A review by sugardustedbooks
If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

funny hopeful lighthearted tense

4.0

If the Shoe Fits is an adult modern retelling of Cinderalla a la a bacheloresque reality show. This is the first book I have read by Julie Murphy and I could not put it down. I got up Sunday morning thinking I would take a couple days giving it a read. Jokes on me…I ignored most of my responsibilities and finished it that day. 
 
What I Loved: 
  • Cindy! I absolutely loved getting to know Cindy. She was funny, confident, and kind. I loved seeing her work through her feelings and fight for the things that were important to her. 
  • The meet cute: I don’t know if it would be considered a spoiler to say more so I will leave it at that.
  • Plus size representation: Cindy is a plus size character and although the book description does talk about her turning into a body positivity icon on the show, that is such a small piece of her story. The book does not place all of its focus here, which I appreciate. Instead it has a good balance of acknowledging the lack of body diversity in mainstream media and the everyday interactions that cause frustration and hurt without making it the only storyline. 
  • The various themes that Julie was able to incorporate into the story. Obviously the romance (a little slow for me which I will mention below) but there is also this processing of grief after lots of loss, the discovery of self and passion after feeling stuck, and of family and friendship. 
  • The spin on the cinderella story. I loved the take on her being a shoe designer and now I really want to go shoe shopping. The family dynamics were also refreshing, especially if you are not a fan of the whole evil stepfamily thing. They are not the villains of this story. The conflict is a little more complicated than that. Speaking of conflict, I had a case of the “calm, down everything is going to work out. There will be an HEA” yet I still wanted to shed some tears at its peak. The whole dating show premise and the tailoring that happens to “reality” tv made this a stressful read. Honestly, I was stress reading through the last half, putting it down was not an option for me. 
  • I appreciated the balance of funny, cute, dramatic, and sweet. I laughed so much while reading this. Laughed, laughed. Full on cackle a few times. Cindy, her sisters, and most of the woman you meet through the dating show are wonderful. 

What was missing for me: 

  • The page time with both Cindy and Henry. There is a meet cute at the start but then a very slow build up. A large chunk of the book is all Cindy and her interacting with her family, the crew, the other woman, and not Henry. We eventually start getting little bread crumbs (I'm not very patient when I read but it was worth it) and with each interactions they do get longer. Julie gave me enough to build anticipation and tide me over but I wanted more. It allowed me to really get to know Cindy but I didn’t get to know enough about Henry and he felt a little boring. I liked Henry okay but really didn’t get the chance to love him. I’m always hoping for a dual POV. Not knowing what both characters are thinking/feeling kind of stresses me out. In this case I understand the choice to keep it just from Cindy’s POV and I wanted Cindy to get everything she desired. 
  • I needed more to that ending! I have mixed feelings. It had some pieces that were truly great and it also felt rushed and underwhelming. 

Thank you Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion for a copy in exchange for an honest review. I will definitely be continuing on with this series. 
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