Author: Kalynn Bayron
Genre: Fairytale Retelling, Queer, Romance
Pages: 389 pages; 11 hours (audiobook)
Level of difficulty: 3/5 Dictionaries
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Brief Introduction:
200 years after Cinderella found her prince, teen girls are required to appear at the Annual Ball and be picked by where men of the kingdom select wives based on their appearance. We follow Erin’s journey in fighting her country’s patriarchic system that oppresses not only women but the LGBT+ community.
Review:
I loved how the Cinderella fairytale was turned on its head. Instead of a love story (supposedly) we have a feminist retelling in the genre of a dystopia. It was creative from start to finish, turning everything we know about the fairytale upside down. It challenged the notion of a prince charming, a fairy godmother and heteronormativity.
However, there were some weak executions between scenes. For example, Constance happens to meet our main character when most needed and has all the tools Sophia needs. As such, the flow of the book at times was weak which takes away from the whole narrative (as a reader you are reminded that it is fiction – zapped back to the real world).
You may get the book here!