While Valten and Gisela are attractive characters, others lack the spark of life. Gisela’s conniving relatives maliciously conspire to have Ruexner kidnap her with the intent to force her into marrying him, but heroic Valten comes to her rescue, ultimately aided by Friar Daniel (an annoying character seemingly inserted merely to provide ample prayers and homilies). Valten duels the dastardly knight Ruexner, who’s driven to defeat him even if that requires cheating. After he falls for her, she sneaks out to attend a jousting tournament, where he selects her as his lady. She has secretly admired rugged Valten, Lord Hamlin, for years. Weaving a heavy dose of romance into a familiar fairy tale, and revisiting the same family as in The Healer’s Apprentice (2010) and The Fairest Beauty (2013), Dickerson has concocted another lavish medieval idyll.Ībused by her stepsisters and her vicious stepmother (whose motivation is unclear), orphaned Gisela, whom they call “Cinders-ela,” has never lost her spirit.
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