Name: Bec's review of Cinderella Boy by Kristina Meister
Item: Cinderella Boy
Rating: 4
Author: Bec

Kristina Meister

Being perfect isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sixteen-year-old Declan is the perfect son . . . except for one tiny issue. When his sister Delia comes home to find him trying on her clothes, he fears her judgment, but she only fears his fashion choices. One quick makeover later, Declan is transformed into Delia's mysterious cousin Layla and dragged to the party of the year, hosted by Carter, the most popular boy in school. When Carter meets Layla, he fumbles to charm her. He adores her sense of humor and her poise. But when she vanishes in the middle of the night, he's left confused and determined to solve the mystery of who she is. As their school year begins, their high school embraces a policy of intolerance, and both Declan and Carter know they must stand up. Carter is tired of being a coward and wants to prove he can be a knight in shining armor. Declan is sick of being bullied and wants desperately to be himself. If they team up, it could be a fairy-tale ending, or a very unhappy ever after.

Cinderella Boy

Allie Herrington

I received a free review copy of this book from Netgalley.

Librarian: This is a super cute, trans-positive, romance. I think it will make an excellent addition to the library's retellings section. I look forward to recommending it.
Reader: As I said this book is super cute. And it manages to keep the suspense, (and anguish) without going overboard. Romance is not normally my genre, too overblown, but this one does a good job of balancing the sweet/sappy with the melodrama. This is a good choice for anyone looking for an GLBT romance.

Trigger warnings: (view spoiler)[queermisia, queermisic/homomisic language (hide spoiler)]

This book is brilliant in so many ways, it was moving and relatable, and I laughed and cried. I also cringed a bit. Despite the absolutely fantastic job that Meister did with this publication, there were a few moments that rubbed me the wrong way that I want to discuss. 



  
    "As long as he avoided discussing half of his identity, he could slip under the radar."
  


This book leaves a lot to unpack; from talks about sexuality, gender and self presentation, to love and lust, civil rights and LGBTQ+ support it would be easy to think this would be a heavy book. 

But it's not. 

With a lot of the fluffiness of a typical YA contemporary, this book explores some really important issues with sugar-coating or feeling too serious. A tough feat if you ask me. 

The characters are absolutely incredible. Dee, Dex's older sister, is a force to be reckoned with and someone everyone should aspire to be more like. Despite her sometimes dubious advise, her heart is always in the right place and can we talk about her conversation with Dex regarding his identity?! I want to say it's one of the best, and still most authentic, coming out scenes I have ever read. It made me bawl, not gonna lie.

Carter is a gem. He is not what he appears and his growth throughout the book is phenomenal. While not my favourite character, by the end he was truly deserving of everything he ended up with and it couldn't make me happier.

Dex is of course our MC. The authenticity of his feelings, his attempts to fit in, but also blend into the background, while sorting out who he is, but also how he wants to be seen, is something that I think any LGBTQ+ person can relate to. His mistakes and victories only added depth and dimension to his character. 

(Even the side characters had fantastic growth! Shout out to Goat my gorgeous bean!)



  
    "Sometimes he was okay with jeans, and others he desperately wanted to wear a dress; he wanted to be both and do both simultaneously, and the only way to accomplish that was to have an alter ego."
  


The LGBTQ+ diversity is obviously amazingly present in this book. There were times however where I was surprised a situation wasn't handled better. 

For example, (view spoiler)[when we first meet Chloe, an androgynous lesbian, Dex is unsure if they identify as a male or female. And yet, the rest of the discussion about Chloe uses pronouns her and she, and refers to Chloe as 'the girl'.

Nothing major, but I personally felt a little uncomfy about this and was surprised Meister didn't make more of an effort to include neutral pronouns.

And then there was the (kind of?) outing that went under the radar. 

Now there were two main outings that occur in this book, one that is discussed and one that is not. The first outing is what we are discussing, when someone turns Dex into a hero because he knocked out someone who called him a homomisic slur. Despite this being something that was done with good intentions and not strictly outing him, it put Dex's sexuality under the spotlight and resulted in his coming out at school. While the outing in this story was not particularly harmful to the queer person in question, what it could have been, the potential damage involved, and the fact that noone has the right or privilege to out another person. 

This isn't something that should be okay and normalized, because the harm that can arise from such a situation. It really disappointed me that this was included but not explored. Even the second outing, the school principal contacting parents regarding their sexuality and support of LGBTQ+, which was dealt with more seriousness wasn't readily explored and it felt like a missed opportunity. (hide spoiler)]



  
    "Reality does not rely upon your opinions, Principal Taggert. Complex sexualities exist, whether or not you understand them, whether or not you possess one."
  



Despite these concerns, this book has SO MUCH going for it that I couldn't give it a rating lower then 4-stars. It is still going on my list of favourite books of 2018!


  Note: Review copy (audio) received via NetGalley. This does not impact opinions within this review.


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Happy reading! ❤

Bec &
Cinderella Boy by Kristina Meister

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Bec &Cinderella Boy by Kristina Meister

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Bec &
Cinderella Boy by Kristina Meister