I received this book for free from Netgalley, Tandam Collective in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
Published by Bloomsbury YA on August 6, 2020
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 389
Format: E-Arc, Paperback
Source: Netgalley, Tandam Collective
Buy on Amazon
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.

So I read Cinderella Is Dead a little while ago and I have to be honest I have been sitting on this review for a while.

I adored this book and it was exactly want I needed at the time. When I started reading I was in a bit of a slump and I only read this because I was taking part in a readalong on Instagram with Tandem Collective. I think I would have picked up this book at some point. But I definitely picked it up faster because of the readalong.

And this is what I needed. This was a fast read that had me hooked from the very first word. I actually ignored my readalong prompts just so I could binge read this book. Because I was hooked and was desperate to know what was happening.

I loved Sophia and her story. She was perfect and refused to bow down to the rules that she found idiotic. She was determined to find her place in the world. Even if it means that she has to break the rules. And there is Constance. She is the perfect partner for Sophia. Both of them have a spark which grow throughout the book and I was completely shipping it.

I loved this retelling which instead of being a carbon copy of the original, turns it on its head and makes you question how accurate the original is. Are the step sisters really evil? Was it true love? There is only one way to find out.

For me the only negative is that the book finished too fast. I actually felt like it could have been longer. Maybe a duology, maybe a hundred extra pages. I’m not sure, all I know is that I wanted more!

Cinderella Is Dead was an amazing book! I cannot wait to forget all about it so that I can read it all over again. I honestly loved this book and cannot wait to see what Kalynn has in store for us with her next book!

Subscribe to Blog via Email