In Kincy’s (Shadows of Asphodel) inventive fairy tale retelling, Cinderella’s midnight spell is actually an inherited curse that, instead of returning her to her life of rags, transforms her into a loathed, fearsome dragon desperate to restore her family’s honor. Ginerva Darlington, the true heiress to Umberwood Manor and the last of the Darlington name, has been known as Cinderella since her father’s death. Hoping the prince could help in reclaiming her family home from her avaricious stepmother, she attends the royal ball, but as the clock approaches midnight, she must flee into the forest or risk harming the prince in her cursed dragon form. There, she meets Sikandiar, a runaway wizard from a far-off land, who offers to help Cinderella break her curse. But he’s hiding a dark past, and his assistance may not be as magnanimously offered as she originally believed. Using Cinderella and Sikandiar’s alternating perspectives, lyrical prose, romantic dialogue, and fresh takes on familiar tropes, Kincy successfully reimagines Cinderella’s life as she grapples with her feelings for Sikandiar and unearths haunting secrets about the royal family. Ages 14–up. (self-published)