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Cinderella Is Dead

Kalynn Bayron (Goodreads Author)

3.77 · Rating details · 12,797 ratings · 3,230 reviews

It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again.

Sixteen-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best frien ...more

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ebook, 400 pages

Published July 7th 2020 by Bloomsbury YA

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Average rating 3.77 ·

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· 12,797 ratings · 3,230 reviews

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Dec 13, 2019 Kai rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: queer

I’d pitch this as Black Cinderella falls in love with Merida and together they destroy the patriarchy.

I had extremely high hopes for this one because the premise is really fucking good. And while I am often tired of seeing the same tropes and stories being recycled over and over again, this doesn't apply when a well-known concept is reinvented through a queer or otherwise diverse lens. When I started reading I was instantly in awe. The writing was piercing, the words sharp like a needle and I lo ...more

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Jun 27, 2020 Chelsea Humphrey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: from-publisher, bookstagram-made-me-do-it, recommended, netgalley

Another reviewer used the terms "predictable, important, and frustrating" to describe this book, and I have to wholeheartedly agree. I thought for sure that this would be the easiest 5 stars I'd give in 2020, but I think my expectations were way out of line for what this book intended to be. The idea of a Cinderella retelling that features diverse characters smashing the patriarchy is truly the level of fantasy we need in the world today; however, I really struggled to get past the fact that the ...more

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May 20, 2019 halfirishgrin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arcs, aoc, ya, sci-fi-fantasy, lgbtq, f-f, poc-mc, 2020-release

So this book has been described as queer black girls overthrowing the patriarchy and yep...that's basically what it is!!

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020, and it didn't disappoint. It kept me turning the pages, and I loved the main characters, and found the romance to be really sweet as well. I also think this is just such an interesting use of the Cinderella story, so props to Kalynn Bayron for that too.

I did find that at times this book could be a little didactic and heavy-han ...more

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Jun 13, 2020 Miranda Reads rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: published2020, received-to-review, grchoice_round1

OHMYGOSH. Goodreads Choice Nominees are here...I couldn't resist a Reaction Video! Don't forget to vote!

Annnd here's my original reaction to this book!

Happy Pride Month y'all! Click the link to check out my favorite PRIDE books

Two hundred years ago Cinderella lived, and ever since then she's been an obsession of Sophia's town.

She has three chances (one ball each year) to find a husband and then settle into a "comfortable" life as a wife.

But she does not want that. Not. One. Bit.

She is in ...more

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Jul 04, 2020 Renaissance Kate rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-in-2020, arc, fantasy-reads, lgbtqia

2.5 stars

While I was excited about the premise of this book, unfortunately it did not deliver. I loved the representation of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ characters, as this is incredibly important and something we need to continue normalizing and supporting in YA. However, from a story and writing perspective, this book totally flopped for me.

Sophia is another rebellious YA heroine whose reasons for wanting to dismantle a 200-year-old oppressive political system never truly go beyond surface level. We are 2.5 stars

While I was excited about the premise of this book, unfortunately it did not deliver. I loved the representation of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ characters, as this is incredibly important and something we need to continue normalizing and supporting in YA. However, from a story and writing perspective, this book totally flopped for me.

Sophia is another rebellious YA heroine whose reasons for wanting to dismantle a 200-year-old oppressive political system never truly go beyond surface level. We are told her grandmother taught her the king was bad, we are told she loves Erin and would do anything so they could have a life together, but we are never really shown this burning hatred to make it believable. Sophia is rash, talks back to everyone, and is determined to bring down the king without any semblance of a plan. More often than not, I was questioning her actions rather than rooting for her.

Her romance with Constance, while having its cute moments, was very rushed and could have been better developed. Sophia quickly forgets Erin, one of the two loosely established reasons for her rebellious actions, and falls head-over-heels for the fiery Constance. I would’ve liked to see more sparks and yearning between them as we see Sophia realize Constance, and not Erin, is the one she’s supposed to love.

This book is also filled with underused side characters who had so much potential. While I could write an entire paragraph on any one of them, I want to primarily talk about Luke. From the moment he’s introduced, one would think he was going to have a major role in this story:

What I wanted: (view spoiler)

Luke had a lot of potential as one of many interesting characters who could have been better integrated into the story.

The SuperEvil™ king was a bit of a caricature, and I didn’t quite understand or buy his motives. The system for choosing his successor made no sense, both before and after the plot twist.

Another major let-down for me in this book was the worldbuilding. The magic system and connections to Cinderella’s tale could have been more deeply explored or better woven into the story. There were some nice touches, such as stores selling knock-off Fairy Godmother potions or girls desiring expensive glass slippers for the ball, but otherwise it seemed the magical elements were only developed when they were important to the plot.

Now, please bear with me for a bit of Francophile nitpicking. The version of Cinderella used in this book can be traced to the French fairy tale. While many place names in this book are clearly French-inspired – Mersailles, Lille, Chione – the author does not stick with this French theme throughout the story. Although a few characters have French names (Édouard, Gabrielle, even Constance. Also Émile, though this is traditionally a man’s name), most of the characters do not. Erin? Liv? Manford? Isla? Morgan? Not to mention Sophia and Luke, who easily could have been Sophie and Luc. For worldbuilding and consistency’s sake, I wish the author would have committed one way or the other because the inconsistencies were distracting.

As I mentioned, the only reason I can really recommend this book is for the inclusive representation. It’s an easy enough read with a fun twist on the classic fairytale and important elements of girls overthrowing the patriarchy. However, the unfulfilling execution of its promising premise left a lot to be desired

Thank you to Bloomsbury YA via Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. ...more

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May 30, 2020 Ari rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-reads, netgalley-arc

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. BLOG | Instagram | Twitter | Amazon | Waterstones

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

"I think we sometimes make the mistake of thinking monsters
are abhorrent aberrations, lurking in the darkest recesses,
when the truth is far more disturbing.
The most monstrous of men are those who sit in plain sight,
daring you to challenge them."

I've never been a fan of the Cinderella fairytale. It's a lovely fairytale, don't get me wrong. And I certainly a ...more

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Nov 18, 2019 ˗ˏˋliaˎˊ˗ marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2020-releases, tbr-all, tbr-ebooks, bookopoly-fantasy, bookopoly-darkcover

you had me at "queer black girls overthrowing the patriarchy" ...more

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Jul 06, 2020 Lex Kent rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: f-f-adventure-fantasy, romance, ya-or-na, magic, lgbtq

3.50 Stars. I’m a huge fan of fairytale retellings so this was one of my more anticipated books of the year. I noticed that the early reviews seemed to be a bit mixed. People either loved the book or didn’t seem to like it much at all. I was wondering where I was going to fall and it looks like I came in right in the middle. I liked the read but I didn’t love it like I was hoping to.

I thought the premise was great and I liked this unique spin on Cinderella. The problem I had was that I was hopin 3.50 Stars. I’m a huge fan of fairytale retellings so this was one of my more anticipated books of the year. I noticed that the early reviews seemed to be a bit mixed. People either loved the book or didn’t seem to like it much at all. I was wondering where I was going to fall and it looks like I came in right in the middle. I liked the read but I didn’t love it like I was hoping to.

I thought the premise was great and I liked this unique spin on Cinderella. The problem I had was that I was hoping for more world building. Maybe it’s the fantasy geek in me but that is always important to me. Because the world building was lacking, the world seemed so small. A Kingdom, and some woods and that were basically it. There is talk about a book that one of the character’s families made on their travels. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really lead to anything which is a shame because I loved the potential there.

I also thought that the characters could use some meat on them. I liked the main Sophia and I liked that she wanted to take down the evil patriarchy, but why? Just because she doesn’t like how crappy things are. I wanted to know what really drove her, where her inner strength came from and I wanted to see her character grow more. This was so very similar to the world building because what was there about the characters were nice, but I wanted and needed more.

I was very happy with the pace of the book. Even at times when I was a little frustrated or I thought something was too predictable, I was still flying through the pages. The story is very easy to read and it never bogged down anywhere. Any fantasy fan knows how fantasy can slow way down, so this pace was a pleasant surprise.

There is a WLW romance in this book. I don’t know why but every romance in a YA fantasy I have been reading lately has been too insta-love. This is a fairytale and I expected quick, but this was too fast. One look and our main is over her ex in a heartbeat. On the good side, if you can get past the insta-love, I found the romance to be sweet. If only it had more time for a connection to build I would have enjoyed it so much more.

My favorite part ended up being a person and that was the fairy godmother. I loved the twist from the story of what she actually was. I won’t go into much here since I don’t want to spoiler anything but she was the best part of this book for me. Finally, the book didn’t seem so predictable and she was by far the most interesting character. There was some good stuff in this book with tons of potential, but it just didn’t all come together.

This ended up being a slightly above average YA fantasy read for me. There are issues with this story but I think I would still recommend this to fans of fairytale retellings. It’s very readable with a nice fast pace, just be prepared for some bumps.

An ARC was given to me for an honest review.
...more

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Sep 10, 2020 C.G. Drews rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: retelling, young-adult, epic-fantasy, read-2020

It's time for Cinderella with a very very different twist. Which I am so here for! Also completely in love with this cover (both editions really) and just how furious women in beautiful ballgowns ready to destroy the patriarchy is actually very very lovely 😭I also read this in just one evening and loved being able to be submersed in the world. It read easily, but with leaves you with themes to deeply mull over.

so what's the story
First off, it wasn't what I was expecting (NOT a bad thing!) but I' ...more

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Nov 21, 2020 Nilufer Ozmekik rated it really liked it · review of another edition

If you expect to read to a charming, sweet fairy tale, a hearts and flowers kind of sweet,soft, swoon story, just close the book! And find yourself another read!
Because this is twisty, bloody bleak, harsh, dark, deliciously disturbing and dystopian version of the fairytale, a unique, creative, refreshing retelling! And I truly devoured it ! It was fun, smart, original , great work!

The book takes place in a horrifying, nightmarish world where the abusive monsters govern and the women are prope If you expect to read to a charming, sweet fairy tale, a hearts and flowers kind of sweet,soft, swoon story, just close the book! And find yourself another read!
Because this is twisty, bloody bleak, harsh, dark, deliciously disturbing and dystopian version of the fairytale, a unique, creative, refreshing retelling! And I truly devoured it ! It was fun, smart, original , great work!

The book takes place in a horrifying, nightmarish world where the abusive monsters govern and the women are properties of them with no free will, independence! You can start screaming! I exactly did the same when I was reading those chapters about the king who is living breathing, detestable monster!

All those innocent women suffer from humiliation, threats and more abuse they can hardly stand for. Only way out for them attending to a ball and being chosen by proper candidate. If nobody chooses them they have to face a terrifying kind of threatening future awaits unwanted women. They get suspiciously vanished into thin air as if they have been never there at the first place.

Our Sophia is straightforward, brave, a true rebellious who is afraid of speaking from her heart is in love with childhood friend Erin but her mother pushes her to choose a boy, finding an appropriate match to marry at the ball. Of course Sophia rejects to be chosen by a guy she will never feel anything serious! She’s proud to be gay! So this is end of discussion!

She runs away from ball, hiding herself at Cinderella mausoleum, meeting with Constance , last descendant of Cinderella and her lovely (okay, I wrote it to make sure you still read my review with full attention, of course they were grumpy and irritating) step sisters. Constance is a bold, risk taker, straight forward, true vigilante who wants to fight against the patriarchy and she finds the perfect companion to complete the mission! Hurray! Girl power!

I loved this twisty version of story with great, thought provoking criticism of patriarchy and Sophia is well crafted, relatable, powerful character we may truly support and chant for!

I’m giving my four dark retelling, moving, great queer representation, riveting stars!
What a fantastic, moving, provocative, powerful ride! ...more

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Aug 16, 2020 Abby rated it really liked it

I thoroughly enjoyed the first few chapters of this book, I was instantly captivated and moved by the authors powerful words that held true not just within the story.
I did feel as though the story began to fall a little flat after the initial world building and character constructions (which were fantastic) but I enjoyed the narrative and the inclusivity of the story. I loved the re-imagination of the classic tale and was left feeling inspired.

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Jul 18, 2020 Peyton Reads rated it really liked it

4.5 stars

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Jun 18, 2020 Angela Staudt rated it it was ok

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cinderella is Dead was a highly anticipated book for me, I absolutely love retellings and was quite excited when I was approved on NetGalley for an eARC. Well, it wasn't what I had hoped for, I thought the plot was very bland and reminded me of every other YA fantasy plot. I didn't see anything unique about the storyline and the main character drove me up the wall. Like, I get that she wants to over throw the patriarchy and I'm all ...more

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Jul 21, 2020 Catherine rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, lgbtqiap

I did it. I finished this book. This rating is painful for me, because I was honestly expecting to at least like it. This isn't an awful book, but I usually follow the goodreads rating system and one star doesn't always mean I hate it. It can also mean that I didn't like anything about the story and the characters. I considered giving it two stars for the representation, which is the only good thing about this book, but I decided that would be condescending instead of supportive - which doesn't I did it. I finished this book. This rating is painful for me, because I was honestly expecting to at least like it. This isn't an awful book, but I usually follow the goodreads rating system and one star doesn't always mean I hate it. It can also mean that I didn't like anything about the story and the characters. I considered giving it two stars for the representation, which is the only good thing about this book, but I decided that would be condescending instead of supportive - which doesn't mean I don't understand why people gave it two stars instead of one for this reason.

Cinderella Is Dead is a book that many people have been talking about before it was released, which is normal: a Cinderella retelling with a twist, girls fighting patriarchy, a black heroine and a f/f romance, of course I was excited to read it too. While Cinderella has never been one of my favorites fairytales, I do love retellings and the whole point of it is that it can make something you weren't that crazy about so much more interesting. Unfortunately, I realized very fast that this book wasn't for me. Literally nothing is working, everything I was expecting and excited for fell flat.

The heroine is totally uninteresting, which is mostly due to the writing. This is the author's debut, which leaves room for improvement and I hope this will be the case. I don't want the author to tell me things, I want the author to show me those things. I don't want the author to tell me why the heroine do this or think a certain way, I want the author to show it to me, to give the heroine a real personality and story that explains her thoughts and actions. It's to the point that instead of rooting for Sophia to rebel against misogyny and homophobia, I found her annoying. Why does Sophia rebel? Because this is an awful society to live in? That would make sense and it was what I wanted, but here it's because I'm told that awful people would never let her be happy. Show me, don't just tell me.

The society Sophia lives in is also a caricature. Like, honestly, I was supposed to be revolted, right? But instead, I was just rolling my eyes at how every man in this book (except three of them) was so misogynistic and homophobic. I think that since we already live in a society full of that discrimination, the caricature wasn't needed to understand how awful it is. And the villain is no exception when it comes to the caricature. It would probably make a good Disney movie, and I love Disney movies, but that's not what I wanted from this book. In fact, the writing, the plot, the characters: I felt like I was reading a MG book, not a YA book. There's absolutely nothing wrong with MG of course, they're just not my favorite books and not what I was expecting when I picked this book.

Is it saved by an amazing f/f romance? Unfortunately, no. Sophia forgets her first love interest as soon as she meets another girl, and bam, instalove. Said love interest has no more depth than Sophia or any other character in this book, and I didn't care about them. In fact, the only characters that seemed to be interesting (Luke and Fairy Godmother) are barely there. The other point that got on my nerves was the french names of characters and places mixed with others names that are definitely not french. I don't really see the point, and it just serves to make the world-building even weaker.

Probably my biggest disappointment of the year, I know this book is already loved by many readers and I'm glad they had a great time reading this book. I don't think many people will be happy with my rating, but that's okay, I'm prepared. ...more

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Oct 27, 2020 Gavin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-reads

I can't wait to discuss this one with the Read, Rate, Review folk on my channel on November 7th! ...more

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May 13, 2020 charlotte, (½ of readsrainbow) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: aoc-et-al, lgbt, f-lgbt, necromancy, lgbtq-authors, ya-or-mg-lit, retellings-or-adaptations, m-lgbt-side, 2-stars, black-or-african-characters

“It’ll be me,” I say. “I will find myself.”

On my blog.

Rep: Black lesbian mc, lesbian li, gay side character

CWs: misogyny, domestic abuse, racism, homophobia, implied suicide of a side character, death

Galley provided by publisher

Cinderella is Dead is a book that basically cements my belief that YA fantasy is not for me anymore. This book, for someone who is still into that genre (and maybe a few years ago that would have been me), is perfect. I am not that someone.

So. Firstly. Why you mig ...more

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May 20, 2019 Dia marked it as 2020-releases

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy

" queer black girls team up to overthrow the patriarchy in the former kingdom of Cinderella"

just take my money ...more

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Mar 06, 2020 Nenia ✨️ I yeet my books back and forth ✨️ Campbell marked it as wishlist

THIS SOUNDS AMAZING

Currently on sale for $1.99 for Prime Day!!!

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Oct 12, 2020 Romie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: buddy-read, sapphic, fantasy, 2020-releases, poc, queer-books

I want you to understand that giving this book such a low rating does not make me happy. I thought the first 1/3 was very engaging, fast paced, and I really liked all the characters introduced.
but the other 2/3 simply did not do it for me. I thought the story was extremely predictable (not one plot twist shocked me) and everything was too much on the surface. the characters felt very much 2 dimensional, and some of their actions did not make sense. some characters were vilified simply to make ot ...more

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Aug 08, 2020 Sara rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: retellings, fiction, young-adult, lgbtq, fantasy, arc

ARC received in exchange for an honest review 👸🏾

3.5 stars.

Cinderella is dead but her story lives on. Sophia has been raised in a society that owes everything to Prince Charming and Cinderella. The world faced unimaginable famine and death before Charming swept in to rescue the lands 200 years ago – and ever since the kingdom has ruled under a munificent king who makes it law to remember Cinderella’s story and her sacrifice. But generosity can only extend so far, and as such every women must adhe ARC received in exchange for an honest review 👸🏾

3.5 stars.

Cinderella is dead but her story lives on. Sophia has been raised in a society that owes everything to Prince Charming and Cinderella. The world faced unimaginable famine and death before Charming swept in to rescue the lands 200 years ago – and ever since the kingdom has ruled under a munificent king who makes it law to remember Cinderella’s story and her sacrifice. But generosity can only extend so far, and as such every women must adhere to strict rules that leave them completely at the hands of their husbands and fathers. They have no rights of their own, no free speech, and every year at the age of 16 they must attend a ball at the palace to hopefully be ‘chosen’ as a bride. Those not chosen must be ‘forfeit’, and never return home. Sophia is different from those she has grown up with. She doesn’t want a husband – all she wants is Erin. But when disaster strikes at her first ball, she must take a dangerous journey to find her freedom, and discover the true history of Cinderella and her place in this story.

To start with the positives, I really enjoyed the beginning of this. The setup is done really well, with some decent descriptions of the village Sophia lives in to give off an unsettling fairy tale vibe in a dystopian setting. Sophia’s friendship group is also quite sweet, with an obvious close bond with Erin, and affection for best friend Liv. They share a common concern for each other, and in the beginning are all very supportive, and it was nice to see. I also loved to see a strong YA queer black protagonist. Sophia’s is just is who she is, beautiful and strong, and I want to see more YA fantasy novels that explore the black narrative away from that of just the traumas of the past. To make her Sapphic, and have Sophia just accept that this is who she is made her even better. More publishing houses need to take note that in 2020, this is the kind of diversity we want on the market.

I also liked Sophia’s character for the most part. She’s brave and strong, someone who knows her own mind. She knows she’s ‘different’, but she doesn’t want a knight in shining armour. She wants to be the knight. She wants to make her own decisions, and not live her life being controlled by a cruel husband. And she’ll do it at any cost. I know some people may see this as selfish, but I prefer to think that Sophia is thinking of the greater good. Change comes at a cost, and it’s one she’s willing to take. She doesn’t want to conform to what one man thinks is acceptable. She also raises some important points about society, and the power men have over women – even good men turn a blind eye to the suffering. However, I do think at times it got a little bit too heavy handed.

In terms of the pacing and plot, I do think at times that the story itself becomes more illogical as it goes along. The small amount of back story we are presented with about Prince Charming, Cinderella and the following king’s feels overly complicated, and after the ball scenes, everything starts to unravel – almost as if the author didn’t really know where to take the story, and had too many ideas. We begin to skip over large portions of time when travelling with Constance and Sophia, meaning I never felt a strong connection between the two, and we never really see the two develop the kind of relationship the author is going for. Their pairing always feels a little disingenuous as a result. Everything also feels a little too convenient, as though Sophia falls into her plans and ideas rather quickly and easily.

The writing is ok, if a little on the simplistic side, and some of the lines used are a bit cheesy, but I think this will appeal to a younger YA audience. It was certainly easy enough to read, as well as being quick. The world building is also severely lacking at times – I don’t feel as though we really got to explore much of Sophia’s world outside of the very limited places Sophia herself visits. I also would have liked to have seen more of a motive and backstory behind the fairy godmother. She was a really interesting character, with a great twist to her tale, but I wanted to see more of why she did what she did. A flashback scene probably would have really helped at a crucial moment here.

An interesting retelling with a lot of great ideas and wonderful diversity, I just think it falls a little flat in execution. ...more

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Jul 07, 2020 Xandra (StarrySkyBooks) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: june-july-tbr-2020

The Cinderella retelling we all need right now. 💕

Rating: ✭✭✭.5 (rounded to 4)

✨ Read the full review on my blog, Starry Sky Books!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA in exchange for an honest review.

Content warnings: domestic abuse, sexism, emotional infidelity, misogyny

When I requested this book, I was very intrigued by the premise. Everyone was saying “Black queer Cinderella takes down the patriarchy” and I was like, absolutely! I’ve always loved to hear about fairytale r ...more

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Nov 12, 2020 Lin (I have no idea what's going on) rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, linley-s-january-challange-shelf

Edit: re-reading for royal bookies! Prompt: A book written in 2020

NOOOO!!! ITS OVER!!!! WHY!!!!!!! I FREAKING LOVED THIS BOOK.
Okay first off the twist on the tale was so good. I was in love with the plot, and the world building was some of the best I've seen.
Spoilers!!!

Here's the true story.

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Cinderella, in a corrupted kingdom. Her parents tried to fight back, but were executed. Her loving step family were the only ones who could give her comfort. He met a ...more

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Jun 29, 2020 Alaina rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, 2020-ng, fiction, young-adult, retellings, lgbtqa, romance, fairy-tales, 2020-arcs

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Not going to lie, when I saw that I was accepted to read Cinderella Is Dead I most definitely screamed and geeked out. I was a giddy kid and weirdly enough wanted to watch all the Cinderella movies known to man. After reading this, I will definitely do that very thing.

In this, you will meet Sophia who is a 16 year old girl. She is stubborn and in love with a girl named Erin. Unfortunately, their romance is forbidden and the ...more

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Jul 18, 2020 Grüffeline rated it really liked it · review of another edition

"When the leader of this kingdom treats women as property, it sets an awful precedent. People think it's okay to do the same."

4.25 stars
Oh my! An amazing debut! I can't believe how wrapped up in this story I got.
I loved Sophia from the start and I totally hated the ruler and the king. I cannot go into further detail without spoilers but this book is an awesome fairytale retelling. I can only recommend it.
(Also: the mc is poc and lesbian, just in case anyone was looking for a book like that. ...more

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Nov 06, 2020 Cardia ༆ rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020-read

Despite the fact that our heroine was reckless and always in a hurry to attack without any plans, I'm giving it 4 stars because of the ending and the retelling. I'd say I like the twist on Cinderella's story here more than the original. Dark and twisted. ...more

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Sep 06, 2020 Lilly M rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I don’t know what happened here. I was prepared to write this review and I completely forgot. Oh well it’s here now

Plot
I thought the plot was really good, honestly, it was my favorite part about this book. It was really exciting, there were some good plot twists in there and I thought it was really good. It fit its synopsis, which I love because I feel like a lot of books have an awesome synopsis and then it’s a really trashy book. One complaint is that the final-ish plot twist (I don’t really k I don’t know what happened here. I was prepared to write this review and I completely forgot. Oh well it’s here now

Plot
I thought the plot was really good, honestly, it was my favorite part about this book. It was really exciting, there were some good plot twists in there and I thought it was really good. It fit its synopsis, which I love because I feel like a lot of books have an awesome synopsis and then it’s a really trashy book. One complaint is that the final-ish plot twist (I don’t really know because there were a couple of them) about the double agent confused me though. If you’ve read the book you should know what I’m talking about, but they switched sides, but then they were also on the other side and I was just confused about who’s side they were on. Sorry if that makes no sense, I have a lot of trouble explaining things when I can’t use names. Anyways, that’s how I feel about the plot.

Characters
I didn’t love the characters, to me, they were super bland, especially Sophia which makes me sad because the books centers on her. On the bright side, I love Constance. I just love certain types of characters and she was one of them. One thing I thought about the whole time I was reading this was how much Constance resembled Constance Contraire from The Mysterious Benedict Society (To all The Mysterious Benedict Society fans, sorry I think I spelled her last name wrong). I bet some of you are like, “Really? She has the same name. Yay. Are you going to say a character resembled someone else every time they have the same name?” And I know, I know, one of the reasons I thought of Constance Contraire was because her name is Constance. Sue me. But there is definitely more than that, like her temper, her stubbornness, just her personality by its self. I think that made it a really enjoyable read for me because Constance Contraire is one of my favorite characters of all time and she’s always going to be a classic character for me. Amina was fine, I didn’t love her but she was better than Sophia. I think Bayron did a really bad job of developing side characters though, either I didn’t like them, or I didn’t know them. I know there was little time to develop them, but still, try a little harder. Also, LGBTQ+ representation! There was a lot of it, it was terrific and I’m so appreciative. This book was so diverse, which is hard to come by in fantasy and it made me so happy.

Writing
I thought the writing was good, it was classic fairytale mixed with modern-day English. Bayron did a good job of mixing those, I know a lot of the time when authors do that it becomes not fun to read, and it’s so hard to perfect but she did it and I love it, so kudos to Bayron for that. Another thing that I loved was the banter. I just thought it was fun and I enjoyed it, especially between Amina and Constance. On a side note, if you haven’t noticed from some of my other reviews I’m really picky about details and I want a lot of them, but sadly this book did not provide.

Romance
Well, this is going to be a short paragraph because there wasn’t much of it. There was some insta love between Constance and Sophia, wasn’t happy about that but it could’ve been worse. There are a lot of books with horrible insta love and that wasn’t true for this book otherwise it would’ve been rated a lot less than 4 stars. Constance and Sophia... I don’t have much to say on them, I thought they were cute but we also don’t get to see them much.

Overall thoughts
I did enjoy this book, solid 4 stars and I recommend reading it. Even if it’s not something would usually want to read I think you should read it because it sends a lot of good messages and it’s so diverse. Anyways, I need to get some reading done so bye for now!
Happy reading-Lilly ...more

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Nov 01, 2020 clarissa ♡︎ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbtq, cute-couples, favorites, poc

A fairytale retelling that includes a black female lead and poc + queer representation?

Sophia and Constance are two queer girls who seek escape from a society that prevents them from being their true selves. Together, they create a plan to take down their king so they may all live in a fair and just society.

I loved reading this book. I found it fast paced and wholly captivating. I especially loved Sophia and Constance. They were independent, skilled and able to fight/stick up for themselves and ...more

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Mar 19, 2020 ♡ jules ♡ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbtq, fantasy, lets-go-lesbians, 4-stars, lets-talk-diversity, less-than-400-pages, read-in-2020, young-adult, retellings-fairytales-mythology, 2020-release

I adored this book, I'm not a huge fan of Cinderella so I was a bit meh about the concept but you say "black queer girls" and I'm sold, is that easy kids. Thank the Underworld I did.
I can absolutely say this is the only Cinderella retelling I ever liked and probably the only one I will like in the future. It dismantled everything that the fairytale represents in a better way. It shined on the problematic parts and gave it a new light.

I loved Sophia as a main character, and Constance was absolut ...more

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Jan 23, 2021 Kelly Gillan rated it really liked it

I had to take a star off because the beginning was so slow & repetitive but once the story picked up i was hooked!

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Oct 27, 2020 Jade Ratley rated it liked it · review of another edition

6.86 overall on CAWPILE.

I definitely ended up enjoying this book more than I thought I would. I was kind of expecting the romance to overshadow the plot, but in my opinion that wasn't the case, and I found the plot generally quite intriguing. The story felt very fast-paced, which for me, in this case, was a good thing, but in certain spots, this could feel a little rushed. Easy writing to fly though and found myself making swift progress through the story. I don't think this is a story that wil ...more

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“It's risky...But sometimes that's the only way to get things done. Take the risk, light the fuse. Onward.” — 20 likes

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