Disclosure: this page contains affiliate links. If you buy something on my recommendation, I will receive a small commission. Purchasing via these affiliate links won’t cost you any extra. For more details, see my privacy policy and disclosure page.
Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron Published by Bloomsbury YA on August 6, 2020
Genres: young adult, fantasy, dystopia
Format: Paperback
Buy on Amazon, Book Depository, Wordery, Barnes & Noble, Publisher, Bookshop
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.
☂️ TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Homophobia, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, sexism, corpse description, death, murder, animal death, misogyny, kidnapping, physical assault, outing of a character.
☂️ DIVERSITY: Black & queer MC, queer side characters, gay side character, f/f relationship.
There are no spoilers in this review.
I ENJOYED…
☂️
- Cinderella is Dead was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I was so, very eager to give it a try. I’m happy to say that I mostly really enjoyed it!
- One of my favorite things about this book was the world it’s set in: it’s Cinderella-inspired, but with a lot of twists and I just loved how imaginative it was. I’m not getting into the details to keep the surprise for you all, but I loved how unique and wonderful it was.
- The main character, Sophia, was amazing to follow. She’s fierce and she does not want to play by the rules of this messed-up world and it was so easy to root for her and to want to fight by her side, as well. She’s stubborn, but also so caring for the ones she loved and I appreciated that and her so, very much.
- There’s a romance in this story and, while I had my issues with it – I will mention some of them later on -, I really liked Sophia’s love interest, Constance. Just like Sophia, she has a fire inside of her and she wants to fight for what’s right, but she doesn’t give her trust easily. I found that Sophia and Constance completed each other quite well.
- One of the best things about Cinderella is Dead was how engaging it was. Once I started, I just couldn’t stop reading and wanted to know what would happen next. The second best thing was, of course, the whole queer girls fighting the patriarchy thing that had me screaming and rooting for them all from page one.
I HAD A HARD TIME WITH…
☂️
- If I rooted for the characters a lot, I also thought that they could have used a bit more development. In the end, I felt like I didn’t grasp Sophia entirely as three dimensional. There also was so much potential with the secondary characters, especially Luke, and I just wish we could have gotten to know him a little better and a little deeper.
- Paradoxally, I found Cinderella is Dead to be dragging a bit on the “big” actions, at mid-point. I know, I just said I found it really engaging and I DID, I mean, I couldn’t stop reading because I wanted to know what would happen next. That being said, I also felt like, in the middle, it wasn’t as action-packed as before and I was yearning for more to happen, a little bit.
- About the whole romance… it felt a tiny bit insta-lovey to me, which took away a bit of my enjoyment of it at first.
OVERALL
☂️
Despite its little flaws, Cinderella is Dead was so engaging and its concept so good that I just couldn’t stop reading. If you’re looking for an unique story with queer girls fighting the patriarchy, pick up this twisty Cinderella story. You should love it!
FINAL RATING : 3,5 drops!
📌 Pin the book review of Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron on Pinterest!
Did you read Cinderella is Dead or do you want to? What are some of your favorite retellings? Let me know in comments!
Twitter ☂️ Bookstagram ☂️Goodreads ☂️ Bloglovin’ ☂️ Support the blog
Sounds like an overall good one. I love this title. And I’m not really a fun of insta-love myself, but sometimes other aspects of a book can over come that for me!
I hope this will be one of them! It really was a great read overall 🙂 Thank you for stopping by! <3
Great review! I keep hearing about this. I loved lunar chronicles and Blood of stars series.
Thank you so much!! <3 I hope you'll give it a try and will enjoy it :)
Great review! I’m glad you enjoyed this one, too.
Thank you so much! 🙂
Total insta-love! I wasn’t crazy about that.
I get that, it was a bit frustrating at times!
I love that cover! And I completely agree with your review – the pacing really impacted my reading experience as well.
Oh thank you Amber, I’m so happy you agree with my review. It was still a good read overall 🙂
Great review! I keep doubting abuot picking this one up, the plot and setting sound good, but I heard more people saying they didn’t like the romance..
(www.evelynreads.com)
Oh thank you! If you’re still intrigued by the plot and setting, I’d recommend picking it up, it’s worth it to me! 😀
I totally agree that the book could have used a little more character development! Sophia started to feel very one-sided and I wanted to see her more fully throughout the story. Such a great review!
Oh thank you so, so much Annie, I’m happy you agree with me on that one 🙂
I definitely agree that this book was super unique. I also couldn’t put it down. I think I finished it all in one sitting! However, I almost expected this book to be the first in a series, because the ending was sooo rushed. I definitely think, like you, that the secondary characters could have been developed way more. I just thought that all of the falling action happened in like two seconds, that the ending seemed way too convenient for me. Everything seemed to be resolved too quickly. But, I still loved the beginning and the middle of the novel. Great review!
Oh thank you Emily! I kind of felt the same way, the pacing was a bit off to me at times. Still, I loved the world!
Thank you so much 🙂
Lovely review, Marie!! I’m happy to know you’ve enjoyed Cinderella is Dead and I also agree with you on several points! I definitely enjoyed this book and its characters, but I also thought sometimes they lacked a little something, especially when it came to Sophia and Contance’s relationship (sadly, since I was really looking forward to that). And while some scenes could have used a bit more of attention, overall it was pretty addictive!!
Oh thank you! I’m glad you agree with me on that. I was so looking forward to the romance as well and, unfortunately, it let me down a bit. Still, an addictive read overall, yes!! 🙂
Great review! I’m so intrigued by this novel and it has such a stunning cover, I’d love to cross it off my TBR before the end of the year. Something about the synopsis gives me The 10th Kingdom vibes and I loved that show! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this one overall. 🙂
Ahh I hope you’ll love it! I ADORE The 10th Kingdom, one of my favorite shows ever!! 🥺
I read Cinderella is Dead a few months ago, and I really loved it! I agree that the side characters could have been developed better, but overall I thought that the plot was really captivating, and the setting for the story was really amazing.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it as well! It was kind of captivating, yes! 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment <3 <3
I recently bought this one because it sounds so interesting. Let’s hope the insta-love doesn’t bother me too much since I’m not a big fan of that!
Oh I really hope you’ll enjoy it! 🙂
I love this review so much Marie!! Ah this book sounds so delightful and I can’t wait to read. I hope it lives up because I’ve been hearing rather mixed things welp
Oh thank you so much love! I hope you’ll read and will love it!! <3
The like button still isn’t loading 🤔 I’ll try seeing if it works in the reader.
Anyway great review. I majorly want to start getting some more retellings read soon so I’ll definitely have to check this out. It’s a shame to hear about the secondary characters needing more development though. But I’m still intrigued.
Also if you want a suggestion for another books with girls fighting the system you should check out The Once & Future Witches. It’s kind of historical fantasy and I adored it.
Oh thank you so much! I hope you’ll read and will love this book, it was still a really entertaining read 🙂
And Ahh I’ve heard incredible things about this author’s books, I’ll have to check them out 🙂
Thanks. I’m hoping to order it into the library later on this year. And I hope you enjoy them if/when you read anything by her.