Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

Star rating: 4/5

Cinderella meets The Handmaid's Tale in this creative retelling/sequel to the well-known fairytale. 

Summary:

Cinderella has been dead for 200 years. Her story started the tradition in the kingdom of Lille that all single girls aged 18-21 must attend a ball to be chosen by a suitor for marriage. Attendance is mandatory, and if you are not selected for marriage by your third year attending, you are exiled. 

Under the reign of a line of cruel kings, women have always been treated poorly in Lille. They are not free. Their lives are controlled by men. Sophia wants nothing to do with the laws that have controlled her life. She wants to be with her girlfriend, and she wants to be free. So on the night of the ball, she runs away, and she embarks on a journey to overthrow the king and create a better life for all of the women in the kingdom. 

Review:

I am such a sucker for fairytale retellings. I am a huge fan of Into the Woods and Gregory Maguire books. For me, retellings have to do something different with the story, and Bayron absolutely did that with this book. I've read several Cinderella retellings in my day, and this one was a super unique, dark twist. It gave me serious Handmaid's Tale vibes in the best way. Others have described this book as the "queer black sequel to Cinderella" and that is accurate. It was amazing to read such a diverse take on fairytales that are typically so white-washed and hetero. 

There are some reasons I didn't rate it higher. I think this book had potential to be five stars, but it fell flat in a few different ways. One, while there's no denying that the main characters were super badass women, they were ultimately pretty one-dimensional. I really would have liked to see more depth and development there. The plot was also pretty unrealistic, even for fantasy - the characters got away with far too much, their quest ended far too easily. I would have liked to see more conflict and struggle. Overall, I really did love this book. It instantly gripped me and I could not put it down. I highly recommend!