Scan barcode
A review by ylva_chasingbutterflies
Stilettos & Stardust: A Gender-Swapped Cinderella Story by D.L. Pitchford
1.0
I love fairytale retellings and this one had a quite unusual premise so I was interested in how this would turn out.
Why 1 star?
First, because this was not really a retelling of Cinderella at all, but rather a normal YA romance. There were very few elements taken from the actual fairytale and I found that rather disappointing.
Second, because I didn't really get along with any of the characters. The parents were very flat and I'm just very tired of those YA books where all the parents are mean spoilsports. And I wished the protagonists would have been a little more understanding and mature. Especially Eden came across as very arrogant and it was kind of ironic to see her complain about other people appearing a bit blasé... because she acted like that all the time. Even though it was sweet that Noah loved his mom so much, I felt bad for him because she had never really been there to care for her kids.
Third, the love story. It didn't convince me and it was all just very predictable. It seemed to be based mostly on sexual attraction and momentary fun (or, to be more blunt, teenagers being horny) instead of genuine love, shared values and actually wanting to make a relationship work. We also have a rather weird sexual scene and lots of "funny" sexual comments (comparable to adult jokes in not-so-good comedy movies) which I guess was supposed to be the sex-positive aspect, but for me, it made the characters appear silly, immature and it made me uncomfortable. The end was also disappointing because you could see that they were not taking this serious at all.
The last point that I didn't like was how competitive the protagonists were and that they just effortlessly sailed through whatever academic challenge and didn't have to struggle at all. Yes, this might be mainly a feel-good book, but this was sooo boring to read. Like, I get that they're supposed to be very good and ambitious, but failure is a part of life and nobody gets everything right all the time.
The writing style was okay and if you're looking for a generic YA romance with comedy elements and diversity in it, you might enjoy this one, but this was so not what I was expecting. A modern fairytale retelling I'd recommend instead is Beastly by Alex Flynn and I'm going to try Geekerella next to see if this is what I was looking for.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Why 1 star?
First, because this was not really a retelling of Cinderella at all, but rather a normal YA romance. There were very few elements taken from the actual fairytale and I found that rather disappointing.
Second, because I didn't really get along with any of the characters. The parents were very flat and I'm just very tired of those YA books where all the parents are mean spoilsports. And I wished the protagonists would have been a little more understanding and mature. Especially Eden came across as very arrogant and it was kind of ironic to see her complain about other people appearing a bit blasé... because she acted like that all the time. Even though it was sweet that Noah loved his mom so much, I felt bad for him because she had never really been there to care for her kids.
Third, the love story. It didn't convince me and it was all just very predictable. It seemed to be based mostly on sexual attraction and momentary fun (or, to be more blunt, teenagers being horny) instead of genuine love, shared values and actually wanting to make a relationship work. We also have a rather weird sexual scene and lots of "funny" sexual comments (comparable to adult jokes in not-so-good comedy movies) which I guess was supposed to be the sex-positive aspect, but for me, it made the characters appear silly, immature and it made me uncomfortable. The end was also disappointing because you could see that they were not taking this serious at all.
The last point that I didn't like was how competitive the protagonists were and that they just effortlessly sailed through whatever academic challenge and didn't have to struggle at all. Yes, this might be mainly a feel-good book, but this was sooo boring to read. Like, I get that they're supposed to be very good and ambitious, but failure is a part of life and nobody gets everything right all the time.
The writing style was okay and if you're looking for a generic YA romance with comedy elements and diversity in it, you might enjoy this one, but this was so not what I was expecting. A modern fairytale retelling I'd recommend instead is Beastly by Alex Flynn and I'm going to try Geekerella next to see if this is what I was looking for.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.