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A review by agenericmirkwoodelf
Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
The fact that I didn’t like this book makes me sad. Because, I wanted to. I really, desperately wanted to. The overall premise seemed fascinating! It held the potential to be something truly meaningful and moving.
Unfortunately it was not.
I’ll start off with what I did, in fact, like about it, before moving onto my issues.
The good:
- The premise. Love fractured fairytales! Loved the idea of using Cinderella’s story as a creation myth, while also calling out the outdated ideas that story was built upon.
- The concept of the villain. Without spoiling, I’ll admit I found that to be incredibly neat!
- The take on the fairy godmother. Again, I can’t say much without venturing into spoiler territory, but it was a unique choice, and I enjoyed it.
So, why the 2 stars? Well…
The Bad:
- The writing. The writing. Oh gosh. I really don’t want to be rude here, but the writing didn’t feel at all like it was worthy of a final draft. It was blunt. The pure epitome of telling as opposed to showing. So, so many times I wanted to slam the book shut because characters would just state their feelings in convenient bursts of exposition. Phrases like ‘I feel guilty’ and ‘She is nervous’ are everywhere, with very little imagery to back them up. In fact, there was hardly any imagery at all. Maybe this works for some people, but it did not work for me.
- The characters are flat. No one really changes. No one has a lot of depth, or a really clear personality. Sophia’s only defining characteristic is that she’s not like other girls. she’s a rebel. Again, this is told to us very bluntly.
- Charactets just…say the message of the story outloud. Constantly. With no nuance at all.
- A lot of the descriptions felt really generic. For example, the witch’s hut is described as exactly what one thinks of when they think of witch’s hut. Same goes for pretty much all of the other locations.
So, yeah. I think this book could have been something great! It just made the fatal mistake of assuming all the readers were fools without the ability to read between lines. Kalyan Baytown had some fantastic ideas! Really, she does! And I really really hope she keeps up the writing so her prose can improve.
Unfortunately it was not.
I’ll start off with what I did, in fact, like about it, before moving onto my issues.
The good:
- The premise. Love fractured fairytales! Loved the idea of using Cinderella’s story as a creation myth, while also calling out the outdated ideas that story was built upon.
- The concept of the villain. Without spoiling, I’ll admit I found that to be incredibly neat!
- The take on the fairy godmother. Again, I can’t say much without venturing into spoiler territory, but it was a unique choice, and I enjoyed it.
So, why the 2 stars? Well…
The Bad:
- The writing. The writing. Oh gosh. I really don’t want to be rude here, but the writing didn’t feel at all like it was worthy of a final draft. It was blunt. The pure epitome of telling as opposed to showing. So, so many times I wanted to slam the book shut because characters would just state their feelings in convenient bursts of exposition. Phrases like ‘I feel guilty’ and ‘She is nervous’ are everywhere, with very little imagery to back them up. In fact, there was hardly any imagery at all. Maybe this works for some people, but it did not work for me.
- The characters are flat. No one really changes. No one has a lot of depth, or a really clear personality. Sophia’s only defining characteristic is that she’s not like other girls. she’s a rebel. Again, this is told to us very bluntly.
- Charactets just…say the message of the story outloud. Constantly. With no nuance at all.
- A lot of the descriptions felt really generic. For example, the witch’s hut is described as exactly what one thinks of when they think of witch’s hut. Same goes for pretty much all of the other locations.
So, yeah. I think this book could have been something great! It just made the fatal mistake of assuming all the readers were fools without the ability to read between lines. Kalyan Baytown had some fantastic ideas! Really, she does! And I really really hope she keeps up the writing so her prose can improve.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Murder and Animal death
Minor: Trafficking