child while reading the story and looking through its illustrations. I kept smiling as I read through some adorable pages, and understood the poor girl’s hardships in many pages too, and it made me wonder how - in a way, the kids of this generation were learning so many things that the teachers and our elders were frightened to teach us when we were young, about grief and sadness – especially after losing a loved person or a pet - in a healthy way. I know kids can’t go out and play like we used to, but they can surely read books much more fascinating than we used to.

5 out of 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️