Ella, The Slayer by A.W. Exley {Review + Giveaway}

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Ella, The Slayer

A.W. Exley Publication Date: June 30 , 2015 Genre: Fairytale Retelling

The flu pandemic of 1918 took millions of souls within a few short weeks.

Except it wasn't flu and death gave them back.

Seventeen-year-old Ella copes the best she can; caring for her war-injured father, scrubbing the floors, and slaying the undead that attack the locals. ‘Vermin’ they're called, like rats they spread pestilence with their bite. Ella's world collides with another when she nearly decapitates a handsome stranger, who is very much alive.

Seth deMage, the new Duke of Leithfield, has returned to his ancestral home with a mission from the War Office — to control the plague of vermin in rural Somerset. He needs help; he just didn't expect to find it in a katana-wielding scullery maid.

Working alongside Seth blurs the line between their positions, and Ella glimpses a future she never dreamed was possible. But in overstepping society's boundaries, Ella could lose everything – home, head and her heart…

Cinderella has been retold a thousand times before and I’ve had my fair share of reading books and watching movies adapted from the classic fairy tale. It. Is. A. CLASSIC. Though not my favorite fairy tale, it is one of my beloved ones since who wouldn’t want to be an ordinary girl one second then a princess in the next second? That was a girlish dream and I I’ve already went through the I don’t wanna be Cinderella… waiting for somebody to come and set me free. No, no, I’d rather rescue myself phase. Girl power! 

Somehow Ella, the Slayer is one of those few Cinderella adaptations whose heroine was not only kickass, but who was aware of her lot in life, aimed for a better one by working hard and having plans for the future without thinking of a prince who would come and rescue her. Like me, she left that dream behind. She lost her mum, gained a step-monster and her minions, lived through the Great War and lost her father to PTSD and then came the Spanish Flu… which wasn’t influenza at all but the zombie virus (not that “zombie” was a popular term in that time period). Now, we’re talking about something. Eleanor was intelligent, learned and her father raised her as he would a son. For goodness sakes, her father was unconventional (for that time), he married the housekeeper! A fact that Ella’s stepmother was so fond of reminding her of. 

Then, we have the prince or the duke in this story. He had an occupation! In the army! When Ella went with her charade as a noble (hello Ever After reference), I thought that Seth would do a Henry, be an asshole and turn his back on Ella once he knew of her deception. Turns out… ah spoiler! Gosh, I love this prince. 

The ending was not quite a happy-ever after. There was the matter of the stepmother and there were no wedding bells yet, so a sequel is definitely warranted. 

Ella, the Slayer reminded me of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Only, this is the Cinderella version. You take a classic story, add zombies to it and make your heroines BAMFs.

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About the Author

Books and writing have always been an enormous part of A.W. Exley’s life.

She survived school by hiding out in the library, with several thousand fictional characters for company. At university, she overcame the boredom of studying accountancy by squeezing in Egyptology papers and learning to read hieroglyphics.

Today, Anita writes steampunk novels with a sexy edge and an Egyptian twist. She lives in rural New Zealand surrounded by an assortment of weird and wonderful equines, felines, canine and homicidal chickens.

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