Name: Kayla's review of Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
Item: Cinderella Is Dead
Rating: 3.75
Author: Kayla

Kalynn Bayron

"Wholly original and captivating." - Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times bestselling author of A Curse So Dark and Lonely Girls team up to overthrow the kingdom in this unique and powerful retelling of Cinderella from a stunning new voice that's perfect for fans of A Curse So Dark and Lonely. It's 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl's display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again. Sixteen-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors. At the ball, Sophia makes the desperate decision to flee, and finds herself hiding in Cinderella's mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her step sisters. Together they vow to bring down the king once and for all--and in the process, they learn that there's more to Cinderella's story than they ever knew . . . This fresh take on a classic story will make readers question the tales they've been told, and root for girls to break down the constructs of the world around them.

Cinderella Is Dead

"If you dare touch her, I will end you. Is that in any way unclear?"

"From the look of things down here, it seems you've cost me quite a bit of money."

"Only tyrants deal in the sale of human beings."

"Maybe don't try to stab every man you see," Amina shoots back.

Constance looks at me and shrugs. "It's a habit."

Have you ever thought about what kind of person would have a child and name it Charming?"

A good book to read when you are angry with the world.

Money, power, class, all those things come into play, but the founding tenet of our laws is that women, no matter their standing, are at the mercy of the fickle whims of men.

People call them laugh lines, but I'm certain hers are from frowning.

Nina May

"I don't care how I seem to other people," she says, lean- ing in very close to me. But I would very much like to know how you see me." [...]"You're Smart. Funny. You knocked out a man with one blow-"

Sasha Mann

Shoes made of glass are an accident waiting to happen.

Marie

Robin Elbersen

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 ... An electrifying twist on the classic fairytale that will inspire girls to break out of limiting stereotypes and follow their dreams!

the_bookishcat

"Queer black girls team up to overthrow the patriarchy in the former kingdom of Cinderella"--

Sophie Wright

Porsha Hoskins

Ellaline Cami

Kayla

Interesting take on a post Cinderella world. Original and thrilling. Quick read. Loved!

Amanda 

I feel baddd rating it so low but I feel like it had soo much potential and i thought it was gonna be really good at the beginning, but them it just went bad…

Like most of the characters were kinda just missing dimension or something and the ending felt rushed and weird. And like towards the middle of the book it just went downhill.

I do think the concept was good and it had alot of potential but could have been written better:(

It was okay and I do like the vibe it gives off tho 

Amelie

I feel baddd rating it so low but I feel like it had soo much potential and i thought it was gonna be really good at the beginning, but them it just went bad…

Like most of the characters were kinda just missing dimension or something and the ending felt rushed and weird. And like towards the middle of the book it just went downhill.

I do think the concept was good and it had alot of potential but could have been written better:(

It was okay and I do like the vibe it gives off tho 

I'd been wanting to read this since I was 12, and I mean now that i've read it, I'm sure I would have loved it. But obviously, having read many more impactful novels, this one wasn't great. At all. It was slow, and boring, and I practically was skimming the entire time I read it. BUT. The plot was so addictive I just read the whole book because I so badly wanted to see what happens at the end. Needless to say, the ending was worse than bad. It wasn't very satisfying but it's nice to say I read it. 

surtified™

Kaitlin Simpson

This book disappointed me. I wanted and expected more. Granted it is a unique and different take on the classic tale. Don’t get me wrong, the book is fine. It was just missing something and I can’t put my finger on it.

Bria

Tbh this book is just alright to me but the mc is black and queer so it gets an automatic star

Sarah Sammis

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron is a retelling of Cinderella. It reads like a blend of Ash by Malinda Lo (2009) and You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson (2020).

Kalynn Bayron imagines a kingdom that has built its entire culture and laws around the ball where Cinderella won the heart of Prince Charming. But it's an oppressive one, fixated on a strict gender binary. The king is all powerful and everyone else, save for a few elite families, can't leave.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comm...

Couple	Wild lands	Offroad	339966

"Wholly original and captivating." Brigid, you lied. If I hadn't read Bayron's This Poison Heart duology before this, I would have immediately DNF-ed.

I was so overwhelmingly bored by how underwhelming this story was. Sure, so many things were happening and yet nothing mattered to me.

It's a good book to read when you're angry with the world and angry with men, but even as someone who is perpetually in that state, I just wanted it to be over. I skimmed through the last 70% of the book.

I didn't feel anything for the plot twists (the King's secret was obvious from when it was first brought up.)

 i honestly love Charming from Cinderella III so I can't imagine him in this.

"Wholly original and captivating." Brigid, you lied. If I hadn't read Bayron's This Poison Heart duology before this, I would have immediately DNF-ed.

I was so overwhelmingly bored by how underwhelming this story was. Sure, so many things were happening and yet nothing mattered to me.

It's a good book to read when you're angry with the world and angry with men, but even as someone who is perpetually in that state, I just wanted it to be over. I skimmed through the last 70% of the book.

I didn't feel anything for the plot twists (the King's secret was obvious from when it was first brought up.)

Also, https://pin.it/4CD7Z4a i honestly love Charming from Cinderella III so I can't imagine him in this.

kyra

** spoiler alert **
           Fascinating premise, characters with high potential, but I was let down. 

The first quarter seemed like foundations for world building but then, the telling instead of showing just doesn't stop all the way to the end. The romance seems fabricated and the characters seem to have zero chemistry. I was happy to see Sophia show a bit of character development, but found it impossible to feel anything for Constance. I love morally gray characters, so I found Amina interesting and wished we'd seen more than 4 paragraphs of her polarity (+she's the main villain!). The King was equally interesting, but their story feels so incomplete, I didn't feel like the story had reached a satisfying climax. 

Kudos for the concept, nervertheless.

book was good but long at some parts, i thought it was predictable

Ilse van Seeters

Briar's Reviews

Cinderella is Dead is a great YA novel mixing fairy tales together, and featuring a strong female lead who's into women (for once, my fairy tales have women loving women... it's great!).

The premise and thought behind this book is incredible, but it didn't live up to the hype for me. Especially since I judged a book by it's cover and picked it up because it is just so gorgeous. I still think it's a great read since I love YA and I adore fairy tale retellings. Picking this book up was definitely something I'm glad I did, but it wasn't as good as I hoped. I think if the story had been a fair bit shorter (400 pages was a LOT for this story), if the action picked up sooner or if the romance was featured a bit more that it would have stuck the landing for me, but it just kinda felt... meh. It felt like barely enough of each piece. 

Also... I wanted more of Luke. And the bad guys were crazy bad and didn't feel like they could be people. I think there was also a lot more that could have been done with the myths and lores of Cinderella and fairy tales, but it wasn't explored all that much.

But man, the cover is a beauty.

Three out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

"Wholly original and captivating." - Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times bestselling author of A Curse So Dark and Lonely Girls team up to overthrow the kingdom in this unique and powerful retelling of Cinderella from a stunning new voice that's perfect for fans of Dhonielle Clayton and Melissa Albert. It's 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl's display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again. Sixteen-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors. At the ball, Sophia makes the desperate decision to flee, and finds herself hiding in Cinderella's mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her step sisters. Together they vow to bring down the king once and for all--and in the process, they learn that there's more to Cinderella's story than they ever knew . . . This fresh take on a classic story will make readers question the tales they've been told, and root for girls to break down the constructs of the world around them.

Athen Renee Schubert

A really nice read with the reinvented fairy tale of Cinderella. The book was quite fast-paced but sadly a bit to predictable 

Purple Moon

Solid fantasy book with good plot and meaning, would recommend for a longer train/plain etc. 

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I recommend ages 12+. Page turning, addictive and meaningful.

Jafe

Kelly

I wanted so badly to love this book. I love that this retelling of Cinderella has such a diverse case. Seeing representation in YA is SO important, but aside from that… there was nothing I liked about this book. 

The plot, for the most part, was SO predictable. The few things that were surprising were incredibly underdeveloped to the point where they just seemed thrown in for the sake of a plot twist. There was 0 foreshadowing. 

The dialogue is cringy and bordering on cliche. It made it hard to get into the book and to like the characters. 

The characters often seem…forgotten about. Sophia’s motivations change throughout the book—first she’s fighting for Erin, then for freedom, then for a hate of the king, then for Constance. Erin, Liv, and Luke all disappear and reappear and are rarely mentioned in between. 

Overall, A+ for representation, but everything else was lacking.

Gillian Rose

3.5 stars.

It was such an interesting idea for a retelling, but the execution kinda fell flat for me. Constance was amazing.

Evelina

2.5 stars.

Honestly I expected more from this book. The beginning was exciting I thought I would love the story, but after that it was just not good. The twist on Cinderella fairytale was interesting, I just wish the execution was better.

fizzy

grace richards

this book wasn’t as good as i was expecting based on the things i’d heard about it but it was still an incredible story with incredible characters. 

plus the pacing was perfect, i practically read this book in one sitting.

Abbi

A phenomenal retelling of the Cinderella story! 

I was hooked from the first chapter and it just kept getting better and better. 

Such a refreshing way to tell the story and send out an empowering message.

So many plot twists I did not expect.  The romance in this book was so cute and very chill.  A good book for people who don’t really read fantasy books. (aka me) LOVED IT.

Destyne Campbell

It was really interesting to see a society shaped by Cinderella's tale. I liked the twists on the original story and learning what the truth was. There were definitely somethings I wish we had gotten a little more focus and development on, but overall it was an easy and compelling read.

Ana Paula

I´ve read a couple of Cinderella retellings by now, and this one is by far one of my favorites.
The author really explores the story and weaves a whole new thing out of it, adding the perfect twists along the way; and, even though you could see how "medieval" inspired the setting was, it has a lot of messages that could easily make you look past the candles and clothes, and imagine it was happening right now.

If you´re looking for a retelling that sticks closely to the the tale we all know, this might not be for you (I still think it is worth a chance though!) 

(view spoiler)["Look at your children, your friends, your wives, and your daughters. Don’t do what is right because they hold those titles. Do what is right because they are people.”  (hide spoiler)]

The ending was too aprupt for me personally. Like are Cinderella and Constance dating now? What about all those other tails from Constance book? And so on. But all in all it was pretty good and easy to understand :)

Kayla &
Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

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Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron