When I requested this book, I was very intrigued by the premise. I’ve always loved to hear about fairytale retellings, but I haven’t gotten around to reading many of them due to my interest in other books. But there was something about Cinderella Is Dead that got me hooked.

The Good: 
Early on, I really enjoyed the details connecting this story to the original Cinderella. I enjoyed how Sophia’s kingdom took Cinderella’s story and dedicated events towards everything Cinderella would not have stood for. The irony of that was interesting, and I also liked that Sophia was probably more like Cinderella than everyone else who tried too hard to do so. 
Initially, Sophia’s friendship with Luke felt… a bit cliché. I don’t know what exactly made me feel this way, but I think it was just the rushed “reveal” from him. Although, this scene probably could not have happened at any other time in the story, so I’ll give it a pass. After their first few scenes together, their relationship started to make sense, and I was really rooting for their motives. 
I also really enjoyed all of the twists on the classic Cinderella story. I could tell the author put a lot of thought into how the original Cinderella was going to shape this world, and how to change it into something different surprise. (I can’t go into too much about this, since it would be a spoiler to tell you which parts are the twisted ones, but I really appreciated the twists.)
The middle of the story was a bit slow to read at times, but around the last 100 pages, everything really picked up again with the twists, and that made me happy.

The Other Stuff: 
Around Chapter 11 (30% in), the excitement and repetitiveness kicked in simultaneously. Things were starting to get more serious, but I could not help but feel like it was an obstacle that Sophia had been facing in most other chapters up until that point. I think I just wanted to slow down and get to know Sophia a bit more. 
By Chapter 15, I still felt the same way. Another main character had been introduced, and I still knew nothing about Sophia except that she (rightfully) hated the way women were treated in their kingdom, and had a few friends. Also, the contrast between descriptions of them and the descriptions of the other characters was distracting. I think I kind of lost interest at this point, mostly because I’m a very character-driven reader, and if I don’t connect with the character, nothing else will work for me, either. 
In short, I simply wanted more character development.

Minor Spoiler Section: 
I’m including the following “spoilers” because I feel like they can easily turn someone off from a book, but I’m trying my best not to be specific. 
Click here to view the spoilers (although I promise they’re not that spoilery).
* After a while, I got really tired of every single man being complete trash (with the exception of two particular men). The king in particular was ruthless, but as he is the villain, I’m not bothered by that – I’m bothered by the numerous other random men and their remarks. I get that this was done to show how harmful the patriarchy ideals were to the kingdom, but every man Sophia encountered had only one personality trait: thinking of women as objects. There was very little variety to the things these men said, and there was only one man who was bad, but not as bad as the others. (I don’t know, maybe I’m just too critical. Or maybe I just wanted some of the women to be mean, too. Or, for the men to at least have some variety to their terrible comments.
* In my opinion, this book contains some bits of insta-love, and I really felt no connection to it at all. Sometimes insta-love is okay, if done right, but I just wasn’t feeling it. 

In Conclusion: 
While there were definitely a lot of cool aspects to this story, I feel like I was way too harsh on other aspects (such as the things I mentioned in the minor spoiler section and the lack of further character development), and that really brought my mindset down. But, because I recognize I was being too picky about those things, I’m going to bring my rating up and just take this book for what it was originally intended to be. 
I really enjoyed the fact that the main character is Black, and that she was shamelessly in love with her best friend and really stuck to her beliefs. I also loved the twists that were included, based on the original Cinderella. 
In the end, this is a twisted story to about what could have happened 200 years after Cinderella’s death, and how one girl set out to overthrow the patriarchy. It was a fun take on an old fairytale, and I liked it. 

3.5 stars. 

On average, I rate books between 3 and 4 stars. I rarely ever go below 3 stars, and I also almost ever go above 4 stars. I rate books on how I feel about them, and if I rated it between 3 and 4 stars, that means I liked it!

This is the kind of re-telling I love. The story we knew was a farce and the real story is so much more inspiring. We get a strong black female character with a f/f romance. You've got to love a story where the main character is literally trying to bring down the patriarchy.

Why I liked it:
I appreciated that the original story was kept in tact, but that the author played with the interpretation of events. I think that Sophia is a well-developed character and the reader is invested in her personal growth throughout the story. There are some emotionally gutting moments in the story that the reader feels as viscerally as Sophia does. I also appreciated that Sophia's inner monologue directly addresses what might feel like inauthentic moments in the plot. In particular, I appreciate how Sophia's feelings about the witch are expressed in the story. Up until it was put on the page, I found her acceptance of Amina to be a little too convenient, but Bayron gives the inner monologue the authenticity that was lacking a little in the dialogue.

I really appreciate that we get a Cinderella (both in the character of Sophia and the original Cinderella) who is more of a warrior. I know Disney likes their happy, uncomplicated endings, but I like a Cinderella who has a little more depth to aspire to. The Cinderella that we get in this story suffered a terrible fate, but she was a fighter who was trying to do what was right for her people. Admirable.

What I would like to change:
We get thrown right into the story here, and that was pretty disorienting for me as the reader. We get a lot of information dumped on us at the very beginning, which feels a little awkward because the book is 400 pages long. I was left wondering what the rush was and it made the first part of the story feel clunky. Once that initial portion was over, we moved on to a little more action.

I also didn't love Erin's development in the story. I felt like the character was sacrificed but that her motivations didn't line up with what the reader was told about her. She's in a relationship with Sophia up until the ball and then she suddenly shuts it all down? Her first foray into marriage is with a highly abusive man and she doesn't take an opportunity to run? I can understand her staying if the pattern of abuse was more established, but by all accounts she had a good home life and a reason to believe in Sophia. I just didn't quite buy into that part as a reader.

3.50 Stars. I’m a huge fan of fairytale retellings so this was one of my more anticipated books of the year. I noticed that the early reviews seemed to be a bit mixed. People either loved the book or didn’t seem to like it much at all. I was wondering where I was going to fall and it looks like I came in right in the middle. I liked the read but I didn’t love it like I was hoping to.

I thought the premise was great and I liked this unique spin on Cinderella. The problem I had was that I was hoping for more world building. Maybe it’s the fantasy geek in me but that is always important to me. Because the world building was lacking, the world seemed so small. A Kingdom, and some woods and that were basically it. There is talk about a book that one of the character’s families made on their travels. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really lead to anything which is a shame because I loved the potential there.

I also thought that the characters could use some meat on them. I liked the main Sophia and I liked that she wanted to take down the evil patriarchy, but why? Just because she doesn’t like how crappy things are. I wanted to know what really drove her, where her inner strength came from and I wanted to see her character grow more. This was so very similar to the world building because what was there about the characters were nice, but I wanted and needed more.

I was very happy with the pace of the book. Even at times when I was a little frustrated or I thought something was too predictable, I was still flying through the pages. The story is very easy to read and it never bogged down anywhere. Any fantasy fan knows how fantasy can slow way down, so this pace was a pleasant surprise.

There is a WLW romance in this book. I don’t know why but every romance in a YA fantasy I have been reading lately has been too insta-love. This is a fairytale and I expected quick, but this was too fast. One look and our main is over her ex in a heartbeat. On the good side, if you can get past the insta-love, I found the romance to be sweet. If only it had more time for a connection to build I would have enjoyed it so much more.

My favorite part ended up being a person and that was the fairy godmother. I loved the twist from the story of what she actually was. I won’t go into much here since I don’t want to spoiler anything but she was the best part of this book for me. Finally, the book didn’t seem so predictable and she was by far the most interesting character. There was some good stuff in this book with tons of potential, but it just didn’t all come together.

This ended up being a slightly above average YA fantasy read for me. There are issues with this story but I think I would still recommend this to fans of fairytale retellings. It’s very readable with a nice fast pace, just be prepared for some bumps.

Special thanks to Bloomsbury for providing our copy in exchange for an honest & fair review.

Y'all, I just LOVED this book. Apparently, a badass retelling of Cinderella is just what I need in my life.

We meet Sofia. She's living in Cinderella's kingdom, 200 years after the ball that started it all. Things are way different. The King is controlling & young girls are taken to a ball when they are around 16. Basically men have their first pick at them. Throw in poverty, magic & desperation. Parents are trying to make sure their daughters look their best at the ball to ensure their livelihood. We meet Sofia, who happens to be in love with her female friend & instantly I feel for her & want her out of this Kingdom.

I'm not giving up any more of the plot. If you're into fairy tales, don't mind a bit of magic & want a story where young women are fighting for their freedom, then Cinderella is Dead is for you!

Cinderella Is Dead takes place in a universe existing approximately 200 years after Cinderella, as we know her from fairy tale/Disney princess canon, has done her Cinderella Happily Ever After thing. In Cinderella-verse, all girls in the kingdom (although it did seem to be one very specific town?) are forced to go to a ball and get chosen as wives for menfolk. Girls who go a few balls without being chosen are relegated to the lowest eschalons of palace drudgery - or worse. No one openly questions this tradition, and any who show a semblance of backbone are quickly executed.

Anyway, this year, 16 year old Sophia gets her invite to the ball and is actively not having it. Fed up with the status quo and the lack of autonomy for all female citizens, Sophia flees the annual ball and concocts a plan to change the kingdom forever. Of course, she gets some help along with the way from a mysterious outcast with a fateful family lineage and a fairy godmother.

Cinderella is Dead is an interesting premise for turning the traditional "Disney Princess/HEA" literary theme on its head. And I think that Cinderella is Dead is filled with some clever characters and well drawn back story. However, my main issue with this book is that it should have absolutely been split up into two or even three separate installments. Time moves SO quickly, lots of situations could be explained in so much more depth, more backstory and character experiences could be expanded upon, and the lore of this story would have only benefitted. Some of the transitions are so abrupt that its jarring. A journey back into town that readers find out will take three days in one sentence is over in the following sentence. I also feel that this story can easily tread into heavy-handedness when it comes to hand-feeding its readers the morals of the story.

While Cinderella is Dead has lots of important ideas, I would have liked to see more room for the plots and characters to grow, making the story more engaging and moving. Liked the overall thematic points but the execution missed the mark for me.

4 stars — Yet another book that I was wary of when I started…just wasn’t immediately sucked in, you know? Kept wondering where it was going to go. But somewhere along the way I did get sucked in, and I desperately wanted to know details of the mystery. I think this is probably a 3.75 star book for me, but since that’s even more impossible to indicate than half stars, I’m just going to be generous.

It was great to have an ownvoices aspect to this story, but I will say that Sophia being black really didn’t play into the narrative at all (it’s just nice having a black heroine). But the LGBT aspect played a HUGE role. I appreciated the role it played, and only occasionally did it feel like the allusions to present day were a bit heavy handed…otherwise it was pretty smooth and eye opening.

I was worried a bit about the romance in this one, particularly given Erin. But I thought that was all handled very well, and it was really cute watching Sophia and Constance develop feelings, and navigate a new potential relationship. Their romance didn’t play a major role, but their orientation definitely did.

As far as the retelling aspect, this is obviously not exactly a retelling so much as a “what happens after”, and “maybe we didn’t have all the facts” type of story. But I’m still classifying it as a retelling, because the story plays a MAJOR role in the plot.

There were certain aspects of the story that, as a READER, were so obvious it was actually painful when none of the characters saw it. Why can’t they just be reading this book and seeing all the clues the way I am? I’m a bit impatient that way, so that was…occasionally frustrating. But there were plenty of other aspects of the mystery that I *totally* did NOT guess, and kept me on my toes! I kind of loved a few of the explanations in this one, it really made me think and want to keep reading.

There are some heavy themes involving domestic violence, the toxic elements of inequality among the genders, and all that falls out of that. I appreciated the way it presented how good people can feel hopeless and thus allow a bad situation to continue.

All in all, I was entertained and kept on my toes. And the side romance didn’t hurt at all. I feel like I’ve been generous in my reading lately (and how I’m rating this), so I bet a couple months ago Lenore would have rated this one more 3.5, but still a fun ride.

It is time for Sophia to go to the Annual Ball, where men pick their wives based on their display of finery. That is what they do in Lille to honor CInderella. But Sophia doesn't believe in all that, she doesn't want to get married to some random man, she much rather prefers to spend the rest of her life with her childhood best friend Erin. When the Ball turns out to be worse than she ever expected, Sophia finds herself fleeing the castle and hiding in Cinderella's mausoleum. There she meets Constance, the last person who knows the true story. Together they vow to put an end to the cruel king of Lille and his rules.
It is a beautiful retelling, that takes place 200 years after Cinderella's death. It a fast-paced, full of action book, with a cute lesbian love story. It has strong female characters that are very relatable and just like all storytelling it has a very hateful villain. This book has so many messages hidden in its pages and so much to give to its readers.
Overall I really enjoyed Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron, I think she did a fantastic job and I would recommend everyone to read it.

Cinderella is dead is about a girl in a society where women are expected to behave like Cinderella in the beloved (well, they're forced to love it) fairy-tale: wait until you're somethingth birthday and then you must go to a ball to be chosen by a boy/man/grandpa who you will be forced to obey for the rest of your life. Those who refuse are executed. When our main character falls in love with another girl instead of waiting to be chosen at the ball, she decides it's time for a change.

I saw this book ages ago on Netgalley and while I love the cover (and don't be afraid to chose a book by it's cover, kids!), I'm pretty over anything to do with Cinderella as I feel as though I've read around 8 million re-tellings in the last five years or so. Then, I heard some folks from Bloomsbury talk about this book at a recent conference, and I was sold! Unfortunately, though, there was way too much Cinderella in it for me to truly enjoy it. The worldbuilding and plot waffled between being creative and a bit silly. The characters were one-dimensional and the romance unearned. That said, I think the book's audience, younger teens, will enjoy it, so I'll definitely be recommending it.

This is the perfect book for younger teens who just can't get enough of Cinderella or who are looking to make the jump from middle grade to young adult fiction. For this older reader, the coolness of the author's innovation with the Cinderella fairytale was outweighed by bland characters and forced romance. 2 stars - it was ok.

Thanks to Bloomsbury YA and Netgalley for the eARC which I received for an unbiased review.

This book was such a fun ride. Filled with suspense and action, it's such a great read. Sometimes the pacing felt very fast, but it works for this book. I'm always a fan of the twisted fairy tale, and this one was sufficiently twisted.

<i>arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

DNF

I’m so sad about the fact that I am dnfing this! I really wanted to love it but I just had a hard time getting into the story. I really just found myself getting bored and not connecting with the characters and their story.

I definitely think this book is important with the queer and poc representation!

This just wasn’t the book for me but if you enjoy retellings with a strong, independent main character, you’ll love this one!

TW: homophobia, domestic abuse, assault

I absolutely love fairytale retellings and this one didn't disappoint!! This was the perfect story for my camping trip this past weekend. Such a unique take on a classic with a female love interest. Sophia is a strong independent woman willing to smash all the constructs in her country. I was rooting for her the entire story. I personally would have liked to see the love story develop more deeply, but overall this was a great read. Pick it up on release day tomorrow and support an incredible black author. Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury for this eARC.

The cover definitely caught my attention, as did the premise. You know I’m always ready for a fresh new take on an old fairy tale, especially when it incorporates diverse characters. In this story, Sophia is queer and Black, and there are other LGBT characters featured throughout the story. The fairy tale of Cinderella has been used to create a twisted patriarchy that is not only oppressive, but dangerous to people who don’t fit into what society expects of them.

Despite the book being 400 pages, I flew through this in just a few hours. It was a fast-paced read. I liked Sophia’s character right away — she’s smart, tough, practical, and the type of girl who thinks for herself even in a society where this is unacceptable. This isn’t always a good thing, but I’m a firm believer in the fact that even the best characters have flaws. I struggle to identify with characters who are perfect.

“I picture myself being paraded through the streets in shackles, maybe even stuffed into a cage in the center of town where Lille’s people are so often made to endure public humiliation as penance for stepping off the beaten path.”

In a world where there are severe consequences for being different, Sophia isn’t willing to change who she is to fit into society’s expectations. She doesn’t understand why the system is set up the way it is, and decides that rather than changing herself to fit the mold, she’s going to break the system and free not only herself, but all the people who suffer under this tyrannical, patriarchal system. The story addresses such important issues that we face in our everyday world, such as toxic masculinity, domestic violence, patriarchy, and homophobia, but I didn’t feel like it was done in an overly heavy-handed way.

I really liked how the entire fairy tale of Cinderella was explored and reimagined from a different perspective. Each of the characters in the fairy tale was turned upside down and no one was portrayed as they were originally. I did feel like the story was a bit predictable. I guessed most of the plot twists, although there was one that got me. Even so, the story was a great one, and I’d definitely recommend it.

The language was deceptively mild in this dark retelling of Cinderella. It was an enchanting story with real-world problems and emotions, and a society built on tyranny. This story was violent and dark and the feelings throughout the novel were entirely relatable in today's age of judgement. While the society itself was extreme, the views on homosexuality and women's rights were realistic and troubling. These issues, while far more blatant in the novel, show that we as a society have a long way to go toward acceptance and equality. I thought this was a beautifully written reflection of this.

This novel would be a great choice for those who love retellings with a dark twist, magic, and love. I look forward to other novels by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for providing a copy of this e-book for review.

I loved the crap out of this book. I read a lot of other reviews that were less than awesome, and I can only assume those people did not read this in the spirit it was intended. It's a Young Adult book. Key word: Young. Is it particularly high brow literature? No. Is it a badass story for 14-17ish year old girls? Heck yes! I can't wait until my own little girl is old enough to read this story. I LOVE this current trend of girl power books. Girls are awesome!

This book is exactly what it appears to be. Cinderella falls in love with Merida and together they smash the patriarchy. 100%. This story is awesome. The setting is unique, and easy to understand. The story is well developed and suspenseful. The characters are lovable, easy to cheer for, and three dimensional enough to really understand.

Sofia is awesome. She sees a corrupt and broken society and refuses to accept it. She is told over and over again that she does not fit into the ideal, does she bend and change? Heck no! She toppled the society and set the people free. She's a badass!

One thing I really loved about this book is that there were other girls portrayed who were not brave enough to stand up against the crippling, oppressive society. After all the drama, they were not denigrated as worthless or as "less than" for not being strong enough to fight. They were met with gentleness and understanding. They were seen and their struggles were acknowledged. </p>

I will absolutely be reading this whole series, and I highly recommend it to young, and young at heart lovers of fairy tales and girl power.

I think readers who enjoyed the Hunger Games, would enjoy this title. Personally, I found it stressful as anytime there's a main character who is barreling towards destruction with no opposing force to balance it out feels overwhelming. I was also conflicted about Sophia's character which seemed to change quite suddenly in the middle of the book. It was almost as if she had swapped personalities with Constance which was bizarre.
I liked the twists and reveals in the ending, but it felt like it needed more time to tighten things up.

Sophia Grimmins lives in a world where the story of Cinderella is the law. Girls, as soon as they are 18, are forced to go to a ball where they are “chosen” by men. This year will be Sophia’s first ball, but all she wants to do is run away with her girl, Erin. When worse comes to worst at the ball, Sophia is forced to flee which leads her to stumble upon Cinderella’s tomb. Here, she is rescued by a descendant of Cinderella and together they make plans to take down the king’s regime.

I love that our mc is black AND queer! Sophia is badass but she also shows her vulnerability. It was obvious that she was scared of leaving the comfort of her home, but she was ready to risk it all to be able to live authentically and freely. I also really like Constance lol. I pictured her to look like Merida so this was basically a retelling of black Cinderella x Merida

The plot of Sophia working with a descendant of Cinderella to take down the king because he had twisted to the story to his benefit was intriguing. There were some minor issues I had with it where certain aspects didn’t really make sense or it seemed like something would be a major part of the plot, but it ended up being almost nothing. It didn’t really seem like they had a solid plan even though they kept reminding each other they needed to have a plan to successfully overthrow the king.

The romance isn’t really a major part of the story and I liked that. It was nice to see the f/f representation and I felt like it added to Sophia’s motivation to see her plans through. But yea, don’t expect it to be romance-driven.

I received a copy from Bloomsbury YA via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This alternative telling of a beloved fairy tale had me captivated from the start. The plot of the story of Cinderella is twisted to become a society that is a danger not only to women, but to all of it's people. The world manages to be gritty and heartbreaking while still being intriguing and full of love.

Throughout the story, I rooted for Sophia even at times that I did not agree with her choices. It's rare we get a story about a girl who does not have any special powers - her drive for changing the narrative is not because she comes from a special place, or is the chosen one, but because she wants to, and because she needs to. That was very special to me, especially considering so many of the main characters were LGBTQ.

Though there were a few plot points that I saw coming, there were several that I did not see coming at all: because I was so convinced I knew what was coming about some things, I was blindsided by others. I enjoyed that a lot.

I read this story as quickly and as engrossed as I did because I wanted to know more about how the world worked. I wanted to know more about Cinderella and the kingdom she had left in her wake.

Representation: Black lesbian protagonist, f/f romance, black side characters, black sapphic li.

"The most monstrous of men are those who sit in plain sight, daring you to challenge them."

Cinderella is Dead certainly brings unique twist to a beloved fairy-tale as two girls - one with her heart set on defying the rules that make up her kingdom- and, another -who wants nothing more than to avenge her family, team up to destroy their evil monarch.

While there were many things I enjoyed about this novel, I do feel the lack of villain characterization, and hard-to-believe romance, let it down.

I adored the characters of both Sophia and Constance. Both girls showed different kind of strengths- Sophia with her fearlessness and Constance with her knifes- they seemed like opposites and yet they made an unstoppable team. Their friendship I loved. Their romance? Not so much. Honestly, it wasn't bad. They were cute- there was just no build up. We had more romantic build up between Sophia and her ex, Erin. It felt like the moment Constance and Sophia's eyes meet they're in love and that was that.

Now keeping in mind that this is a retelling of a fairy tale, so maybe that kind of romance was expected. I did like that we have a black lesbian protagonist who gets her girl.

I loved the world building and the plot was interesting. The beginning truthfully had me hooked and there were many twists and turns to keep the book entertaining. My biggest issue revolved around the villain. I can't say much without spoiling and I wont do that. However, the big ending, villain origin story, and face-off were underwhelming.

Overall, Cinderella is Dead wasn't my favorite read but I do think many young adults are going to enjoy this distinctive retelling. Sophia was an interesting/ slightly unreliable narrator who I adored; the novel is really strong in characterization ( minus the villain), plot, and setting the story.

Content warnings: Murder, grief, on page death of a horse, gore and violence, domestic abuse, misogynistic language, violence to gay side character.

( Review will be live @Shans_Shelves (instagram) and ShanShelves.wordpress.com, closer to the release date.)

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Bloomsbury YA, and Kalynn Bayron for giving me an ARC in exchange for review! This review will be published on my Goodreads account (immediately) and my Instagram account on the day following publication: July 8th, 2020.

Cinderella is dead. The women of Lille live only in hopes of being chosen by a man at the ball. Sophia doesn’t want to be chosen, she does not want to marry a man at all.

The set up for this world is cruel. I expected it to be horrible and sexist, and it really really delivered. I do appreciate how far and extreme it took this aspect of the novel because all other aspects felt a little young for older YA readers (dialogue/characters/etc...) but the darkness of the setting provided some juxtaposition for this. Though, I would still recommend this to younger readers as well! This mix of a darker, serious setting amongst more simplistic writing felt very Hunger Games-esque. I feel a lot of readers ages 11-14 would greatly benefit from reading this novel, the conversations it could spark, and it could be the rebellion nostalgic novel for their generation!

By the end of the novel, I really enjoyed the plot overall and found it intriguing, I wanted to keep reading! However, I struggled with a lot of the dialogue feeling cheesy, and many obstacles felt overcome far too easily. I think in such a dark world I expected darker, more harrowing things to happen. The main challenge our heroes faced was conquered within thirty pages. I also was not too keen on the characters, none of whom underwent much development throughout the 400 pages I read. I think the idea behind this book was very strong, yet some aspects of the execution did not meet my expectations.

Awesomely written tale! The story grabs you from the first few pages with the main character's, Sophia, wit and sass. This was a great spin on the Cinderella tale as the gender roles are reversed and women's rights are at the forefront. This novel takes you on a wild ride that does not end until the last page! Very well written!