5 Words: History, romance, upstairs, downstairs, responsibility.

If you Downton Abbey, you'll love this. I definitely loved it. Secrets and Sapphires nicely filled up that empty gaping hole that's been sat inside of me.

I loved the intrigue and the lifestyle and even the class system. I loved the whole upstairs, downstairs relationships and how Rose was so torn by how those relationships were starting to change. She's such a loyal and proper young girl, such a gem of a character. She has all of this ammunition and never once does she use it.

I also loved how Ada had all of these internal conflicts. As much as she wanted one thing, she wanted another just as much. But there's no way she can have both. And I'm not sure whether she'll be happy with the compromise she was offered at the end, but I think it was a quite happy medium and I hope her feelings start to change.

This book is luxurious and extravagant, deceptive and eccentric... This book has a bit of everything, all set against the lavish backdrop of Somerton.

As unbelievable as the ending was, I even d that! This book was pure escapism, and such a pleasure to read

I can't wait to get my hands on the next book.24 s Erin132 67

All I'm saying is that when you see this book on a list of YA with LGBT characters and the cover features two girls canoodling while some pretty boy stands off to the side and the jacket copy talks about forbidden love, you're gonna assume you're in for a delightful Edwardian Gossip Girl ft. fledgling lesbians. AND THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS BOOK IS. It's just plain old boring Edwardian Gossip Girl. I feel betrayed.201517 s Mitch355 619

Um.16 s Beth1,141 172

Cinders & Sapphires drew my attention because of its superficial resemblance to Upstairs/Downstairs and Downton Abbey that I gathered from the synopsis and a review on a YA website I follow. The comparison isn't inaccurate, especially with Downton Abbey. At this point I'd almost call this kind of story a mini-genre.

The Earl of Westlake has only daughters, and has remarried a widow after being widowed himself, so there's a chance that new wife Edith will provide a son and the inheritance won't fall to another branch of the family--in this case, Westlake's wastrel nephew. The time frame is shortly before World War I.

There are two primary point-of-view characters, Westlake's eldest daughter Ada, and Rose, a chambermaid who it's revealed to the reader early on is Westlake's illegitimate daughter. Each young woman has an interest or aspiration; Ada wants to attend Oxford and have her own career, and Rose wants to be a composer. Each also has a SCANDAL! If this gets out, it's the end of everything!

Unfortunately, the characterization never goes beyond this level. There's no internal conflict in these people--every problem they have, anything that needs to be overcome, comes from their circumstances and/or from other characters' plotting against them. Earnest characters are earnest, spiteful ones are spiteful. And that is that. No growth, no change. It gets even worse with, for example, Edith's son Sebastian and his valet Oliver, whose homosexuality and a threat of blackmail is the only thing about them, who don't even have a minor personality quirk between the two of 'em.

One unique point of interest in Cinders and Sapphires is that there's not only mention of the colonization of India, but the idea that its independence is desirable. There are a couple of characters from India in this novel, too. Ada's insta-love interest, Ravi, ends up leaving Oxford to join a revolutionary faction in India. Priya is the nursemaid for the wastrel nephew's awful kid, and she, sad to say, exists in the story mainly to be a victim of microaggressions from white women, and predatory behavior from white men.

Without that sole point of uniqueness, this novel would have been a complete waste of time for me. Scandal, by itself, won't motivate me to keep reading. Actually, at about the 75% mark, I was tempted to mark this "did not finish" and move on, but decided to stick it out a bit longer. The end was a tsunami of scandal breaking over the Somerton estate and even involved a character's death, which, well. It was better than Ada mooning over Ravi for the hundredth time.

I dis comparing this to Downton Abbey, but having seen a season or two of that show, the comparison is inevitable. The characterization in Cinders & Sapphires is about as deep as a tea saucer, which in my view makes it the weaker offering. Even Downtown Abbey’s wickedest characters have crises of conscience sometimes, and the straightforward presentation of the characters in this novel doesn't allow for nuance of that kind.

Aside from that, its being YA, this novel has to shy away from the more adult aspects of its scandals, whether in merely hinting at them, or avoiding them entirely. Oscar Wilde's imprisonment and eventual death was only a few years earlier than this novel is set in, and that risk to valet Oliver, where his life is literally at stake, wasn't mentioned at all. (One would assume that Sebastian would be immune to that level of punishment, though his marriage prospects could suffer.)

This series isn't worth pursuing more of, for me, but it could be a winner for a more age-appropriate reader interested in scandals among fictional British elites and servants in the early 20th century.one-and-done young-adult7 s Tiffany (About to Read)422 418

This review was originally posted on About to Read. For Fairytale fashions, reads, and more visit abouttoread.com

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I  loved Cinders & Sapphires. Last summer I read a book called Manor of Secrets, which I was expecting to be Downton Abbey but ended up just not being that great. You know what I should’ve read instead? Cinders & Sapphires.

This book has been sitting on my kindle app for a while now and I’m so happy I finally picked it up. It started off a bit on the slower side, but I was quickly swept into Ada’s life, dreams, and ambitions. I was also intrigued by Rose’s circumstances and all of the talents she wasn’t able to make use of as a lady's maid.

There are so many great characters in this novel. Some of them or lovable, some are really hateful, and others are just complicated. You’ll find a bit of everything in this one—including a wonderful romance.

Now with regards to the romance, I know exactly who I want Ada with. And it’s not necessarily someone who Ada would choose for herself. But suffice it to say that the romance is great and will leave you wanting more!

Cinders & Sapphires has the perfect balance of upstairs/downstairs drama and relationships, romance, politics and peaks into societal life. If you Downton Abbey you just can’t miss this one!5 s RebeccaAuthor 5 books93 Want to read

Please please please be better than Wentworth Hall. It's probably not possible for it to be better than Downton Abbey, but AT LEAST be better than Wentworth Hall!5 s TheBookSmugglers669 1,903

Originally reviewed on The Book Smugglers

The year is 1910, the place the grand estate of Somerton. Lady Ada, her younger sister Georgina and her father, Lord Westlake, have left India amidst whispers of scandal and disgrace - Lord Westlake has resigned from his post without explanation, inciting the worst possible rumor-mongering - and return to Britain for the first time in many years. Despite the hints of scandal that follow them to Somerton, it is a happy return for the Averleys as Ada's father prepares to marry the glamorous, beautiful and well-connected widow, Mrs. Fiona Templeton. With the marriage comes an expansion of the family, with Mrs. Templeton's three children: Matthew (the devil may care younger son), Sebastian (the rakishly handsome eldest son, with a secret that threatens to ruin him), and Charlotte (the polished and conniving daughter determined to make the most of her station). As the families converge, much drama ensues - Lady Ada struggles to find ground with her new relatives, to prepare for her first Season out in society, and all the while grapples with the demands of her heart as she yearns for Ravi, a young Indian man on scholarship at Oxford (and someone she will never be allowed to marry).

Meanwhile, below stairs, the return of the Averleys and arrival of Mrs. Templeton also threatens to upset the careful balance of order at Somerton. Rose Cliffe - beautiful, quiet, but ambitious for her love of music and composing - is given a chance to advance herself and promoted overnight to become lady's maid to Ada and Georgina. Of course, such a leap does not go unnoticed, and Stella, Mrs. Templeton's lady's maid, begins her own manipulations for power.

These many lives intersect and tangle, as secrets are revealed, proposals are made, and machinations put into motion, with the future of the Averley family and Somerton itself at stake.

Well. If I had to condense my experience with Cinders and Sapphires into a single word it would be: FUN. Because, truly, this is the perfect guilty pleasure read, chock full of scandal and excess (in a good way). Cinders and Sapphires is very clearly, obviously influenced by and riding on the coattails of Downton Abbey, and that is not a bad thing. On a superficial level, there's the fact that the Averleys are without a direct male heir and the estate will pass to a male cousin, there's a Lady Edith, a pair of scheming servants downstairs that plot the demise of their enemies, and so on. That said, there is so much more that is unique to Cinders and Sapphires - for example, take the thoughtful, considered examination of British colonization of India from the Indian perspective. Lady Ada hears the arguments about Indian independence for the very first time - for even though she lived many years in India, she has a very sheltered and colonist-minded view of the country - and she begins to question and challenge her belief system for the first time.

Somehow the At Somerton series manages to pack in crazy, melodramatically entertaining twists on par with its BBC counterpart, too - there's a homosexual young man and a bribery case against him, a murder (but of course), numerous illicit/forbidden romances, a secret half-sibling working on the estate as a servant, a scheming stepmother and horrible Caroline Bingley type character of a daughter...

Which brings me back to my thesis, if you will. In sum, Cinders and Sapphires is wonderfully melodramatic, over-the-top soap-opera fun.

Yes, it has some utterly implausible aspects, and there is NO freakin' way certain things would ever logically happen (especially the father's actions at the end of the book!), but I found myself thoroughly, completely entertained and loving every second of it.

On the con side, however, the characters are perhaps not the most developed - Ada is predictably kind, intelligent, and beautiful, as is her counterpoint Rose. Neither heroine buckles in the face of ruin or danger, and they are both excessively sweet and good. And that's all fine and dandy, but to me, the more interesting characters are the ones who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty - I want to know what happened with Charlotte to make her so venomous, I want to understand how Stella's conscience hardened and what she has done to come as far as she has. I want more of Sebastian and valet Oliver, I want more of Priya and why she has left India for England to work as a governess. There is plenty of room to explore these many different characters at length, and I am eagerly awaiting the next adventure at Somerton to see just where the drama goes next.

Definitely recommended.fluff historical-fiction soap-opera-fun ...more4 s Ksenia808 194 Read

Holy moly, what a fun book to read. If you need something to tide you over until the next season of Downton Abbey, this is it. The drama unfolds a soap opera and can be a bit silly/ridiculous, but it is still a fun romp. I'm happily awaiting the next installment.4 s Vampire-lk314 26

OMG!!!!!!!! Highly recommended!!!!! Very sweet & not bawdy at all!!!! Still a breathe of fresh air as all the characters major & minor are so well developed that I feel I’m right there with them & can for most predict what they might be thinking! I’m swept away with the details that I seriously finished this light fun novel in 2 days!!!!! With work & reality trying to intrude
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