Fishbone Cinderella is a haunting magical realism multi-generational fable by Elizabeth Lim. Released 23rd July 2026 by Penguin Random House on their Del Rey imprint, it's 448 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.
Full of history alongside the magical elements, the author does a masterful job of interweaving the mundane pitfalls of all mother/daughter relationships with the extra challenges of an ancient familial curse, fate, and invisibility. She uses multiple timeline PoV very effectively, and poignantly, demonstrating the difficulty, danger, and violence women experienced in the past down to the current day.
Strong (strong!) content warnings for violence, sexism, racism, war, sexual content, child abuse, emotional abuse, child loss, and terminal illness. It's not an easy read, but it is beautifully well done, with nuanced, believable characters and a solid message.
Four and a half stars. It would be an excellent choice for public or home library acquisition, book club study, or a buddy read.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
No comments:
Post a Comment