Ella, the Slayer

Serenity House, Book 1

By: A. W. Exley

Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir

Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

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 by caring for her war-injured father, scrubbing the floors, and slaying the undead that attack the locals. Like rats, these vermin spread pestilence with every bite. Ella's world collides with another when she nearly decapitates a handsome stranger - one 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: 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 - her home, her head, and her heart.

©2016 A. W. Exley (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc., and Skyboat Media, Inc.

Potential

This story had potential. I found the main character to be interesting, the concept creative, the writing and narration pleasant. But omg, she made and released a queen into the world to literally KILL A BUNCH OF PEOPLE when she could have EASILY killed her!!!! Not heroic of the heroine and ruined the whole book

Fantastic Twist on a Classic Fairytale

This is such a fantastic Twist on a well known Fairytale, I just love it. The storyline is so well written and yhe narration brings the characters to vividly life. Such an enjoyable story, I highly recommend this book.

Entertaining twist

The story has a 20th century twist on the Cinderella tale without going overboard.

It dips into the after effects from horrors of the First World War. This unromantic view point of war only adds to the mood on the current state of events that helps set the stage for the story Ella finds herself in.

I enjoyed the fact that Ella is portrayed as real and flawed human. She misses obvious answers to situations due to stress and concerns. It is when a writer can build on the support characters as a means to SUPPORT the story without being obtuse that really make it worth read/listening to again.

Modern retelling of a fairytale

An updated version of the fairytale Cinderella. Narration was great, story not so much. Not my taste but some may enjoy it.

Decent retelling

Content: A bit of language, innuendo, gore

I'm not usually a fan of zombie stories. This one was alright. Kept my interest. Classic Cinderella story mixed with zombies.

Cinderella with zombies

Took the standard Cinderella remake and added zombies and a badass heroine in 1919. Interesting listen highly recommend.

It's cute...mostly. But...

The Pros: I kept listening, even when I rolled my eyes at some parts, but I listened to it all the way through, so...obviously I liked it.

The Cons: It's pretty much an exact remake of the movie "Everafter" set in the 1940's, but with zombies and lots of teenage angst (and some sexual angst). I'm not sure if it was the narrator or the content, but some of the romance and "longing" described felt a little over the top.

Ella the Slayer

Well written and fun to "read". I like the spin on the classic fairytale. I'm very much looking forward to the rest of the series.

You should read this

I'm relatively new to world of LISTENING to books. This is actually my first review ever. I've been an avid reader since I learned to read; usually found with a book in hand or close by. I've always been in love with the function of reading so I've been overly critical of listening to books. I check the reviews first and have turned away from quite a few because of them. I almost did here as well. That would've been a mistake and I would never have known! The negative reviews, I feel, are unfair and misleading. One complained about how illogical the story is; it's a story about the living dead...? How much logic he was expecting is beyond me, but I found it to 'make sense' throughout, with the exception of one part. But even then it's not hard to grasp...not a HUGE jump. Another complained about the heroine and her inability to stand up to her step mother while simultaneously fending off the living dead. (That's not a spoiler; this is a Cinderella story with a zombie twist and the title is Ella, the Slayer...cmon now) The reality of abuse victims, like Cinderella, is their tormentor has become their biggest monster and for whatever individual reason, usually inspires more fear and control than other monsters because of the hold they've created and cultivated over time. So, cut Ella a break in that department, she does quite well throughout the story with everything she's faced with, including seeing and analyzing her 'faults and weaknesses.' There were other complaints but you get the picture. This book is DEFINITELY worth your time! I went into it grudgingly, thinking it would be a struggle to get through. But I was interested in HOW the author would turn a beatendown house maid I into a zombie slayer. I was pleasantly surprised at how captivated I became! If I would've been able to listen to this book nonstop I would have. I WILL be moving it to my favorites and listening to it again! With that said, I was a little disappointed with the ending. Personally I would've liked to see it go a different way, but I DO understand and appreciate the ending and see that it IS a fitting one. The story itself is well written, descriptive but not overly annoyingly so, and like I said before, captivating. It stuck to the time period superbly, which added to the appeal of the IDEA of this type of Cinderella even more. I think any other period would've left the story wanting. I loved to see Cinderella in a more realistic, down to earth kind of way...even with the zombies. The characters were all well rounded and fully formed, completely capable of allowing you to love, hate, or simply like or tolerate them. And the romances found inside were NOT the moan, eye roll, then skip ahead kind. Very well approached and written. The performer was fantastic as well. There were a few extremely minor things that I didn't personally enjoy, like the men's voices. BUT I truly believe it was just personal preference and NOT the actual performance. It did take me a chapter, or so, to settle in to her way of speaking but once I did I was lost in it. Once again, I highly recommend this book! Ignore the negative complaints and check it out for yourself! I truly don't think you'll be disappointed! Now, on to the next one.

Fairytale meets Zombies

I am a fan of this author. I wasn't sure about this book when I purchased the kindle version. I started reading and went ahead and spend the 7.49 to add the audible. I really enjoyed it. I liked the romance. I liked the action. The narration was good. The addition of emotions of soldiers returning from war compared and contrasted to Ella's emotions at being a slayer of the infected added dimension and complexity. The plotline was more complex than I expected. The storyline wraps up a part in this book but continues in the series. After I finished this book I purchased the ebooks available in the series (Henry, Alice, Rory). So, I am still a fan of this author and now a fan of this series too. Only this book and the companion novel about Henry are available in Audible right now. The books which continue this story arc are not yet available on audible (hopefully soon).