Review: Cinderella: Ninja Warrior by Maureen McGowan

Cinderella: Ninja Warrior, Maureen McGowan

Release date: April 2011

Publisher: Silver Dolphin Books
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Adventure, Historical
Pages: 320

Series: Twisted Tales

1. Cinderella: Ninja Warrior

2. Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer (April 2011)

Author's website

In this fast-paced story full of adventure and romance, Cinderella is more than just a servant girl waiting for her prince—she's a tough, fearless girl who is capable of taking charge of a dangerous situation. Seeking to escape the clutches of her evil stepmother, Cinderella perfects her ninja skills and magic talents in secret, waiting for the day when she can break free and live happily ever after. In a special twist, readers have the opportunity to make key decisions for Cinderella and decide where she goes next—but no matter the choice; the result is a story unlike any fairy tale you've ever read! 

 I put this in a Waiting for Wednesday post months ago, and I actually got in on NetGalley but may have changed my mind about reading it because I don't usually read the 'choose your adventure' type books. But I decided that I should try it out because, well, the cover looks absolutely awesome.

I expected having to make a decision at every other page, like with all the other (read: 2) books I've read like this, but this one is better: you get to read a pretty long chapter and then when it's decision time, there's two decisions to make, and they lead to another long chapter. There's 320 pages in this book and 8 possible routes to the end. I only had the time for one, but I am planning to go ahead and see the other ways.

The book started off with Cinderella trapped in her house by her evil stepmother who is a wizard who practises dark magic. And Cinderella's stray cat Max found her a ninja training book, and now Cinderella is training to be a ninja so she can escape from the house because her stepmother has magically trapped her there. Yeah, it's pretty full on. Then a messenger comes to invite 'all the young, unmarried women' in the household to His Royal Highness, Prince Tiberus' ball-- where he will pick a bride. We come to the decision on whether Cinderella should accept the invitation. I chose to accept it.

I'm not gonna give anything away, so I won't go on about my own 'adventure', which was pretty damn awesome. McGowan has really made a fantastic novel: who would've thought to make Cinderella a magical ninja? The storyline involved Cinderella falling in love with 'Ty'  who suspiciously changes his outfit around, appearing as a beggar, messenger and a waiter throughout the story (well, my story anyways).I gotta say... have you guys watched the 1997 Cinderella movie with Whitney Houston? This one? The one where the prince disguises himself as a  simple towns person? I'm not gonna say anything more, but you get the idea!

My verdict: I liked this book. I wanna go back and try all the other possible ways for Cinderella to have an awesome HEA. McGowan has written a pretty damn awesome book, and I'm eager to read the other one-- Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer. Oh, yeah.