Cinderella is Dead eARC Review

GoodReads:

It’s 200 years since Cinderella found her prince, but the fairytale is over.

Sophia knows the story though, off by heart. Because every girl has to recite it daily, from when she’s tiny until the night she’s sent to the royal ball for choosing. And every girl knows that she has only one chance. For the lives of those not chosen by a man at the ball . are forfeit.

But Sophia doesn’t want to be chosen – she’s in love with her best friend, Erin, and hates the idea of being traded like cattle. And when Sophia’s night at the ball goes horribly wrong, she must run for her life. Alone and terrified, she finds herself hiding in Cinderella’s tomb. And there she meets someone who will show her that she has the power to remake her world.

Book Details
Title: Cinderella is Dead
By: Kalynn Bayron
Publication Date: August 6, 2020
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Page Count: 400
Format: Hardcover (U.S.), Paperback (U.K.), eBook, Kindle

My Review

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH AND I’M NOT SURE I CAN PUT INTO WORDS WHY.

Do you like Cinderella? Or do you like retellings that make a somewhat one-dimensional character a bit more 3D? Do you like pretty dresses? F/F couples? IF you said yes to any/all, well, hold onto your horses!

Ah! Such a fantastic tale! I’m a huge Cinderella fan, and the retellings always tend to be so creative, but this is one of my top two favorites yet!

Bayron gives you the whimsy and magic of the Disney version while also giving you the darkness of the original Grimms tale. She stays true to both while creating something entirely her own.

It’s almost a historical dystopian somehow! Cinderella has been gone 200 years but the tale of her magical night at the ball and marrying the Prince guides Lille on how they live their lives, the women in particular. They are required to attend the ball and present themselves to their King and suitors, to be claimed. They have three years, three chances, and no one knows what happens after they’re forced to forfeit/after their parents forfeit them.

Sophia doesn’t want to go to the ball, she doesn’t want a husband or to live Cinderella’s fairytale, she wants to be with her best friend Erin, the same girl who is her first and current love. But this isn’t possible in Lille.

Our MC is stubborn, loyal, kindhearted, and strong. I loved so much about her and her journey was one I thoroughly enjoyed.

The story is well-paced, and it takes time to build up toward Sophia’s shining moment, she’s made choices and follows through with each one. I loved her interactions with Constance and found that Amina was my overall favorite character because Bayron just wrote her so BRILLIANTLY.

The fact that the first love may or may not be the true/final love of this book was also a huge point for me, I like that, it’s different from a lot of the YA that I’ve read.

I’m gushing, I know, but I adored this book and can’t wait for it’s UK release. 4/5 cups of coffee from me, thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

About the Author

Kalynn Bayron is an author and classically trained vocalist. She grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. When she’s not writing you can find her listening to Ella Fitzgerald on loop, attending the theater, watching scary movies, and spending time with her kids. She currently lives in San Antonio, Texas with her family.