When I read: "Queer black girls overthrowing the patriarchy" I WAS SOLD! I didn't even read the rest of the synopsis. I immediately asked Net Galley for a chance to read this and was so happy to get approved. Thank you Net Galley and Bloomsbury YA for the opportunity.

Cinderella is Dead is a dynamic debut novel by Kalynn Baryon that drastically re-invents the Cinderella tale, In the land of Mersailles, Prince Manford rules with an iron fist: he has declared women as property with no rights and teen girls must attend an annual ball when they come of age. At the ball, a girl can be selected for marriage and if she is not, she is deemed "forfeit" and becomes property of the king. As propaganda, the tale of Cinderella is ingrained at an early age to bolster how Prince Charming "rescued" Cinderella from a life of poverty and elevated her as queen.

Sophia Grimmins wants to nothing to do with the ball and is in love with her best friend Erin. She wants to run away with her but is forced to become part of a revolution after a series of events forces her to flee from the ball. She meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella - who tells her truth and encourages her to find the strength to be herself.

REVIEW: I read this book in a few hours. It was wholly engrossing and totally transported me to a different world. Bayron did a fantastic job of painting a world of oppression --you can really feel the terror/ claustrophobia that Sophia felt and how small women were made to feel in this society. I also loved how Sophia, a queer Black girl, found strength in herself to make the first steps in dismantling this system of oppression. Bayron's writing was awesome with vivid descriptions and great characters. I loved the inclusive world that she made. The story is fantastic with elements of dark magic and a nod to voodoo. There is also a really clever twist that I didn't really see coming! My review won't do it justice, so just read this book for yourself!

P.S. There is a mention of Snow White here (not a spoiler), so I'm hoping Bayron will write about Snow White as well :)

Two hundred years after Cinderella found her happily ever after, every girl in her kingdom is required to attend a ball to find her own Prince Charming. The Cinderella story is gospel, required to be in every household, and every girl is expected to have it memorized on the off chance her suitor husband quizzes her on the contents. Her parents are expected to spend every last penny they can, and more, to make sure she has a ballgown and every piece of finery they can find. Sophia thinks this is a load of crap, and dreams of a country where she can be herself, think for herself, and live in quiet happiness with her princess, but it doesn’t really matter what Sophia thinks.

She is willing to die to try to change that.

I do have to say that this is one of the most unique fairytale retellings I’ve read in a long time. I described this to my friend as “what Cinderella would be if it were kind of a dystopian, diet horror novel.” And overall, I really enjoyed getting to read this. I can’t say that I’ve ever even considered what Cinderella would be like as a dystopian, diet horror novel, but it somehow managed to work well.

Sophia and Constance are great main characters, both well-formed and a rare breed in YA literature—the kind of protagonists that know who they are at the beginning of the book and stay true to their characterization throughout the whole thing. I enjoyed Sophia’s perspective throughout the book and found her to be a very easy heroine to like and to root for.

My quibbles with this book are fairly small, because I’m aware that I’m not the target audience here, and that’s totally fine. I felt like there were way too many instances of being told instead of shown what was going on, but on the other hand... most of the story took place around the Cinderella myth so it kind of made sense to do this? The insta-love was alive and prevalent and it really wasn’t a believable romance, at least not at first. I was rooting for it by the end, but it really felt forced at the beginning. And lastly, I felt like the moral/lesson of the book was a little bit too heavy handed... even for YA lit.

Overall, though, it flowed well and it worked well, and I was able to relax into the story and enjoy it for the very unique and entertaining retelling that it was. I loved the author’s breath of fresh air take on a familiar story and hope to see more like it in the future!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the early review copy.

okay, so like yay for lesbian rep but this didn't feel cohesive? the story felt strung together instead of written well with pacing and emotions.

also, i don't think the romance was that well fleshed out and the ending was mega rushed. Also, lots and lots and lots of characters just talking through the history.

it was a creative idea but fell a bit flat for me.

You have seen and read Cinderella retellings before, but you need to read this one, trust me. Two hundred years after Cinderella’s death, the kingdom of Mersailles has turned her story into a weapon, stripping women of all their rights and granting absolute power to the king. Sophia is sixteen years old and must attend the annual ball, where “suitors” register a claim for eligible girls. Sophia is not looking for a husband, she’s looking for an escape and trying to get her girlfriend to come with her. A disaster at the ball sends Sophia down a path she never expected that could mean freedom not only for herself, but for all the people of Mersailles.

I thought this was a great weekend read, and highly recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in YA fantasy, or anyone who enjoyed how Wicked turned The Wizard of Oz on its head.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Wow! I don’t know that I could’ve enjoyed a book more. With all that’s been going on in the world, I’ve been in a reading slump. I couldn’t hold on a book for very long. I read this book within a week, and I loved it. This book was suggested on the homepage of netgalley due to the current push to read more Black authors and LGTBQ+ focused books. I’ve always been reading a variety but I’m so glad I got this book. Cinderella is a badass queer Black woman. If that phase offends you, this book isn’t for you. But, if you’re open to this book, you’re going to be On a ride. If you’re like me, and struggling because you’re tired of boring overdone fairy tale retelling. The world of Cinderella has changed. The story is now the Bible of this world. The King has made the ball mandatory and forced women to come, and be chosen by a man to live their lives. If you don’t come, you are forfeit. If you don’t get chosen in 3 tries, you are forfeit. You don’t get love. You don’t get to choose, and if you’re like our main character, you don’t get to love another woman. This begins our journey into a fairy tale world filled with hate, prejudice, and toxic masculinity where two girls, (one who hardcore reminds me of Merida from Brave) decide to fall in love, find a witch and take down the patriarchy. I don’t want to spoil but there’s been at least 2 plot twists I didn’t see coming and I loved it. Please, buy this book. Read this book. Recommend this book. You can bet when it launches I’m buying a copy for me and for a friend. This got me out of my slump and I can’t recommend it more for hope, badass females, the importance of family and the idea that all people deserve to equal rights, equal voices, and an equal chance to live the life they choose.

This was such a strong Cinderella retelling (in a post-Cinderella story world). We get some amazing queer girls overthrowing the patriarchy and a strong battle against the misogyny and homophobia that exists in this dystopian society.

I loved that this book was gay right from the start. Sophia knows who she is, knows what she wants, and she knows that she's going to try to get it. Her society expects her to attend the annual ball where girls must be chosen by men to become their property/wives, but Sophia sees how wrong this is and knows someone must do something or more and more girls will be hurt.

I really loved the fairytale twists in this. This story takes place 200 years after the Cinderella story we know, but that story holds weight in this society and there's lies to what actually happened. The plot of this was what really made the story stand out for me.

The writing was easy to follow, but it was a bit slower paced at times it felt like. I loved the story and characters, but didn't feel the high-stakes pressure in the pacing of the plot.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this one for someone looking for a story with sapphic girls explicitly fighting a patriarchal system.

Wholly original continuation of the Cinderella story. Some twists I saw coming, and others I very much did not, so I appreciated those surprises (though there was also a bit more on-the-page violence than I was anticipating; specifically the market scene). And of course, the fact that the main character is a Black lesbian was another bonus.

I really wanted to love this book but honestly, I just couldn’t. The world this was set in was by far more interesting than the actual story.

The beginning was super fast paced but nothing happened at all during that time- we went to the ball and then we left the ball. That was it, in 130 pages, that was all we did. Furthermore, the instant love in this book was more like instant lust, which is totally fine, but honestly, how?? Two hours earlier, Sophia was BEGGING her “love” to actually love her, but sure, she’s very attracted to Constance.

We have very little character descriptions by the way, all I know about these characters is hair colour, and I honestly only know that about Constance because it’s a huge part of her family and that story line. Because of that, the characters were very one-dimension and I just couldn’t get into them. I had no interest in their story, nor in the fight they were on.

Furthermore, the story in itself was very convenient. “I don’t like the ball so I’m gonna stop it. Oh look, the “fairy godmother” isn’t what we thought, the whole tale isn’t what we thought actually. Oops, the godmother is actually evil but through her I can kill the king”. Nothing exciting actually happened and the ending was predictable (would it have killed anyone to not have a happily ever after?).

In general, the story had a great premise but the execution could have used some more thought.

Cinderella retelling? Sign me up. But then you tell me it’s a black lesbian “Cinderella” (Sophie), and she’s going to take down the patriarchy? I had to read this and I’m so glad I did. I absolutely loved this book. And am I the only one that kept picturing Constance as Merida from Brave? This needs to be adapted into a movie. Now I have to read everything by Kalynn Bayron

Thank you to Bloomsbury YA and NetGalley for a gifted copy of this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I went into this only knowing that it's a Cinderella retelling featuring a BIPOC character. It has been described as queer black girls overthrowing the patriarchy and I think that's pretty accurate! I LOVED the twist on the beloved Cinderella fairy tale. I thought the author did a fantastic job with that - it was very creative! I love a good dystopian novel and this YA version was very easy to read with kick ass female characters!

If you liked A Curse so Dark and Lonely I think you will be a fan!

I loved this! I will for sure be buying it. It was new and interesting. The book was just different then other stories I've read. The sass levels were great. I thought it was very smart and easy to read. It moved fast and kept me wanting to read the next part without trying it seemed.

This incredible work from Kalynn Bayron takes the Cinderella tale and turns it into a resilient story of oppression, strength, survival, queer Black love, and feminist revolution.

I cannot recommend this young adult book enough. Feel free to continue to read my review but please know that you should just buy it now.

Sophia, a young Black woman, lives in Lille within Marseilles under the tyrant of King Manford. She has come of age and is now to report to the Ball: where all women of age come in their finest wares to be presented to the king and all eligible men. Any man of any age may choose a girl to become his wife (and property) and every girl gets just three chances at the Ball to find the happiness that Cinderella modeled 200 years prior. If they are failed to be picked for marriage, they are forfeited by their families and sent to work for the kingdom. Or so they are told.

Sophia does not want to go. She does not want to be trapped in the oppression of their kingdom and most of all, she wants to be with her best friend Erin. But they are forced to the ball and chaos reigns. Erin is picked to be someones wife and Sophia manages to escape the castle where she meets Constance. Constance is intriguing to Sophia: Constance is beautiful, smart, strong, and wearing pants. They team up to tear down the system and learn that the King, the story of Cinderella and the evil stepsisters, and the Fairy Godmother are not what they seem.

3.5 stars—I wanted to love this book based on the description and cover (5 stars there), but the whole first half of this book was kind of a mess. I felt like something, or some part of the story, was missing, and it all felt very rushed. It wasn’t until about halfway through that I actually started to like the book. As we start to learn more about Sophia and the history of Mersailles, the strangeness of King Mansford’s laws and the way they basically worshiped Cinderella, the story actually starts to make sense. Once you’re able to grasp the absurdity of how people could live this way, (yes, I know it is a fantasy world, but it still didn’t feel even a little realistic how complicit these people were) the underlying plot is actually pretty good. I loved the unique retelling of Cinderella and most of the characters (minus Erin, yuck!). Overall, I think the story just needed a little more development and detail up front. I’d still put this in my classroom because there is someone, somewhere that needs this f-the patriarchy version of Cinderella in their life!!

**Free E-ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

I was originally drawn in by this cover and title, they gave me the impression that this was going to be the book for me. I am happy to report that I was 100% correct, and even before I finished the book I was already making my friends sick by talking about it so much (JK they are excited to read it too).

The story is about Sophia, a 16 year old girl who is preparing to attend the annual ball at the palace. While in most fairy tales, the young girls would be excited to get to dress up and attend the ball in hopes of finding love, in this story it is every girls nightmare. In their land, women are forced to be married by a certain age or else become a forfeit. What that actually means is unclear, as they are never seen or heard from again. All the Sophia wants is to run away to be with her bestfriend Erin, but her family, society and even Erin tell her it's impossible. On the night of the ball Sophia makes a desperate escape and ends up running into Constance, the great granddaughter of one of the Evil Stepsisters. As she gets to know more about this strange girl she learns that there is much more to the legend of Cinderella than palace approved story book has led everyone to believe.

I truly enjoyed this story and loved these characters Kalynn Bayron has created. My official rating for this book is 4.5 stars, but I have rounded up to 5. I would like to have seen a bit more depth to the characters, and I felt that the end was wrapped up a bit to neatly. I am looking to reading more work from this author in the future (keeping my fingers crossed for another fairy tale remix).

Cinderella is Dead breathes new life into a classic fairy tale that everyone thinks they already know. Kalynn Bayron completely flips the story and will keep readers engaged through every page of this book. Sophia lives in a post=Cinderella world where the fairy tale is used to control young women and marry them off. Bayron uses the classic story to create something entirely new and it works so well. The twist near the end of the book is perfectly pulled off and will catch readers off guard. Fans of Cinder and A Blade So Black will love this book!

Cinderella is Dead was a highly anticipated book for me, I absolutely love retellings and was quite excited when I was approved on NetGalley for an eARC. Well, it wasn't what I had hoped for, I thought the plot was very bland and reminded me of every other YA fantasy plot. I didn't see anything unique about the storyline and the main character drove me up the wall. Like, I get that she wants to over throw the patriarchy and I'm all for that, but it just wasn't believable and she was not that developed. I wasn't angry with her about what was going on like I should have been. I mean this world is super messed up, and the idea of women going to this ball to be picked by old men to marry is gross. It just didn't wow me though.

Another thing that immediately threw my off and made me roll my eyes was the insta love that goes on. I'm not for it and now I'm really irritated with the main character. I get that insta love is a thing and it's my opinion to love or hate it, but at least make it somewhat believable. Our main character loves her best friend and wants to run away with her before the ball happens, but the minute she meets another girl she is smitten with her. No thank you.

I really think a lot of people will like this book, I think after reading so many fantasy books, this one just fell flat. It needed so much more world building and characters being fleshed out. It also needed to be a little more believable throughout the story.

200 years ago, Cinderella fell for her Prince Charming at a ball, and their courtship was so romantic every girl in Lille is required to reenact it on pain of death. It's a horrible meetcute: financially ruinous, degrading, and generally resulting in abusive marriages. The whole country is a misogynistic nightmare. Everyone submits out of sheer terror, but sixteen-year-old Sophia's love for Erin is so great she will tear down a regime to be with her. Sophia is a painfully generic dystopia heroine compared to her revolutionary ally, the stabtastic warrior Constance.

Between the gorgeous cover and this pitch - “queer black girls team up to overthrow the patriarchy in the former kingdom of Cinderella" - I knew I had to read Cinderella is Dead. I’ve always been a fan of fairytales and retellings, and this one has made it onto my list of top favourites.

All the girls in the kingdom of Lille are forced to attend the annual ball, during which the goal is to be chosen for marriage. They have three chances, after which they’re considered undesirable and are often forfeited to the palace, never to be seen or heard from again. In Lille, women are little more than possessions, and men are allowed to treat them however they see fit, which is often with abuse and absolutely no respect. Sophia doesn’t want any part of that for herself or anyone else; she knows things should be different, and she wants to live a happy, free life with her girlfriend. Disgusted and disheartened, Sophia flees her first ball and ends up at Cinderella’s mausoleum, where she meets the only living descendent of Cinderella’s stepsisters, Constance, and begins to learn that the true tale of Cinderella is far different from the palace-approved version known to everyone in the land.

I loved so many things about this book. As I was reading, I saw countless parallels to today’s reality, and I loved how the story was a commentary on modern society and the issues many people face while also incorporating magical elements that managed to feel realistic. The world Sophia lived in was bleak and heartbreaking, but she was such a bright light. She wanted to live in a world where women weren’t possessions and couldn’t be forfeited for things beyond their control, where they were able to choose who and what they wanted to be - and who they wanted to be with. When she met Constance and saw how brave, tenacious, and determined she was, she realized it was possible for her to be like that too. Those things had been in her all along, despite being told she wasn’t entitled to happiness or freedom, and Constance helped her see it was possible to do more than just wish things were different.

I really loved how Cinderella is Dead turned the familiar tale on its head in so many ways. A lot of people have an issue with the Cinderella story because they don’t like the idea of the prince ‘saving’ her or the insta-love aspect, or, in the case of the live-action Disney remake, the fact Cinderella’s motto was “have courage and be kind” but it led to her being a pushover. Sophia and Constance knew courage was necessary, but they put actual action behind it too. They were a fierce pair, and I cheered them on every step of the way. Sophia challenged the status quo and knew things should be different and could be, and meeting Constance helped her see how she could act on that desire for change and equality.

Full of fierce, kickass characters, an engaging plot, and enough magic to completely enchant you, Cinderella is Dead is a hopeful, inspiring modern day fairytale that should be on everyone’s TBR.

Cinderella has been dead for 200 years. That might make you wonder how this story has anything to do with Cinderella, but JUST YOU WAIT.

It all starts with Sophia and the ball. Lots of girls in the kingdom are excited to go to the ball, but Sophia is dreading it. She doesn’t want to end up with some man she doesn’t know. She’s seen what women in the past have had to deal with when they are “chosen.” Abusive husbands are almost expected. Not to mention, she wants to be with her friend, Erin. But as Erin will not run away with Sophia and Sophia won’t leave all the girls in the kingdom to their fate, she lets her mother prepare her for the ball.

When the girls arrive, it’s worse than any of them could have imagined. Men leer and coerce and barter for the girls they want for themselves. But it’s the king himself who is the worst of them all.

By some stroke of luck, Sophia is able to get away from the party and ends up in Cinderella’s mausoleum. It’s there that she meets Constance, a girl who has been running from the King and his guards all of her life.

They make a plan to meet up and Sophia does something she never thought she’d do. She leaves Erin behind. She says one last goodbye to her parents and then finds Constance at the meeting place.

Who is Constance? She is a descendant of one of the original step-sisters. After Cinderella married Prince Charming, her stepmother and step-sisters had to run from the kingdom or risk being disappeared or killed. Why?

They weren’t like what we’ve been told all these years. They weren’t evil. They deeply cared for Cinderella and were helping her seek revenge.

Cinderella went to the palace that memorable night not to experience what it was like to be a royal or win the heart of the prince. She went there to kill someone (really trying with no spoilers here lol).

And her step-mother and step-sisters helped her with her plan! When the plan didn’t work out, they had to run.

It’s been 200 years, but the descendants of those three women are still in hiding, trying to escape the long arm of the palace and the King and Constance is one of them.

So, Sophia and Constance escape the kingdom and after some thought, decide they need to find Cinderella’s fairy godmother to figure out what exactly is going on.

What they find out on this journey and during their fight to free all the women of the kingdom will blow your mind. They do find the fairy godmother, but….you will not believe what happens next.

Ok…one spoiler: THEY BRING CINDERELLA BACK FROM THE DEAD!!

That’s all I’m saying and I’m not giving any context. If that doesn’t draw you in, I don’t know what to tell you.

Let’s talk Sophia and Constance. OMG I love their relationship. Sophia may start the book being madly in love with Erin, but as they spend more time together, Sophia and Constance form a almost unbreakable bond. Yes, this is a f/f book and it gives me life. The development of their relationship was one of my favorite parts of the whole book.

I also really liked the juxtaposition between how Erin treats Sophia versus how Constance treats her. Erin is very scared of breaking any rules and is not willing to run away with Sophia. It also seems like maybe Sophia’s love towards Erin is stronger than Erin’s is for Sophia.

With Constance and Sophia, their love for each other is strong and equal.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen two romantic relationships presented in this way and the first relationship not shown as a bad thing or the person as a bad person. It’s made clear that Erin is a good person. We (the reader) never think of Erin as bad or wrong. She’s simply stuck in an impossible situation. Saying you’re strong enough to run away from all you’ve known and actually doing it can be really tough. Even when Erin ends up in an awful marriage, she still doesn’t see running away as an option. She doesn’t want any harm to come to her family. You can’t blame her.

In their situation, who knows if we would be Erin or Sophia?

But Erin isn’t the only character that is well-developed; all the characters are. While the evil characters are definitely full-on bad, the reveal of their secrets is done in such a way that they never seem boring or one note. Their secrets come out a little at a time and each time one is revealed…just picture me yelling WTF at my computer screen.

Trigger warnings: mentions of domestic abuse, sexism, misogyny

Cinderella is Dead is one of my favorite books of the year. I’ve read a lot of retellings of fairy tales and classic books and this is by far one of the best. Every time I think about what might’ve gone into thinking up the different parts of this book, I’m just even more in awe of it. I cannot wait to see what else Kaylnn Bayron creates.

I am giving Cinderella is Dead 4.5 out of 5 stars.

I received an e-arc through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3/5 stars

I was very intrigued by the idea of this story and turning the fairy tale of Cinderella on its head and creating something completely new from it. I don't believe that I have read any other Cinderella retellings in the past so I was very curious to see how the author, Kalynn Bayron, would go about it. The retelling aspects of the story were probably my favorite parts in the book.

Overall, I thought that the story was good. It was interesting enough to keep turning the pages but I never felt fully drawn into the story. I never really had that moment of connection with any of the characters in the story to truly feel compelled with the events that were happening. At the beginning of the story, the main character is in a secret relationship with another girl in her town and she seems to really care for her and wants to find a way that they can escape and be together. But after some events happen in the book and our main character manages to escape but not with the girl she loves, she ends up running into another girl and seems to have feelings for her almost immediately. While the main character doesn't forget about her old love interest, it still seemed like she moved on rather quickly and was not as heartbroken as I would've expected her to be.

I felt like the beginning of the book was a little more dragged out than it needed to be and that the ending could have used a little more action and been a little more drawn out to really feel the full impact of all of the events that happened. To me, the middle really seemed to be the strongest and most intriguing part of the book. I really enjoyed seeing as things were coming together and the plan was evolving. I was still mostly intrigued through the ending but I felt like the section that was meant to be the most action packed was just a lot of talking and very little action was actually done so the pay off for the end of the book didn't seem to be as climatic as it should've been.