Im obsessed with fairy tale retellings and also love grimms original twisty versions. This book was so good!! It was super dark and disturbing and I enjoyed such a unique retelling!

This story will definitely go down as one of the best books that I've read for this year! This author has completely blown my mind with her unique and out-of-this-world spin on Cinderella's tale. I am always excited to devour any book that has diverse and feisty characters that I can easily relate to and this story did not disappoint because I am rather fond of Sophia and Constance. Tagging along with these two awesome young women was the highlight of my Friday night book binge session because I felt as though I was right by their side as they worked together to bring down the patriarchy and all that it stands for along with the brutal King who rules Lille. I also had a front row seat to the undeniable chemistry and attraction that was sparking between Sophia and Constance. I can't wait for this author to release another story because she has become one of my new favorite authors!

Great story and loved the slight romance. Really enjoyed the characters and how the plot moved and how the characters changed throughout the book. I would read this author again.

I enjoyed the story and thought the premise showed a lot of promise. I do think that the story could have been developed a little more especially the climax.

3.5 stars.

This is a pretty solid fairytale reimagining. I liked the characters and the twisted world/kingdom this took place in. I also enjoyed the sapphic romance between Constance (who’s basically Merida) and Sophia.

Unfortunately, by the last 30% or so I started to lose interest and I definitely skimmed through the last 50 pages or so. I feel like Bayron could have gone so much further with this story. The characters needed more development, as did the world and magic system. This ended up being a bit too simplistic if that makes sense. The pacing was also off at times. I just expected so much more based off of the synopsis.

**Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review**

This book has been getting a lot of buzz so I was excited to get a chance to read it. The twist on the tale of Cinderella was very interesting and Clever. Love the new take and how we didn’t know what to expect from the characters we all know.

I love Cinderella and when I saw this was a diverse and dark retelling , I was 100% all in. This book was set 200 years after Cinderella with some awesome diversity including POC and LGBTQ+ representation. This story was quite different and had a darker feel then what you would associate with Cinderella which is what I loved about it. The thing I didn't love was the pacing and some unrealistic situations. But with that said I had fun reading it! 3.75/5 stars.

I'm a huge fan of fairytale retellings and this one is such a unique take on Cinderella. This book definitely wasn't what I expected, but I still absolutely enjoyed it.

What I loved:

1. Sophia's character was so well written and a complete badass (she completely took on the task of dismantling the Prince Charming patriarchy). It was so easy to root for her and her friends throught this story.

2. This book has great representation of queer love with an awesome heroine of color. ❤ I love that publishers are prioritizing books like this and I hope to see more like this in the very near future.

3. This was a fast paced YA fantasy that I found completely entertaining. While some aspects are predictable, this is definitely worth picking up. Even though this one is 400 pages I finished it in two sittings.

If you're looking for a face paced fairytale retelling with diverse characters, look no further than Cinderella is Dead.

200 years after Cinderella met prince Charming and things are NOT good in Lille. Women are not allowed any choice in who they marry, in fact they are basically auctioned off at the annual ball in a twisted mockery of a fairy tale, and being same-sex oriented is a crime punishable by death, as are many other things like, women having any money, using weapons, or even being out of their homes after 8PM.
But there are always those who will rebel against unjust laws... and this is their story.

I love a good retelling and found this one fun and enjoyable! I loved the amount of diversity in this book, but think the story missed a lot of opportunities for nuance and character development. Sophia fell flat for me, and the proposed revolution didn’t feel realistic; it seemed like a revolution because that’s what the book thought it had to be about. I did enjoy Constance’s character and liked the ornate descriptions.

I’m a huge fan of fairytale retellings, especially if it’s sapphic. So when I first read the blurb for this book I immediately put it on my most anticipated list of 2020.

While I don’t believe it reached my most anticipation expectations, I do need to admit that I finished this quickly. I didn’t want to stop. Sophia was a great main character, and I enjoyed her growth and her strength. The world building was a bit lacking for me, and the secondary characters, and even the love interest, needed more depth to them.

But overall I did very much enjoyed reading this book. Will definitely be keeping an eye out for this author.

I had extremely high hopes for this one because the premise is really fucking good. And while I am often tired of seeing the same tropes and stories being recycled over and over again, this doesn't apply when a well-known concept is reinvented through a queer or otherwise diverse lens. When I started reading I was instantly in awe. The writing was piercing, the words sharp like a needle and I loved how the first chapters built this cruel, patriarchal world in which it was impossible for a young, queer woman to strive or live without fear. But then it went downhill rather quickly. It was a mix of things but my biggest problem was that the plot was all over the place. There were many plot holes - to this day I still wonder why the love interest just happened to have a spare set of clothes stored in an empty chapel - and soon the characters fell flat too. And the world building. And even the romance. It feels like the editor paid close attention to the first few chapters and then sent the manuscript to the printer without giving it a second thought.

In the end it's a great concept with endless potential and a shining beginning but it ultimately failed to convince me.

This book is wonderful. I’ve purchased several copies for our school library and studebts are just going to love this cool, diverse, exciting update to the Cinderella story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this fresh take on a fairy tale retelling! There are so many out there, but this is the first one I have seen that weaves in the original fairy tale into the history of the story. They reference reading the book so many times - each home has a copy! It was amazing. There was also a shoutout to another fairy tale - I'm hoping we get a book on that one too!

The characters were amazing and diverse. This was a true dystopian time, but there was so much hope in the book! Definite must-read if you love retellings or dystopian tales!

Cinderella is Dead is easily on of my favorite books of 2020. A feminist retelling of Cinderella taking down the patriarchy us something that is going to be so important to many young girls (and young women as well) Kalynn's writing is compelling and beautiful, leaving you wanting to read more.

I love classics told in a new light, such as this story! It look forward to the authors future work as this story was definitely different and creative!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this ARC.

This retelling is ESSENTIAL. Feminist, inclusive, and reflective of the world in which we live today, Cinderella is Dead is the book I would force my daughter to read if I had one.

Cinderella is one of my all-time favourite fairytales. So of course, I loved the idea of a Cinderella retelling.
While I loved the premise, it was just ok for me in the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.

I actually enjoyed this much more than I anticipated. Cinderella has been dead for 200 years now. With no heirs, kings have been hand selected from neighboring towns having been raised to enforce Lille's rules. Sophia is a very strong willed girl who is having none of this blatant oppression. At a certain age, I believe 16, the girls are summoned to the annual ball. There they are basically auctioned off to the men of the town. You have 3 balls to get picked, if you don't you are considered forfeit and your life is more or less done.

I found Sophia to actually be a really strong character, without ever being obnoxious, which is refreshing. I actually liked all the characters, although I will say the villain was kinda flat for me. The overall concept was really unique. It felt like its own thing while paying paying homage to the original story. The world building was pretty good, and normally I would have wanted more, but this felt more character centered. The only other thing was the ending felt a little rushed, but overall this was an enjoyable read.

Set 200 years after Cinderella’s death, the happily ever after has turned ugly. Teenage girls ae now required to attend the annual ball to be judged by male suitors and married. Whether they like it or not. It’s Sophia’s worst nightmare. Even if she wasn’t in love with her best friend Erin, the thought of people – men – having such absolute power over her life and death infuriates her. So she flees the ball and straight into the arms of Constance, a descendant of one of Cinderella’s ugly step sisters. Only the Cinderella tale espoused to the Kingdom isn’t exactly the truth and no one is exactly as they appear…As Sophia and Constance soon find out.

The young adult genre isn’t usually my thing, however, occasionally a blurb will pop up that intrigues me enough that I decide to pick up the book. I want to expand my reading horizons and there are a couple of things that I haven’t read much of that are contained in Cinderella is Dead: a fairytale retelling and a f/f romance.

I wouldn’t say I actively avoid fairytale retellings, but they don’t often appeal to me. But, one of the things that I enjoyed most about this book was the way Kalynn Bayron had used the tale of Cinderella. In Cinderella is Dead the fairytale is used a tool of propaganda to subjugate the populace, especially if you are female. Women are expected to know the tale inside and out and conform to the ideal of femininity and heterosexuality that it portrays. There is no room for non-conformity. It was such a fantastic set up to plonk our headstrong heroine in.

But, I don’t feel like this dark and oppressive setting was utilised to its full potential. The solution came to easily and the more I got into the book the more obvious some of the plot twists became. Perhaps I am being too harsh on a standalone book aimed at a young audience. However, I did feel myself losing interest as the book went on and all the complex problems involved in such a repressive and patriarchal society were swept under the proverbial rug.

This was a fun adventure story though and I really enjoyed Sophia’s character, she knew who she was and had the courage to stand up against what she thought was wrong. I also really liked the romance, this may actually be my first f/f book! There was fantastic chemistry between Constance and Sophia and I enjoyed seeing their relationship develop.

Overall I liked this book, the story was fast paced, the romance was sweet and the world was great. It just didn’t quite hit the spot for me, Bayron has created a sophisticated and well developed world, but the story itself was a little too simple to fit that world comfortably.