I admit it was the title that sparked my interest in this book. Oh, its a pretty good title! Whoever thought of it, I applaud you. As you can imagine it starts as accurate modernization of Cinderella, just in gay. I liked the idea, and Duane as Drag Godmother was always worth a smile. sadly he gets forgotten quite fastly.
I was surprised to find out that it goes why deeper than just a cinderella retelling. With the right words the author manages to keep the focus on the coming out, the society unwillingsness to accept and respect and tolerate same sexual couples. Also the familydynamic was really interesting. While it starts off with the typical "Poor Chris is the adopted child orphan thats been used as a slave now" it becomes clear that the situation isn't that easy. While yes, he does all the chores he is also considered family and in the middle they make it clear that coming from different families, conversation is a serious problem. While his stepsister tried to be encouraging on his sexuality, he took it as mobbing. It was nice to see him changing his attitude a bit and seeing that family come along. This is not to make excuses for the families treatment. But it is clear that they like him, which is more than Drizilla and Anastasia ever did.
So now... the lovestory. Sorry but... woah. That was way to fast and than way to nothing and towards the end I just didn't felt anything. Was this supposed to be all romantic? Because no. So for me, this was a book about family, and a gay boy coming out and finding his place.
This book can easily stand its ground next to Becky Albertalli and David Levithan.

This is a case where I liked the concept better than the execution. At its heart its a fun story. THe step family is shallow to be certain and they take advantage of Chris but they do have genuine worries and are, for the most part, actually "good" people. I liked the modern interpretation of the Cinderella story. Its a little overly happy but not disgustingly so. The biggest problem is that the perspective is reflective. We have Chris recalling events after teh fact. This tends to take an overview approach rather than keeping us in the moment or allowing us to really connect with the characters. A fun read for quick entertainment.

I love fairy tale retellings and this one is probably my all time favorite retelling of Cinderella. As a member of the LGBTQIA+, fairy tale retellings that show a bit of diversity are always a very nice change from the regular heterocentric versions that are normally available.

DNF at 34%

While I found this funny at times it was also very uncomfortable. Upon meeting Coco, Chris immediately becomes weirdly obsessed about what's under Coco's dress, and then the next day when Chris meets Coco out of drag he describes Duane (Coco's real name) as looking "thuggish" (Duane is black). And then we reach the point where I couldn't put this book down fast enough. Chris' stepsister Kimberly decides it's okay to slip her mother some Xanax without her consent. Chris is fine with this and thinks he would do the same thing. While I understand that Chris's stepmom can be a lot it's never okay to give somebody medication without their consent! Especially since the stepmom is mostly likely an alcoholic and Xanax and alcohol should not be mixed.

Besides all that this book is about love at first sight. My demiromantic self can barely handle insta-love when two characters have had at least a few conversations with each other. I personally am not going to enjoy a book where a relationship is based off just looking into each other eyes. I'm not saying love at first sight doesn't happen, just that it doesn't work for me.

This was a really fun and engaging read.
The way this book was written - it makes you feel like you are talking to a friend. It's just casual and friendly.
The characters are all fantastic - they were well developed and I did not find myself growing bored with them at any point of the story - the characters also help create a humorous environment without it being too outrageous.

I really enjoy reading LGBTQ+ stories - and I think it's because there are so few of them that are decent reads. Mix that with the fact that this is a fairy tale retelling and you have me hooked! Who doesn't love a good retelling?! The ending definitely leaves you wanting more! It's a recommend from me!

I wish this book was longer. That's my complaint.

I wanted more Duane/Coco sass. I wanted more Chris coming into himself. I wanted more Kimberly and Buck proving to Iris that there is more to life than the next party or society event. I wanted to see J.J. catch more shoes, maybe metaphorically.

Overall, this book set a great emotional mood from the anxiety of figuring out you aren't who people expect you to be to the euphoria of new love and everything in between. Sure, it could be a little more polished. And the flow may have been choppy at times but overall it was a solid story with lovable characters.

Young same-sex love story fictionally based around the Kennedys (in the book the Kennerlys). Some of the characters were a real hoot...I'm looking at you, MIss Coco Chanel Jones.

A fun retelling of the Cinderella tale. I enjoyed that the main character and his "prince" were gay and that the evil step- sisters and mother weren't actually evil. Lazy users, most definitely, but not evil. The story had a great pace, although ended a bit abruptly.

Up to Date Cinderella story! I loved this book because it hit on things that in this society today people are still unsure of. I love it and can't wait to pass it down the line

Summary:
Chris Bellows is just wanting to get through high school unscathed and keep going.  His stepfamily, the Fontains, have had a reversal of fortunes but still have aspirations.   As the mother throws her daughter Kimberly at every eligible bachelor it is up to Chris to do the shopping, cooking and cleaning- because he’s the only one that has ever done it before and knows how.
One night, meeting Drag Queen Coco Channel Jones changed Chris’s life forever.  Not only does he know someone that he can be open with about being gay, but Coco sends Chris off to the ball of the season where he meets J.J.  Kennerly- the most sought after bachelor around.  A shoe catastrophe puts the two together and they have a moment.
The next morning, though, it seems that J.J. is dating his step sister Kimberly.  He has feelings for Chris, but with political ambitions, he is afraid of being out.  They decide to keep it a secret, and use Kimberly as a beard.  Madness, and hilarity follow the couple… but can this ever be enough?  And, as Chris keeps asking himself, is it fair to his step sister?  True love is seriously complicated!
My thoughts:
I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Skyhorse publishing.  My thanks!
I loved this book.  I found Chris, with his rollercoaster of emotions, honest and refreshing.  It was nice to see that he wasn’t a victim.  He never saw himself as the family’s slave or anything like that.  He tried to come to terms with his lot, and even found good in his family.    While Coco very nearly became cliché at times, she never got there completely.  I loved her interaction with each of the characters, and the fact that we got to see multiple facets there.  I like that they portrayed Kimberly as spoiled, yes, but also sweet at times and willing to include and accept Chris.  The brother actually took me by surprise because he was portrayed at this meathead with moments of brilliance.  He was the most openly accepting of the group, though, even if he was a jerk at times.
While this is a very loose retelling of Cinderella, I liked it better for that fact.  I loved the story line and felt that the writing style was really fluid.  I had a great time getting to know the multifaceted characters.  One thing I did not like was the fact that J.J. was fine using Kimberly as a beard- even when Chris was feeling guilty.  He made a lot of choices that were hard for me to accept… and yet seemed sadly realistic.  That aside, this is a five star book for me still. 
As far as the adult content goes, there is some sexual content, language and lewd humor but nothing over the top.  My niece will probably be reading it.  I give it a four.

What a quirky, fun, interesting little piece.

My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen is very (and when I say very, I mean very) loosely based off Cinderella. We follow Chris, who after the death of his father lives an almost self-imposed Cinderella-esque lifestyle with his step-family. His stepmother and stepsister have set their eyes on almost-royalty J.J. Kennerly in hopes of restoring their name and fortune. All Chris wants is to attend the Autumnal Ball with his family, and with the little help of drag queen Coco Chanel Jones, Chris might just make it... and with the help of a rogue shoe, snag J.J. for himself.

This book has two really good things going for it: Chris's voice as a narrator is simply hilarious. I caught myself snickering more times than I can count. He's outlandishly dramatic, which is always good for a laugh. This is the kind of book that needs first person narration because of the personality in there. He's delightfully optimistic, a hopeless romantic, and while he may let people walk all over him most of the time, when it really matters, he does stand up for himself.

The second thing is Coco Chanel Jones, aka Duane, who educates Chris on just what it means to be a drag queen. I work in theatre in Manhattan, so I have come across my fair share of drag queens. Coco may be a bit of a stereotype... but I have certainly met a drag queen just like her. Whether Chris is hanging out with Duane or Coco, we can always expect hysterical and even more dramatic-than-Chris moments.

I find a lot of people talk about instalove, and quite often I think people are exaggerating. I don't think it's that prominent, or I think their examples are a stretch. But in the case of this book, I'd definitely say there is a major case of instalove between Chris and J.J. They meet, they lock eyes, there's instant chemistry. Which doesn't actually bother me. It's the way they jumped on each other. Then we're told how they fall in love, we're told when they fall in love, we're told they fall in love... but we don't see it. So it's hard to really get behind them as a couple.

The ending wraps up extremely conveniently and quickly in one of the most extreme cases of deus ex machina I've ever seen. Chris does, however, point this out (even using the term deus ex machina), and so it didn't bother me nearly as much as it could have.

This is a really fun story about love, acceptance, friendship, self-reflection, pride, and a million things in between. I think if I'd felt more connected to Chris and J.J.'s relationship, I could have given this a higher rating. But even now that I'm done with the novel, I feel like I still don't know enough about J.J. He almost just seems like a perfect cardboard cutout, rather than a well-developed character.

I can say for sure I've never read another story quite like this. Yes, Cinderella retellings are everywhere, and this is definitely not the first LGBT+ book I've read. But I've certainly never read any book where a fabulous drag queen like Coco Chanel Jones appears.

If you're looking for a different kind of contemporary read or a different kind of a Cinderella retelling, this book is definitely fun. Drag is not a huge part of the story, just as a warning if you think you're going to get tons of drag and burlesque action. But this was definitely odd and interesting.

My Fairy Godmother Is A Drag Queen was a really fun, lighthearted modern retelling of Cinderella. Except the main character is a teenage boy just starting to grapple with his sexual identity, Prince Charming is a young man from old money who's been groomed from birth for a life in politics, and the fairy godmother is, well, a drag queen. There are hints at pretty heavy themes, but this is the kind of fun read we all need in these times of anxiety and political turmoil.

I never felt the original fairytale stood the test of time because Cinderella's life was truly pitiful -- everyone around her was terrible and over the years it's gotten difficult to feel bad for somebody who won't fight back. With this retelling, Clawson changed all the right things and hit all the right notes. Chris, the main character, had a rough childhood but is eager to keep moving forward. His stepfamily can come off a little shallow, clueless, and misguided, but they're human and likeable, and you can tell why Chris wants to take care of them. As a reader and LGBT fam, I admit that I wished the treatment of Coco Chanel Jones was a little more... evolved? But she and her out-of-drag counterpart were such great characters and I just wished I could've seen them in less of a white teenage boy point of view. My point is, all of the characters were wonderful and I wanted them to be my real life friends.

It's a great choice for a summertime read.

My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen has a ridiculously cute and optimistic protagonist, Chris as our Cinderella. Unlike the original, our Chris is not exactly forced into a life of servitude, but he is relegated to it. Now, living with his stepmother and step-siblings, who care only about staying in the limelight, he lives like a glorified butler to them. They aren’t cruel to him, but they have a twisted sense of nice, and are more likely to treat him as a favored servant than a member of the family. Which is why, with the help of a friendly drag queen named Coco Chanel, he crashes a big party where he gets to meet the love of his life, J J Kennerly. There is a whole shoe bit, too, for those invested in the fairytale retelling part of this story, but that is where the similarities end.

The major theme of the story is about coming out and acceptance. Chris is not exactly out, but his sexuality is basically an open secret. He still feels fear over people knowing he is gay, thinking they won’t approve of him. For that part, at least, his family is supportive of him, albeit in their weird way. But his secret boyfriend JJ isn’t out, and since he is a public personality, he isn’t itching to be out either. He is using Chris’ stepsister as an unknowing beard, and sneaking around with Chris. Between keeping it secret from the family and from the paparazzi, they have their hands full, but Chris does want more out of their relationship.

I liked Chris as a character – he is hopelessly naive, but also comes across as a doormat most times. His one saving grace is that he still stands up for what he wants out of the relationship – ultimately. J J, meanwhile, just kept rubbing me the wrong way. Dude was so self-centered, it was all about his public image and his political future – as if him being gay is going to affect his running for office some 20-3o years down the line (I am optimistic about a more tolerating future, okay?) and for that, he subjects Chris to what is akin to be like a mistress. Duane, aka Coco Chanel, is funny and entertaining, and I loved that he got his own arc about his gender fluidity and fashion designer dreams than being just a small character in the story. He was over the top at times, especially when it came to Chris’s step-brother, which felt like a stereotype? I don’t really know, but it felt very cliche – like, of course the drag queen is going to hit on the hot straight guy? Yeah, I wasn’t that convinced.

Overall, though, I would say read it if you like to read a queer Cinderella retelling. The romance wasn’t that great, for me, though.

I fell in love with this book from page 1. What a funny and fantastic read. I hope there is a book written for Buck next.

The title and cover drew me in initially but once I started reading, I couldn't stop swiping my kindle for the next page. Mr. Clawson hit the mark with this unique spin on Cinderella. The characters, the relationships/friendships, all the emotions are all hit upon. While certainly entertaining, I'm looking at you, Buck & Coco! I feel like it everyone can relate to this story regardless of gender, age, or sexuality. When it comes down to it, it is about growing up and figuring out who you are. Well done Mr. Clawson, I look forward to reading more!

Summary: In a VERY loose modern retelling of Cinderella, Chris Bellows is sitting outside attempting to attend a Kennerly charity ball when he is approached by Coco, a drag queen, who whisks him away to the ball. While at the ball, Chris accidentally smacks golden-boy J.J. Kennerly with his shoe and, thus, begins the secret romance between J.J. and Chris.

First of all, I LOVED Chris' voice in this story because it reminded me a lot of myself as a kid--struggling with typical teen issues, siblings, and a single mother household.

Second of all, this book made me laugh on several instances (which made me look ridiculous when I was reading my Kindle in public, haha)! I can always appreciate books that make me laugh.

And, finally, I enjoyed the character development, especially when analyzing Chris' family members. They aren't EXACTLY what one would expect.

To be honest, I wouldn't exactly categorize this story as a "modern Cinderella story." So, if you are someone who LOVES modern retellings, I don't think you'll quite get that satisfaction from this story.

**Live 5/19**

I loved the concept of My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen. Even the title was enough to pull me in, but the synopsis made it sound better. I really was hoping for the laughs and crazy antics that the title and synopsis implied. I think I got them, but I was also disappointed in other areas of the story.

Listing the things I enjoyed about this book is easy. I liked the characters, and I liked the way the characters interacted. I liked how this wasn’t the black and white retelling of Cinderella, and that the author chose to show the step-family more realistically, even having Chris recognize that, in his own way, he enabled their laziness. I even liked Kimberly and Buck. They were both shallow, but there was also a lot of acceptance from them. Basically, I think that My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen had a solid foundation to tell a great story.

Unfortunately I had quite a few problems with the execution, but I’ll just touch on the two biggest.

First, the main reason why I only rated it a three, is that I didn’t buy into the plot. I couldn’t accept that there was supposedly only one idea, a terrible idea, for how JJ and Chris could spend time together. Whenever I was reading all I could think about were the other ways this could have played out. Ways that wouldn’t have been so unbelievable. As I read I just got more and more frustrated.

That’s not all folks, I was also frustrated at JJ for the way he treated Chris. I’m understanding. I’m compassionate. Obviously JJ’s reasons for wanting to stay a secret were based in his need to do good in the world, politically, and his fear that coming out would hinder that. What I couldn’t accept was how he knew what the lying and sneaking around was doing to Chris. Yet it didn’t motivate him to make some kind of change. Love is sacrifice sometimes, and if he couldn’t sacrifice his career then he should have been willing to sacrifice his love for Chris. (Though, in my mind he should have automatically chosen love and just worked harder to have both. But, I’m trying to play fair.)

My frustration level really impacted my enjoyment of the books resolution. I loved the initial meet-cute, and know that the resolution was sweet too. Unfortunately, at that point I’d had enough, and the 3 pages of happiness we got at the end wasn’t going to soothe me.

This was fine. Just fine. It’s billed as a modern gender-swapped Cinderella re-telling with a male-male romance. I’m not sure how much it qualifies as a retelling though. There’s no big bad villain, which is fine, societal pressures and fear of bigotry plays the bad guy role instead. Chris, our male Cinderella, doesn’t have a horrible life despite some traumas. He feels singled out and alone amongst his step-family but it doesn’t take long before we learn that a lot of that is either his own doing or a misguided belief of how his step-siblings view him. It’s a bad overall read and despite major themes like coming out and the like, it’s a fluffy “junk food” style book that fits the bill when you want a quick contemporary read to cleanse the palate.

DNFing for now. There's some seriously questionable statements made in this that feel incredibly transphobic! I am not sure if I will ever finish it, to be honest.

**3.5 stars!

So I'm really torn on this. I enjoyed the book a lot, but I just felt like something was missing. I ended the book wanting more and feeling a little let down by the ending. Not that it wasn't a good ending, but I had figured out what was going to happen (or hoped I had because my version was the happy ending and I was nervous I wasn't going to get it).

Loosely based on Cinderella, Chris finds himself living with his step brother and sister and stepmom. The wonderful Coco helps him get into the ball of the season and this is where things start to unfold. The story is told to us by Chris and usually I don't like being TOLD a story, but the style worked for me. There were parts that made me laugh and cry and roll my eyes a little, but I still felt a part of it in a way.

The secondary characters were fun and I am so shipping Coco/Duane and Buck and wouldn't mind a novella for some of the characters. Some of the subjects were heavy, but it never felt that way and it was very superficial yet subtle and I'm Ok with that.

I think my biggest complaint is that I wanted more of Chris and J.J. I liked them together and wanted more. So much more.

If you are looking for a fun, light read I say go for it. I did enjoy this book and it was a nice little break from some of the heavier stuff I've been reading. If you are looking for some grand love story to fulfill a void or give you in depth characterizations, this is not for you.