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A review by writervid
Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
4.0
I was SUPER excited about this book. I love fairytales, I love deconstructing fairytales and their influence, and I love diversity in books. Plus, GORGEOUS cover. The book delivered on the deconstruction of the fairytale by breaking down how the influences of it could be applied on a societal level (which is so COOL we should do that more often), and the characters were so fun to read. I loved Sophia and Constance and especially Amina, whose past was so interesting and fascinating and raised some interesting ethical questions--and then the plot twist at the end when she was revealed to be the villain just raised the stakes immensely and threw me for a LOOP. Excellent plot twist.
My main problem with the book lies mostly in the last 40 pages or so. The ending glosses over the indoctrination that Lille has faced for years, and the concept of patriarchy lying only on the shoulders of one person feels too easy. The book wanted to end too soon, so it made a paint-by-numbers ending that underplays the real-life depth of the issues the book addresses so well for the first half of it. I wish there was a sequel to go through this process rather than skimming over it. Similarly, I wish there had been a bit more exploration of the world-building.
My main problem with the book lies mostly in the last 40 pages or so. The ending glosses over the indoctrination that Lille has faced for years, and the concept of patriarchy lying only on the shoulders of one person feels too easy. The book wanted to end too soon, so it made a paint-by-numbers ending that underplays the real-life depth of the issues the book addresses so well for the first half of it. I wish there was a sequel to go through this process rather than skimming over it. Similarly, I wish there had been a bit more exploration of the world-building.