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A review by elderlingfool
Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
Did not finish book.
DNF at 50%
Unfortunately, this book has some YA tropes that I hate so I was unable to keep reading it. Even though the chapters are really short, and I could read them quickly, I was never able to read more than two at once because I was so bored that I kept putting the book down.
I love the concept of this book and I am upset that I don't enjoy the execution. The Cinderella story being treated as a sort of bible that everyone must follow is interesting, but as far as I read not much was done with that concept. I really like that there are lesbian and gay characters, but the romance looks very superficial. I am still looking for a good lesbian fantasy book. However, I must inform that I am very picky with romance in general so even if to me it didn't feel deep enough others might like it.
There are some info dumps, which I hate. The one that bothered me the most was the one that happens when the main character finds another character and this new person decides to tell her what really happened in Cinderella's past for about 2 or 3 pages. It's not a lot for most people but since I hate info dumps and I prefer the information to be slowly revealed in a way that makes sense instead of in chunks it felt like a lot to me. Besides this, the main character kept saying how she feels as if the reader cannot interpret that through her actions. I see this done a lot, especially in YA, and I hate it every time.
The main character is alright in general, but she has the terrible characteristic of rushing into things and speaking without thinking of the consequences. Everyone keeps telling her to be careful with what she says because she might get arrested or killed and yet she keeps ignoring it. At a certain point my suspension of disbelief didn't work anymore and I could not buy it that she kept escaping these terrible authority figures. The breaking point for me was when a character tells her to stay away from the main road because guards are looking for her and the first thing she does is go to her house where, obviously, guards are looking for her... it's a miracle how she keeps not being caught. Honestly, it's only because it's fiction that she wasn't.
I am sad that this wasn't for me because I really wanted to like a fantasy book inspired by a fairy tale with LGBT+ characters and this one seemed so good in concept. Unfortunately, due to what I mentioned above I decided not to keep reading it because I was not enjoying myself.
Unfortunately, this book has some YA tropes that I hate so I was unable to keep reading it. Even though the chapters are really short, and I could read them quickly, I was never able to read more than two at once because I was so bored that I kept putting the book down.
I love the concept of this book and I am upset that I don't enjoy the execution. The Cinderella story being treated as a sort of bible that everyone must follow is interesting, but as far as I read not much was done with that concept. I really like that there are lesbian and gay characters, but the romance looks very superficial. I am still looking for a good lesbian fantasy book. However, I must inform that I am very picky with romance in general so even if to me it didn't feel deep enough others might like it.
There are some info dumps, which I hate. The one that bothered me the most was the one that happens when the main character finds another character and this new person decides to tell her what really happened in Cinderella's past for about 2 or 3 pages. It's not a lot for most people but since I hate info dumps and I prefer the information to be slowly revealed in a way that makes sense instead of in chunks it felt like a lot to me. Besides this, the main character kept saying how she feels as if the reader cannot interpret that through her actions. I see this done a lot, especially in YA, and I hate it every time.
The main character is alright in general, but she has the terrible characteristic of rushing into things and speaking without thinking of the consequences. Everyone keeps telling her to be careful with what she says because she might get arrested or killed and yet she keeps ignoring it. At a certain point my suspension of disbelief didn't work anymore and I could not buy it that she kept escaping these terrible authority figures. The breaking point for me was when a character tells her to stay away from the main road because guards are looking for her and the first thing she does is go to her house where, obviously, guards are looking for her... it's a miracle how she keeps not being caught. Honestly, it's only because it's fiction that she wasn't.
I am sad that this wasn't for me because I really wanted to like a fantasy book inspired by a fairy tale with LGBT+ characters and this one seemed so good in concept. Unfortunately, due to what I mentioned above I decided not to keep reading it because I was not enjoying myself.