Ash (by Malinda Lo)

Ash is (very loosely) a retelling of the Cinderella story.   Most of the classic elements remain, such as the abusive stepfamily, magical outfits, and the prince looking for a bride.  However, Ash isn't particularly interested in said prince.  Her infatuations lie with a mysterious fairy gentleman and the intriguing royal huntress.

I wanted to like this book more than I did, and I think that's because of the pacing, and characterizations.  The first half of the book dragged out without much happening except for Ash moping about how much he missed her mother and vaguely trying to get abducted by mischievous fairies whom no one ever sees but her.  The huntress barely even appears until halfway through the book, and both her and the fairy's significance are unclear until well towards the ending. As soon as Ash discovers what's going on and how she and everyone else feels, she sidesteps the major conflict and ties it all up in half a dozen pages.  None of the peripheral characters are particularly well developed, and the reader is left to assume their motivations half the time.

A colleague of mine loved this book, but for me it's an almost-but-not-quite there.