Scan barcode
stories's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, and Violence
cleo_wylde's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Misogyny
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, Death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Slavery, Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, and Confinement
Moderate: Grief
crystalmethany's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
michellemaas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
In terms of this being a fairytale retelling, I will give props to Kalynn Bayron in saying that the premise was quite creative, but the execution ended up lacking. My biggest caveat is that I found the story dragging along often, especially in the beginning (keep in mind that this is a relatively short book, with my version having only been 299 pages). When your short book isn't fast-faced it is a recipe for disaster.
Another problem I had was with the foreshadowing being so heavy-handed. I can appreciate the author focusing on certain aspects so that big developments don't seem to come out of anywhere, especially when you are setting up a big plot twist at the end, but I feel that it was written so obviously that the ending lacked some of the impact it was aiming for.
The last thing I want to mention is the representation. I haven't seen many fantasy books with LGBTQ+ characters as the leads and that aspect was beautifully done. Sophia and Constance were just so perfect and had me fangirling since their first encounter. I also enjoyed the parallels of Erin and Constance since it is a parallel a lot of queer people have to deal with. Some more representation comes from our lead, Sophia, being a person of color. Again, I don't find that many books come out and say: My lead is a POC and I'm proud of that (it's always "olive-skinned") so I thought that was cool.
Ultimately I would recommend you read this because the representation is something else and it's important to support stories/authors with representation, but if you're just reading it for the plot you might be disappointed.
Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence
paigeno's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Hate crime
Minor: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide
thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Grief, Confinement, and Kidnapping
Minor: Death, Bullying, Body horror, Blood, and Animal death
beestingbea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I thought I was going to try to be more stingy with my 5 stars, but there's no world where I would put this under 5, it's just such an incredible, empowering book. And the diversity is a plus, of course.
Is it a lil predictable? Sure. But do I love a modern-day re-do (not really a retelling) of Cinderella with a dash of Smashing the f-ing Patriarchy.
I also rate books solely on how they make me feel and if they solicit emotion from me and am not a super critical reader, and I just loved this.
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Violence, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, and Kidnapping
Minor: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, and Torture
lollyr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
<spoiler>
I felt like the target audience was unclear. From one hand, the dialog was often cringey and childish, the metaphor and moral of the story spoon fed to the reader and the characters flat and unchanging. On the other hand some topics handled in the story are very much intended for mathur readers.
At times it felt like the writing was trying to be shocking and edgy but it just looked out of place.
The love intrest was dull and cartoonish in her behavior and odd facial expressions. Ever since Liv's body was found by Sophia the king plot twist was extremely predictable.
Sophia is a mediocre but loveble protagonist. Her motivations are clear and understandable but she did not changed at all in the duration of the story.
Honesty, I shipped her with Erin till the end because I thing it would made more compelling story.
Prince charmin was a flat and exaggerated villan but he was also pretty menacing (at least in the first half of the book).
Amana was the best character in my opinion. She was compelling and intriguin until her very end
<spoiler>
Over all, I did mostly enjoyed the read. I thing maybe the book was intended for younger readers and it have great messages over all.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Murder, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexism
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Infidelity
sunsetcity's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence