From the moment he’s introduced, one would think he was going to have a major role in this story: While I could write an entire paragraph on any one of them, I want to primarily talk about Luke. This book is also filled with underused side characters who had so much potential. I would’ve liked to see more sparks and yearning between them as we see Sophia realize Constance, and not Erin, is the one she’s supposed to love. Sophia quickly forgets Erin, one of the two loosely established reasons for her rebellious actions, and falls head-over-heels for the fiery Constance. Her romance with Constance, while having its cute moments, was very rushed and could have been better developed. More often than not, I was questioning her actions rather than rooting for her. Sophia is rash, talks back to everyone, and is determined to bring down the king without any semblance of a plan. We are told her grandmother taught her the king was bad, we are told she loves Erin and would do anything so they could have a life together, but we are never really shown this burning hatred to make it believable.

Sophia is another rebellious YA heroine whose reasons for wanting to dismantle a 200-year-old oppressive political system never truly go beyond surface level. However, from a story and writing perspective, this book totally flopped for me. I loved the representation of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ characters, as this is incredibly important and something we need to continue normalizing and supporting in YA. While I was excited about the premise of this book, unfortunately it did not deliver. *Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy. Even though this one wasn't quite what I'd hoped, I highly respect what the author was creating with this book, and I definitely recommend you try this one out for yourself. The narrative here felt heavy-handed, as the bringing down of toxic masculinity was more 'telling than showing', and the plot plays out pretty much as you'd expect, aside from a really excellent reimagining of the fairy godmother. The idea of a Cinderella retelling that features diverse characters smashing the patriarchy is truly the level of fantasy we need in the world today however, I really struggled to get past the fact that there is hardly any world building in this story, which caused me to feel a disconnect to characters that were keeping me at arms length.

I thought for sure that this would be the easiest 5 stars I'd give in 2020, but I think my expectations were way out of line for what this book intended to be. Another reviewer used the terms 'predictable, important, and frustrating' to describe this book, and I have to wholeheartedly agree.

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron