Review - Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

 

 

Title: Cinderella Is Dead

Author: Kalynn Bayron

Pages: 400

Publisher: Bloomsbury YA

Release Date: 6th August 2020

 

Blurb from 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 forfeited.

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. 

 

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My Review:

 *I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) and NetGalley*

Everyone knows the story of how Cinderella fell in love with Prince Charming and lived happily ever after.

Every girl dreams of the night of the royal ball, a compulsory event when girls have the chance to be chosen as a bride by the men attending.

Sophia has been dreading having to go to the ball. In love with her best friend, Erin, Sophia hopes to escape with her so that they can live the life they want instead of the life the king has made for them - a life where women have no control or freedom.

When the night of the ball comes around, everything goes wrong and Sophia finds herself on the run. Hiding in Cinderella's tomb, Sophia meets someone willing to help her.

Can Sophia bring an end to the cruel king's reign?

Going into Cinderella Is Dead, I was really excited to read it as I'd heard lots of good things about it. However, I ended up being disappointed, unfortunately.

Sophia was an okay protagonist, but I never felt like I really connected with her and none of the characters really stood out for me.

At first, I enjoyed what I was reading, but the more I read, the more I found my enjoyment waning. I struggled to stay interested in the plot and I wasn't invested in what was happening. There was one twist I didn't see coming, but the rest of the plot was fairly predictable.

The themes were important and I liked the diversity.

I wasn't a big fan of the romance as I couldn't feel the connection between the characters and it felt a bit rushed to me. However, I did like that it was an F/F romance.

The writing style was what I struggled with the most - I found the dialogue odd and there were a few times where the a line of dialogue drew me out of the book, making it hard to stay immersed.

I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more as I liked the premise. Unfortunately, this was a book where the execution didn't didn't work for me.

Overall, this was an okay but disappointing read.