e-ARC, 400 pages
Release Date: July 7, 2020
Published by: Bloomsbury YA
Read from: June 24-28, 2020
Stand-alone
Source: Edelweiss/Netgalley (I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss/Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Misogyny, Homophobia, Abuse, Death
For fans of: Re-tellings, Fierce Females, LGBTQIAP+, Romance, #OwnVoices, POC MC, POC on Cover, BIPOC Author, YA, Fantasy, ParanormalGirls 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.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This is no normal re-telling! This fresh take, a “remix” if you will, was SO. GOOD. It was unlike any Cinderella story I’ve ever read before. It never stops with the surprises and will leave you gasping at every page!
“As terrible as the consequences will be if I’m not chosen, the danger in being selected might be worse.”3%
It’s been 200 years and Cinderella is dead. Now the teen girls in the land must go to a ball with the current prince to be matched with someone. If they don’t find a match, they disappear, never to be seen or heard from again. Sophia is not satisfied with that. She runs and ends up at Cinderella’s grave…. Where she meets someone else that’s not supposed to be there. Together they vow to do whatever they can to make some changes around their land.
“I don’t want to be saved by some knight in shining armor. I’d like to be the one in the armor, and I’d like to be the one doing the saving.”6%
This is definitely not your average re-telling. I finally REALLY get what L.L. McKinney was talking about in the Juneteenth Bookfest when she called stories like this a “remix.” The elements of the story are there, but the story itself is NOTHING like what you saw on Disney movies. And that makes it all the more better for me. I LOVED the things she changed and I loved seeing the way it all tied into the story. This was a very cool, dark, and twisted Cinderella that I fell into. I couldn’t stop reading it. I was hooked from the very beginning.
“You deserve more than this.” We all do.”13%
The only thing I had a real issue with was the plot. In the beginning it was very slow going and the only thing happening was what was in the synopsis. And that was until like 50% of the book. But I was still so intrigued by the concept and what else she was going to do with the story that I kept reading when normally I would have DNF’ed. And as cliche as it sounds, I’m so glad I did! This story was super entertaining and really had me sitting on the edge of my seat! It takes a while to get going, but once it does, it REALLY does. I won’t tell you what’s the in the story, because you won’t believe me. You’ll just have to read it to find out.
“These decent men are turning blind eyes to indecent acts.”14%
The characters were my favorite thing about this story. Sophia is fierce and feeling wise she seemed a lot like me. She just wanted equity for everyone. And then there’s Constance. She was definitely like me from her toughness. I remember writing down a quote of hers and laughing because I could see myself actually saying that too. I saw myself in both of them, and I don’t normally connect with more than one character in a book. That showed me that Bayron really fleshed these characters out.
“I think we need to burn the whole thing to the ground and start over. The entire system, the ideals, that have been woven into this society. It all has to go.”42%
I also wish there was more world building. I know the story Cinderella, and I’ve watched the movie, and I know what a marketplace is, etc. , but I wanted to see more of this through Sophia’s eyes. She doesn’t really take a look around her. It’s more of a telling versus a showing. But it didn’t bother me as much because as I said, I’ve seen the movies and am familiar with the story and the places that are in the story.
“Take the risk, light the fuse. Onward.”47%
The ending of this story was also a win for me. I remember being scared at about 85% because I didn’t feel like there was much book left for the amount of questions that I needed answered and things that needed to happen. But in the end, everything that needed to happen did and though it felt a bit rushed, it wasn’t too bad. Bayron still devotes time to the big reveals and I promise you, you won’t see most of them coming. But it all came together in the end.
“Do you even know how to use a sword? Women aren’t permitted to-” “The pointy end goes in your neck,” Constance snaps.”68%
This “remix” of Cinderella was everything I needed it to be. It wasn’t perfect, but with original idea and the perfect characters, and the wild twists and turns you never see coming, it came pretty close. I hope to see more of this in Bayron’s future. I would really enjoy seeing her revisit all the timeless classics we know and love and making us look at them through fresh eyes.
Overall, I give this
Have you read this one? Do you have this one on your TBR? What other fairy tale “remixes” have you checked out? Let me know in the comments!