In another retelling of a fairy tale, Mechanica takes on Cinderella. Nicolette is forced to be a servant in her own home and is called Mechanica by her evil stepsisters.  Nicolette is an inventor and thanks to her mother’s secret workroom, she starts to invent inventions that could one day buy her way out of her servitude. Along the way she meets the Prince and his best friend and they help her sell her wares.  It’s a good idea for a novel.  I like many changes from the story.  Nicolette isn’t at home waiting for the Prince to come rescue her.  She uses her own brain to create inventions that will help her win her freedom and there is a surprising twist at the end that has to do with her and the Prince.  I won’t spoil it but it really took me by surprise.  Either then that though, there isn’t really anything else to make this stand out.  I kept waiting for the something more to happen.  I like the message of the novel, though.  That girls don’t need a boy to rescue her.  They can do that themselves by using their own skills and smarts and that alone might be worth the read.