"Alliana, Girl of Dragons" by Julie Abe

Take standard vaguely-European setting of Cinderella, plus the basic plot. Add medieval Japan to setting and stir until mixture is about 3/4 Japan and 1/4 Europe. Wrap mixture around Cinderella plot. Increase magic in story from 1 to approximately 4 (of 7). Trim off end. Serve warm over rice.*

It's a decent, Japan-flavored Cinderella retelling, in other words, albeit one that could have used a bit more denouement. It feels like the author was intending to have a specific climax for the story, wrote it, and then got slightly lost because she hadn't actually thought about what would happen after it. It felt kind of rushed.

 

And, yes, there are dragons involved. One of which Alliana does end up riding on a couple times. That's not really a spoiler because, c'mon, look at the cover.

 

Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: E10+ for jerkfaces and some scary scenes. I'm pretty sure not many people want to play through the opening depressing-ness of a Cinderella story, though, so this would have to overcome that hurdle if it was made into a game.

End-dissing aside, it was a good book. Had the denouement been up to the same standard as the rest of the book, it might have been the latest addition to the ranks of 5-star-rated books. But as it now stands... just 4, thank you.

(*Endnote: You don't actually need to do this step.)