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A review by solaceinprose
If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy
4.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion for the ARC for an honest review.
Cinderella re-tellings are nothing new, but to have an author write a Cinderella re-telling where the stepmother and stepsisters aren't heinous assholes is refreshing and something that hardly, if ever, happens. I will say that I forgot this was a Cinderella re-telling so when certain things happened, it kind of took me by surprise and not in a fun way. So when it appeared to me that Cindy was basically a plus size version of Cinderella (or is she?), I was waiting for the inevitable. Make Cindy fat and have her stepsisters and stepmother not? Here we go.
Yet what I got was something entirely different. They supported each other. They loved each other. They actually enjoyed being around each other. Julie Murphy took the evil stepmother and stepsisters trope and turned it on its head and we get a loving family that have been through some stuff but are still there for each other. I was very surprised and pleasantly so. It would have been so easy to have Erica, Anna, and Drew be cruel and abusive, but Julie's books never go that far. Yes, they touch on fat people problems, but there is never straight up abusive and cruel behavior. It's what we like to see! Fat people are not emotional punching bags in Julie's books. Cindy has her own issues to deal with, but to have support from her family and not be dumped on verbally or emotionally from them was such a great thing to see. MORE OF THIS PLEASE.
I have no feelings towards Henry. I felt he was a bit 2-dimensional at times, and I'd have liked this book to be a bit longer to flush him out as a character. I think it would have made the chemistry between them a little more palpable. Sometimes when authors write in one person's POV, they miss out on the other characters intentions and inner thoughts. I'd have love to see Henry start to fall for Cindy just as we saw her fall for him. I wanted just a bit more, but I wasn't disappointed with what he got.
Cindy herself was a fun character, and I really really loved how she wasn't afraid to own her body even with her issues. She knew she was fat, she accepted, and she wasn't going to let others tear her down because of it. I love her statements on fashion and how it should be accessible to everyone, not just a select chosen few. As someone who can only shop in a handful of stores, I felt this deeply. Also, Cindy sounded stylish as heck, and I would love to see this as a movie to see her outfits in real time. LET ME SEE THE SHOOOOOES.
I loved the ending a lot. It wasn't so ambiguous that you didn't know what was going to happen, but it was open-ended enough to allow you, the reader, to assume that life is coming up Cindy. This is definitely going to be cute summer read, and I'm interested to see where Julie takes this series next.
Cinderella re-tellings are nothing new, but to have an author write a Cinderella re-telling where the stepmother and stepsisters aren't heinous assholes is refreshing and something that hardly, if ever, happens. I will say that I forgot this was a Cinderella re-telling so when certain things happened, it kind of took me by surprise and not in a fun way. So when it appeared to me that Cindy was basically a plus size version of Cinderella (or is she?), I was waiting for the inevitable. Make Cindy fat and have her stepsisters and stepmother not? Here we go.
Yet what I got was something entirely different. They supported each other. They loved each other. They actually enjoyed being around each other. Julie Murphy took the evil stepmother and stepsisters trope and turned it on its head and we get a loving family that have been through some stuff but are still there for each other. I was very surprised and pleasantly so. It would have been so easy to have Erica, Anna, and Drew be cruel and abusive, but Julie's books never go that far. Yes, they touch on fat people problems, but there is never straight up abusive and cruel behavior. It's what we like to see! Fat people are not emotional punching bags in Julie's books. Cindy has her own issues to deal with, but to have support from her family and not be dumped on verbally or emotionally from them was such a great thing to see. MORE OF THIS PLEASE.
I have no feelings towards Henry. I felt he was a bit 2-dimensional at times, and I'd have liked this book to be a bit longer to flush him out as a character. I think it would have made the chemistry between them a little more palpable. Sometimes when authors write in one person's POV, they miss out on the other characters intentions and inner thoughts. I'd have love to see Henry start to fall for Cindy just as we saw her fall for him. I wanted just a bit more, but I wasn't disappointed with what he got.
Cindy herself was a fun character, and I really really loved how she wasn't afraid to own her body even with her issues. She knew she was fat, she accepted, and she wasn't going to let others tear her down because of it. I love her statements on fashion and how it should be accessible to everyone, not just a select chosen few. As someone who can only shop in a handful of stores, I felt this deeply. Also, Cindy sounded stylish as heck, and I would love to see this as a movie to see her outfits in real time. LET ME SEE THE SHOOOOOES.
I loved the ending a lot. It wasn't so ambiguous that you didn't know what was going to happen, but it was open-ended enough to allow you, the reader, to assume that life is coming up Cindy. This is definitely going to be cute summer read, and I'm interested to see where Julie takes this series next.