This was a pretty good comfort read for a bad day: maybe lacking depth a little bit, but overall super sweet, hopeful, and all around a proper fairy tale retelling with all the right feels and an appropriate fairy tale-ish resolution. I enjoyed the main characters' interactions and the sweetness they shared.

What put a bit of a damper on all that sweetness was how at the end Xavier didn't bother to tell Cinder the details of his plan in advance, simply expecting Cinder to trust him. I don't know if this was intentional, but for me, it definitely showcased the difference in status between them and all it entailed, making it hard for me to believe in the blissful HEA. I guess I prefer a little bit more realism, even in my fairy tales. :) The book did try to discuss the class differences and the issues they bring into a relationship when it comes to "prince and pauper" pairings, but it was brief and only shed light on the prince's side of thing. Xavier got to think a bit if he's ready to live like a commoner (and evidently, he was not), but no one ever asked Cinder how Cinder wanted to live.

Still, this might be just me digging to deep into what's clearly meant to be a simple, sweet, comforting fairy tale. And it does work really well as such.