Cold Hearted Review

Rating: 3/5

This was supposed to be her happily ever after...

It’s a familiar tale: A kind and beautiful young girl, reeling from loss. A doting father, frantic to bring a mother’s love back into his daughter’s life. And the selfish, cruel woman who insinuates herself into that family―a woman so unfeeling, so cold hearted, that when her new husband dies, she makes the girl a servant in her own home.

But who is that evil stepmother, that icy lady of the house? How did she become so closed off that, in the face of a child’s grief, she thought only to seek wealth and power for herself and her abhorrent daughters? Before that fateful ball, before the glass slipper and the prince, there was another story―a story of love and grief, of hope and of dreams dashed. It is the story of Lady Tremaine.

Even the coldest of villains are sometimes wives and mothers, women who loved and lost and hoped for something grander for their lives . . . once upon a dream.

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Let me start with I love this series. As a whole, I simply adore it. I love the idea on how Serena takes the villains we know and gives them all unique backstories and how they’re all interconnected. However, I did not love this one.

Cold Hearted gives us a dark take on why Cinderella’s stepmother is so cruel. And I struggled with this one. I didn’t find Lady Tremaine someone to root for. But this take starts out in a way that you should or supposed to feel sorry for her in a way. And in some ways, I did, as the real villain in this retelling is not aimed at Lady Tremaine. I especially wasn’t a fan of how Cinderella was portrayed in this one, either. It felt like the story I knew and loved just wasn’t the same.

But even though I didn’t enjoy this one as much, I’m still glad I read it! It adds to the lore of the villains series storyline. Seeing all these stories interconnected (except for Cruella’s story, this is a standalone) through these characters called The Odd Sisters, it really creates an enchanting world, with all these fairytales mashed together. This concept of how all the stories are connected is truly fascinating and I find it intriguing to see what will happen next.