Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

Cinderella Is Dead

by Kalynn Bayron

It's 200 years since Cinderella found her prince, but the fairytale is over.

Sophia knows the story though, off by heart. Because every girl has to recite it daily, from when she's tiny until the night she's sent to the royal ball for choosing. And every girl knows that she has only one chance. For the lives of those not chosen by a man at the ball ... are forfeit.

But Sophia doesn't want to be chosen - she's in love with her best friend, Erin, and hates the idea of being traded like cattle. And when Sophia's night at the ball goes horribly wrong, she must run for her life. Alone and terrified, she finds herself hiding in Cinderella's tomb. And there she meets someone who will show her that she has the power to remake her world ...

An electrifying twist on the classic fairytale that will inspire girls to break out of limiting stereotypes and follow their dreams!

Reviewed by lauriesbookshelf on

2 of 5 stars

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Review posted on https://lauriesbookshelf.comrating according to the CAWPILE system:

Characters: 2, Atmosphere: 4, Writing: 5, Plot: 2.5, Intrigue: 2.5, Logic: 2.5, Enjoyment: 3. Overall: 21 /7 = 3 --> 2 stars.

Cinderella Is Dead was my highest anticipated read for this summer. I really couldn't wait for my pre-order to arrive. So, I started as soon as possible after I received my Kindle copy. To say that I'm utterly dissapointed is an understatement Liteerally everything is poorly excecuted, from the characters to the world building to the plot.

When we got introduced to side character Constence, she came out of the blue. We barely know anything about her. She's just a character to fill the story and I had the same feeling about our main character Sophia as well. The girls had NO plan to accomplish their mission and the story kept dragging. The world was barely present at all and everything felt predictable. From the love interest to the ending. Bayron has a lot of potential as a writer, but in my opinion this book needed some more work. It felt like publication was rushed and that did the story no good at all. The characters could have been outlined much better, they fell just so incredibly flat. Their relationship could have been dveloped more as well.

And then, the plot. There were several plot holes and it was just..... not finished. It went nowhere, especially in the middle part of the book. It felt rushed. Honestly it felt like I have been reading an ARC or even a first draft instead of a published book. Again, if Bayron took more time and if there has been several more rounds of editing, this would have been a fenomenal story. The premise sounds really promising and drew me to this book in the first place. A saphic fairytale retelling? yes, count me in.

Despite being super disappointed in Cinderella Is Dead I'm really curious what more Kalynn Bayron has upon her sleeve, because she seems to be a talented writer. I will definitely give her a second chance when a new book by her gets published.This review was originally posted on Laurie's Bookshelf

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  • 15 August, 2020: Reviewed
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  • 15 August, 2020: Reviewed