the-knights-who-say-book: REVIEW: CINDERELLA IS DEAD BY KALYNN BAYRONRating: ★★★★☆Blurb: I
the-knights-who-say-book: REVIEW: CINDERELLA IS DEAD BY KALYNN BAYRONRating: ★★★★☆Blurb: It’s been 200 years since Cinderella found her prince. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives. If no suitable match is found, the unchosen girls disappear. But sixteen-year-old Sophia can’t imagine marrying anyone but her best friend, Erin. Fleeing the ball, a crime punishable by death, Sophia finds herself in Cinderella’s mausoleum. There she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella’s step sister. Her version of Cinderella’s story is different than the one Sophia was taught. If they can unravel the story, maybe they can bring down the kingdom that idolizes it.I liked this book a lot! It definitely has some flaws. There are a few coincidences in the plot which could have been products of skill and determination instead, if the author put some more thought into it. But mostly my problem was was that the writing of the Horrible Oppressive Patriarchal Kingdom was So Obvious. It conveys the horror of the setting, but at the cost of more subtle and evocative writing.I think the misogyny and hopelessness and horror could have been conveyed with writing more like a scalpel instead of a pick axe, if you get what I’m saying. On the other hand, the straightforwardness of it means no one could be dense enough to miss the message. And with its retelling angle and not having sexual content but with the same message, it might be a fantastic The Handmaid’s Tale for younger audiences.I also wanted more fleshing out of the “fairy tales are-state propaganda” angle! The treatment of Cinderella this way is the basis of the entire book, but the mention of Snow White caught my interest so hard too, I wanted to know how so many other tales would go if they got the same treatment. Hoping this was left to be fleshed out in sequels!Though I wish the flaws were fixed, I am very happy with this book. We got gay girls. We got different queer characters supporting each other. We got morally gray characters and heroes and villains. We got a million different ways people crumple under and quietly resist and loudly revolt against the patriarchy, and incredible character development as Sophia learns not to judge people who go quietly because they just want to survive, even though she is a different kind of person. And she does it all while kissing girls. -- source link