Cinders Zine

Category: Books and Authors

  • Recommended reading: Mary HK Choi, Jaime Questell, Catherynne M. Valente

      Emergecy Contact by Mary H.K. Choi  Emergecy Contact by Mary H.K. Choi is an absolute joy. Calling it a love story seems wrong, it’s more like a friendship story of two people who fall in love. And I enjoyed it so very much. Penny is an aspiring writer in her first year of college…

  • More than true – how fairytales defined me

    More than true – how fairytales defined me

    For Cinders Editor Méabh McDonnell, few things have been more influential in her life than her love of fairytales. Here, she looks at why the stories she heard as a child became lodestones for her as and adult, inspiring and empowering her along the way.   A boy and a girl, a glass slipper, and…

  • Recommended reads: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

    Recommended reads: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

    Fans have waited eagerly for Holly Black’s return to the realms of Faerie and the fae and The Cruel Prince doesn’t disappoint. Holly Black rightfully retains her crown as the Faerie queen in this new beginning to a trilogy that presents a faerieland that is just as bloodthirsty and cruel as we remember. Jude is…

  • Finding her voice – an interview with Louise O’Neill

    Finding her voice – an interview with Louise O’Neill

    In anticipation of the release of Louise O’Neill’s feminist retelling of The Little Mermaid, The Surface Breaks, we spoke to Louise about re-inventing fairytales, feminism, and the importance of owning your voice. Why did you choose The Little Mermaid as inspiration for The Surface Breaks?  Louise: Well, it was the summer of 2016 when the…

  • Faerie Queen – An Interview with Holly Black

    Faerie Queen – An Interview with Holly Black

    Over the last ten years, bestselling author Holly Black has rightly earned the title of ‘Faerie Queen’. She weaves a Faerie world that is dangerous and bloodthirsty, far from being a dream come true, these worlds are more like your darkest nightmares brought to life. Méabh McDonnell spoke to Holly about her experience writing her…

  • Recommended Reads: Frances Hardinge, Seanan Maguire, Joanne M Harris

    A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge Following on from the success of The Lie Tree, A Skinful of Shadows is Frances Hardinge’s next big hit. A Skinful of Shadows is a dark YA historical fantasy set in the early part of the English Civil War. Makepeace is an illegitimate daughter of the aristocratic Fellmotte…

  • Book Review- The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss

    Book Review- The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss

    Monsters, mysteries and mayhem! Right out of a penny dreadful, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter is a fun, enjoyable romp through the Victorian classics with a feminist twist. Take Dr Jekyll’s daughter, Mr Hyde’s daughter, Frankenstein’s daughter, a poisoner’s daughter, and an intelligent cat woman, put them all together and you get The…

  • Recommended Reads: JK Rowling, Aline Brosh McKenna, Anna Marie McLemore

    First published in Cinders Magazine Volume one Issue Six Cormoran Strike Series What with the BBC’s recent release of Strike: The Cuckcoo’s Calling and Strike: The Silkworm, we decided to revisit JK Rowling’s fantastic detective series. Writing as Robert Galbraith the series follows veteran private detective Cormoran Strike and his intelligent partner, Robin Ellacott. Rowling’s…

  • Book Review: The Extinction Trials by SM Wilson

    The Extinction Trials have been hailed as ‘Jurassic Park’ meets ‘The Hunger Games’ and that phrase definitely rings true, however the bell might sound a bit too loudly. Stormchaser Knox is a young woman who lives in a world that is ravaged by disease and poverty, over which part of it has been taken over…

  • Book Review: Owning It by Caroline Foran

    Caroline Foran’s Owning It has swept onto our shelves and excited new readers. Anxiety is something that we are all familiar with, whether in ourselves or in another person’s point of view. Anxiety has a place in our world now and it’s very welcome to have a book from someone who has experienced it for…