As a young girl Ella had a taste of the high life.  After her mother passed away she was taken in by her mother's friend, Lady Pembrome, and raised to be a Lady herself.  After Lady Pembroke dies things take a turn for the worse though, and Mr Pembroke. Her remaining guardian, forces her into service.  Ella will do anything to return to the life she was meant to have, even trading her soul to the devil in exchange for her seven wishes.

A debut novel from J.J.A. Harwood, this is a very dark retelling of the Cinderella story.  I had expected this to be much more of an adult tale than the fairy tales we read as children, but even I was surprised by quite how dark this went at times.  It is very Gothic, and really focuses on the concept of power and how it corrupts. 

Ella is a mixed bag protagonist.  At the start of the book she was a girl you had some sympathy for, although she was wistful for her previous life, she had a good heart and did her best to help the other maids I the Pembroke house.  As Eleanor begins to see the power of the wishes, and also the price of them, we start to see another side of her.  I really liked how Harwood progresses the changes in Eleanor as she uses the wishes, almost as if this is the true cost of them.

There was a few things that didn't work as well for me.  The story felt a little jumpy at times, it didn't always flow seamlessly between sections, and I wonder if having chapter breaks in there would help with this. 

There are mentions of Ella being wild and vicious as a child, and a suggestion of some reason for why she was able to make a deal for these wishes, but this isn't ever explored properly.  It left me with unanswered questions, and seemed an odd thing to bring in but not fully explain.

I wasn't entirely sure about the ending, it left things very open ended for me, but I can only see one other way Harwood could have ended it.  I did like how she rounded out the story with some nice ties back to the Cinderella story we all know though, it was a nice touch.

This was definitely an interesting book to read, and in a lot of ways had many of the things I was looking for in a fairytale retelling.  A great debut, and I'll be interested to see where the author goes next.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings: rape, abortion, child abuse

Let me start by saying this isn't a fairytale retelling of Cinderella, it's dark & twisted with a creepy undertone.

Ella, our main character, I would struggle to consider a heroine because of her behaviour in the book, though some of her behaviour is very heroic as she tries to help her friends but also equally questionable in some if the decisions she makes. The character development & setting were great making for a really visual read with a satisfying ending

Bits of the book were a bit repetitive with Ella's repeated struggle over the use of her wishes & what will become of her. I would also have liked to know more about Ella's early life & when she first came to Gainsborough house which she couldn't remember, it kept being referenced but never came to anything.

An entertaining debut which you'll enjoy if you like your fantasy with historical setting & dark, gothic tones.

If you like your fairy tale retellings, this is one of the good ones. However, it is dark, in parts horrific, and more than a little twisted, with several trigger warnings. Eleanor 'Ella', is our Cinderella, and there are various vague references to the original to make it feel somewhat familiar. However, beyond being forced into servitude, a dainty slipper and the bells tolling midnight, the similarities end. The story was gripping in that it made me feel thoroughly creeped out and on edge and I wanted to know what happened. The depiction of London life for lesser privileged women is gritty in its realness. I found myself sympathising with Ella and decisions she feels forced to make, even if I didn't fully agree with them. The path she is made to take, how her thoughts and motivations shift ever so slightly throughout the novel, is very well done, and left me questioning if an evil act can ever be justified to benefit the greater good. Not something easily answered. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the book and will happily recommend it to others.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book

Look, I’m a simple girl with simple pleasures. If I see ‘Cinderella retelling’ and ‘Erin Morgenstern’ in the same tagline I will add a book to my wishlist no questions asked. Unfortunately for all involved, having read the book I can honestly say I feel mislead. It’s not the correct marketing tactic as far as I’m concerned: I went into the story with a certain set of expectations and absolutely none of them were met. The story is tenuously linked to Cinderella at best (girl below stairs, wishes crumble when the clock strikes twelve), and actually it is much more assuredly and explicitly a Victorian gothic, female reworking of Marlowe’s Dr Faustus. This puts both me and the book on the back foot right from the beginning, and I don’t think the author deserves to have readers begin with a sense of let-down.

Once we get past that? Well, it’s not a bad debut. Harwood does at points have a lovely lyrical turn of phrase and I admire the gumption of this book. But despite the fact that it’s essentially a literary mashup, The Shadow in the Glass never quite feels original. The characters are hazily drawn, the villainous Lizzie is just about as two-dimensional as it’s possible to get, the wishes inevitably go wrong in predictable ways. And the devil as a prim, middle-aged woman with black eyes? Can you say ‘done to death’? While I appreciate a morally grey heroine, there’s something a little grating about the self-pitying, verging-on-entitled Eleanor. This book is almost on to something, but as far as I’m concerned it never quite gets there.

Any retelling of a fairy tale is enough to get me to pick a book up. This was dark, grimy, seductive and beautiful all at the same time.

Eleanor is pulled from high society to the downstairs and I did enjoy the 19th century setting of the novel.

It is Cinderella for adults. Some of the plot lines were really dark and upsetting but nevertheless set the tone of the story the whole way through.

We have all dreamed of what we would wish for if there were wishes to be granted and initially Eleanor’s path of wishes annoyed me (a pair of shoes?!)

The dark monolithic presence she has around her was an enigma. (Fairy godmother) She frightened the life out of me and I could picture her vividly.

I really did enjoy this.

The characters were well developed and described very well. I could "see" them very clearly.

The book was very interesting and i was looking forward to see how this new take on Cinderella would develop.

This book was mostly fast paced and kept me interested but i did find Ella's struggles with effects of using her wishes rather repetitive and tedious......even if necessary.

I really wanted to learn more about her "mysterious God mother" and the ending was very disappointing for me.

Over-all, i enjoyed this book but it just didn't hit the right spot.

*Thank you so much to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the e-ARC of The Shadow in the Glass in exchange for my honest and

I’ve read a number of Cinderella retellings and wasn’t sure how another could come up with something new, but JJA Harwood presented a totally different, very dark, Grimm like twist on the fairytale. This is definitely no Disneyesque Cinderella story. There are no mice nor a pumpkin to be seen, but there’s definitely a godmother...of sorts, a step-parent and I suppose you could say a handsome prince too! However, the tale is told so differently and is transformed into a whole new story that is definitely not a tale to be read to children at bedtime.

The protagonist of the story is Ella (Eleanor,) relegated to a life of service after the death of her patroness. Ella is desperately unhappy at the loss of her previous life and dreams of escaping the life of a housemaid. One night dreaming of her lost life in the library of the house that is no longer her home, but her pace of service she meets a dark eyed woman, who like a godmother offers her wishes. To be precise seven wishes, for a price...Ella doesn’t realise at the start just how much that price is.

From this point on the story takes the reader through some quite dramatic and rather dark twists and turns. There are a number of topics addressed that could be triggers for some and Ella’s reactions and responses to these are as complex as se is as a character.

Ella is no perfect, pure as the driven snow character, she makes some morally dubious choices, but also transforms as a character throughout the book.

Trust me when I say that this book is no walk in the park. It deals with grim, gothic and dark themes, and there is no holding back from the darkness this story imbues. This book takes the most viciously dark parts of Cinderella, chews them up, grinding them into the grimmest, darkest gothic tale with a twist of dangerous magic and spits them out into the page to pull you in.

I absolutely loved this dark, grim, gothic, historical fantasy tale and highly recommend it to anyone who likes dark, historical fantasy with gothic overtones.

I thought the author brought to life the sights, sounds and smells of 19th century London extremely well, it was very gothic with a fairytale element. However, whilst the storytelling was well done, I expected a few twists that never came and I thought the ending was a little underwhelming.

To begin, I’d like to thank Harper Voyager for sending me an ARC of this book, and to NetGalley for facilitating. And a thank you to J.J.A Harwood.

No spoilers as usual in this review.

Ill start by saying that I read this book all the way through - it was hard going in places and honestly, at the start I wanted to stop reading because it felt like it was paced very very slowly. Even once the agreement for wishes was made, it still felt like a very slow story, with lots of unnecessary paragraphs that all said mostly the same thing. That said , I did persevere because I was genuinely interested in how Eleanor would use her wishes - knowing the cost of them.

I found her as a character becoming less likeable as the story went on - but perhaps that was the point (taking the cost into account) but still, I was rooting for her and her beau. I wanted her to succeed.

I felt that there were some holes that were opened up and left unexplored - Eleanors past as an example - there could’ve been more delving into that and the implications of it.

And the suspect in all of the police enquiries was startlingly obvious to the reader long before the “big reveal”.

The “Cinderella retelling” (as this is marketed) fell a bit short for me. I’ve read a lot of retellings of various tales and I love it when they flesh them out a bit and take them in a new direction. But besides her name and her occupation, there was no resemblance to the story. It was only the one moment (involving shoes - you all know what that is from Cinderella and so would expect it in this book), just one moment in the final chapter that really had big similarities but it also was not a huge part of the story. Almost a “oh! Don’t forget the shoes” and then goes back to write it in.

And the ending was disappointing to me. Eleanor had a fair point about her final wish and the implications of it. But it ended far too abruptly. I know some people enjoy a cliff hanger - I don’t. Unless there’s a sequel in the works I don’t like books to be open ended. A twist with a question mark to end a book - sure. But this was the inevitable ending, that didn’t quite finish itself.

I’m giving this 3 stars because it was good enough that I kept reading, but it lost a star for being such a slow burn and another for the combined fact that this didn’t feel like Cinderella - and the ending was a disappointment for me.

That said, I’ve read many debuts that I couldn’t finish so I would say that J.J.A Harwood has brilliant potential. If the book was trimmed down to remove some of the faff, and the ending was tweaked this would’ve been a fantastic debut. So I will definitely be watching J.J.A Harwood and am interested to see what she comes out with next. And I’m certain that for some - this will be one of their favourite books - it’s just a genre that I am so very familiar with and it didn’t quite live up. But it’s a debut so... give her time. I have a feeling Harwood will be one to watch.

This was an absolutely stunning debut novel that transported me to an entirely new world for the duration of my read. The prose was gorgeous and the historical setting matched the mood perfectly. Eleanor's struggles and heartache captured me from the first page and I devoured her story waiting for a happy twist of fate. When Eleanor is given 7 wishes in return for her soul things take a darker turn and the story is filled with moments of terror and destruction. Eleanor's character is fully formed and came alive on the pages as did the other characters that filled her story. I loved them all except of course from Mr. Pembroke. The author did a fantastic job of bringing Victorian London to life and I look forward to reading more from her.

Described as a deliciously gothic story of wishes and curses, The Shadow in the Glass is a stunning debut from an author that I'm sure I will read time and time again. Her vivid description and fantastic characters made for an immersive read that I didn't want to end.

If you’re going into this book expecting a fairy tale, you’d be sorely mistaken. This is a complete anti-fairytale. A dark, gothic Cinderella and one that leaves you being mindful what you wish for.

The Shadow in the Glass is very character driven, focusing on Eleanor’s (Ella) life in service. You truly become attached to Ella and feel sorry for her. I just wanted better for her!
So when her fairy Godmother comes along and she thinks that all of her problems will melt away, I desperately wanted that to be true.

But nothing is ever as it seems and unlike her fairytale counterpart, Eleanor’s life continues to throw curve balls at her from every direction.

This was a slow burner but kept me intrigued throughout. Would recommend if you like a darker and more tense read, with an absence of any happy endings!

Thank you so much Harper Voyager and NetGalley for my e-ARC in exchange for this review!

"The Shadow in the Glass" is a dark and slightly scary take on "Cinderella". It's incredibly well imagined and written, and definitely not for little kids! The main character is Eleanor (Ella) and she is so beautifully crafted that, in my mind, she became real. This story hits all the right spots to make it a perfect "curl up with a cuppa and ignore everything" book. Hard to believe this a debut book, but hoping for many more from J.J.A. Harwood!

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

I am dnf'ing this book at 52%. Unfortunately this story isn't working for me. Initially I was very interested in how Ella will use her wishes & the dynamics between her & the mysterious God mother. I was also interested in seeing some good romance between Charles& her. But at 52% I felt that pacing to be of a local train. The speed didn't pick up & I was incredibly bored of Ella attempting the same thing over & over again. How many times can a person be surprised by the same thing. Yes the wishes take something out of you, how many wishes does it take you to realise that?
I no longer am interested to know what happens & I have heard the ending is ambiguous & with such a story I atleast expect a satisfactory ending & if am not getting that, well... Just not the book for me. Sorry.

The Shadow in the Glass by JJA Harwood is a dark gothic retelling of Cinderella.
After her parents died Eleanor was taken by Mrs Pembroke to live at Gainsborough House. They treated her like their own daughter. They also have a son called Charles. But when Mrs Pembroke dies, Eleanor’s life changes and is set to work as a maid under the lecherous eyes of her once stepfather Mr Pembroke. Who has a reputation as force himself on his pretty maids and dispose of them when they become with child and to be sent to work in the workhouse.
Eleanor’s only respite when she steals herself to the library to read the books that take her away to different worlds, far away from Gainsborough house. She wants more for herself and she saved up her wages to escape and get a place of her own. But one day, she finds her room turned upside down and all her money gone. She is distraught until if by chance, she makes a deal with the devil. Who gives her seven wishes but after seventh wish her soul will be taken, But she promises herself she will not make her final wish. She hopes the other wishes will help her change her life for the better.
Although the story was a bit low at first, The shadow in the Glass is a dark atmospheric retelling of Cinderella that I really enjoyed. This is a historical novel and a bit of magic thrown in. But it also showed what a different class woman where at that age and how hard they worked and how they had to ask permission for everything they did. This is classed as young adult, but I thought more adult story due to some of its content. 4 stars from me.

This book is advertised as a Cinderella-type story, but don’t be fooled by this description. There may be a handsome prince, but the story is much more that of a Faustian pact, and we all know how well that ended.
Eleanor was taken in by Mrs Pembroke, when her mother died, and treated as her daughter. However, when Mrs Pembroke then died Eleanor was reduced to the role of a servant by her dissolute husband.
By chance, Eleanor meets with a dark-eyed woman, who grants her seven wishes in exchange for her soul. As with such tales, the wishes tend to come true, but in unexpected ways.
There are way too many, repeated, descriptions of the squalor of Victorian London, mud, smog, tattered urchins, costermongers trying to earn a crust, beggars, and how badly servants are treated.
I was waiting for a twist, maybe concerning Eleanor’s past, but it never came, and the book carried on in its depressing way. It was a relief when it ended, but even that wasn’t satisfying.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for the opportunity to read this book.

Eleanor works as a maid in the house where initially she was a favoured ward; but the lady of the house died and her husband, a wicked and abusive man, is short on funds so sets her to work for her living. Ella dreams of far off places and fairy stories, sneaking into the library to read whenever she can.

However, a curious turn of events bring a malevolent spirit into her life, who gives her seven wishes, but they all come at a price. How will Eleanor use these wishes to improve the lives of herself and her fellow servants?

This is an unusual book, and could easily have descended into a nonsense tale, but somehow it is so well told, you actually believe Ella can have wishes. The story is macabre and makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, as you will her to break free of these chains of oppression, only to then wonder if the price is too high.

I could not put the book down; its compulsive, gripping and amazingly believable! The scene is set firmly in Victorian times, and you can smell and see the world in which Eleanor is living.

Thank you to NetGalleym HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and HarperVoyager for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Words can’t describe how much I enjoyed this book. Ella has fallen on hard times after loosing her parents, she was taken in by Mrs Pembroke and her husband, but then Mrs Pembroke passes away and Ella becomes a maid for the hard faced Mr Pembroke. She wishes for a better life.. she looses herself in books, sneaking into the library at night whilst everyone is sleeping. She then comes across a book she’s never seen before, and a shadow of a woman comes in view offering her seven wishes.. Ella thinks she is dreaming, so to test she wastes her first wish, which of course is granted. All she now needs to do is plan her wishes carefully and of course do not take her final wish as payment is then due of her soul. An amazingly written story with a twist of Cinderella

Thank you to Harper Collins, Netgalley and JJA Harwood for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Shadow in the Glass is a gothic Cinderella retelling in which we follow Ella, a girl growing up as a maid in her guardian's home. We follow her as she makes a deal, seven wishes for her soul, and she desperately tries not to lose her soul by not completing the wishes.

The book overall was enjoyable, I liked the atmosphere a lot and loved the spooky and dark feeling it provoked. However, I really struggled with the characters, as the novel went on I liked Ella less and less, and the romance felt forced. There was also some queer baiting, with a hinted at f/f relationship that was never actually confirmed.

I feel like a lot of the issues I had with the novel stemmed from Ella, I feel she could've easily sorted things out a lot earlier. However, I do feel like this is semi-accurate given her age, she wasn't seeing the bigger picture and did forget her roots. The ending I loved though, it was completely gripping and had me hooked and I thought it was the perfect ending, and it did leave things up in the air in relation to some characters.

A dark gothic tale, based on the Cinderella story.  But this is absolutely not a childrens' fairy-tale.

Eleanor (Ella) lost her mother at a very young age and was then taken in by her mother's lovely friend, Mrs. Pembroke, and went to live with her at Granborough House.  Ella was loved, every extravagance was lavished upon her and she was well on her way to becoming a proper young lady until Mrs. Pembroke also died leaving Ella in the guardianship of her husband, Mr. Pembroke, a thoroughly cruel and unpleasant man.  At the age of 14 Ella's life above stairs is over and she is forced to become a housemaid below stairs at Granborough House.  Mr. Pembroke is a lecherous beast of a man who grossly mistreats his young female staff in the worst possible way.  There seems to be no escape from her predicament, but Ella is an ambitious girl who dreams of a better life, and finds a little solace in the library of Granborough House amongst the fairy-tales and books about far flung destinations well away from her tormentor.  Ella thought she knew all the books in the library but one night she comes across a strange, very old little book that she has never seen before.  That was also the first night she encountered the mysterious woman who has dark pits for eyes and an intriguing proposition for Ella...

This is a wonderfully dark and atmospheric story, which is at times rather disturbing in its detail.  A very competent debut novel from JJA Harwood and I look forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.

A truly brilliant, immersive novel with just the right amount of supernatural chill!

The blurb stated that this novel was a re-telling of the Cinderella fairy-tale but the only similarity I found was the character of the fairy-godmother, and she was very different to the Cinderella version!

Nevertheless, I kept reading and I’m so glad I did! Ella was a fantastic main character. She was brave, witty and so compassionate towards those she loved. I felt so drawn to her and the dilemma she faces in the novel. Who wouldn’t want all their wishes to be granted? As the plot advanced and the fairy godmother became more sinister, I was totally absorbed. In many ways, this is the perfect novel for me.

The words dark, gothic and uncanny come to mind when I think of this novel so prepare for some adult plotlines, descriptive death scenes and tricky moral predicaments.

All in all, a fantastic novel! Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my unbiased review.