Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron | ARC Review

I really struggled rating this book as there were parts I really loved and parts that let the book down a little. Ultimately though, it was a 4* read that provided a much needed re-imagination of the Cinderella story.

Bayron brings to the forefront a POC LGBT story and in doing so draws out many of the issues with the current format of our fairytales. Sophia desperately wants to marry her childhood best friend in a culture that strictly forbids any deviation from expectation. But, she stumbles upon a secret which drives her to move against the King.

At times I found Sophia annoying – she was naive and ignorant to the struggles of people around her. But, I do feel like this was in-line with her character and that, as a young adult, she was believable. The story was a little rushed, I would have loved to get more detail to help pad out the story – but I still thoroughly enjoyed the read.

Without spoiling too much, the ending was satisfying and is what took this rating up to a 4* read. I highly recommend it and it should be required reading for all YA and teen readers – I’ll certainly be sharing it with my younger sister. The book will be released July 7th 2020, so keep your eyes peeled!