The fact that Prince Julian is a three-dimensional character, was also a pleasant surprise. They are childhood friends who have been confiding in each other for years, and from that friendship springs the love that drives them both to do great things in the future.

They don't meet at a ball.or instantly fall in love. The romance between Bella and her prince is not at all what I've come to expect from fairytales, either. You may not like her, but it's hard to dislike her. From listening to her point of view in this story you find her a sympathetic character, who found herself in an impossible situation. I was amazed that Stanley managed to make me feel sorry for the evil stepmother. You got to know each character in a way you don't normally get a chance to. The constant switching of POVs may turn some people off, but in this case, I really think it really worked well. What really made this retelling stand out for me was that the characters had a depth you just don't typically find in this genre. In fact, that it wasn't until mid-way through the book that I even began to see that there were a few Cinderella ish threads woven into the plot. I had no idea what fairytale this was based on when I picked it up. The cover is ugly, and the description on the jacket is less than amazing.Īt any rate, this is a loose retelling of Cinderella.

I can't believe I put off reading it for so long! Well, actually I can. I'm going to have to say that Bella at Midnight is now my favorite fairytale retelling. With the help of her godmother and three enchanted gifts, she sets out on a journey in disguise that will lead her to a destiny far greater than any she could have imagined. Soon Bella is caught up in a terrible plot that will change her life - and the kingdom - forever. Now he wants her back, so Bella is torn from her beloved foster family and sent to live with her deranged father and his resentful new wife. Then it is revealed that she is not the peasant she believed herself to be: She is Isabel, the daughter of a knight who abandoned her in infancy. Bella is a blacksmith's daughter her friend Julian is a prince - yet neither seems to notice the great gulf that divides his world from hers. Blessed with a kind family and a loving friend, she manages to create her own small patch of sunlight in a dark and dangerous world. In the little village of Castle Down, in a kingdom plagued by war, lives a peasant girl called Bella.

Bella at midnight by diane stanley