by Kalynn Bayron

4.5 Stars

It has been 200 years since Cinderella and the Prince found each other, but that fairy tale has been twisted into a nightmare. Teenage girls now have to attend an annual ball, where the men choose their brides based on the finery the girls display. Sixteen-year-old Sophia rather marry her childhood best friend, Erin, than be paraded at the ball in front of a group of suitors. On the night of the ball, Sophia decides to run, and she finds herself in Cinderella’s mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, who is the last known descendant of the original Cinderella and her stepsisters. Together they vow to bring down the king, and during that process, they find out much more to Cinderella’s tale than they ever knew. 

This book is a retelling of the story of Cinderella. It is a fantasy novel with a dystopian theme mixed into it. This book was very fast-paced (although too fast at times), and there was always something going on to keep the reader’s attention. I personally did not want to put this book down! The protagonist, Sophia, is a very strong protagonist to follow. Through her eyes, the reader sees this gruesome, wicked world that she lives in and sees how Sophia longs for an escape from it. I liked how this was a very different take on Cinderella and how the author incorporated a dystopian society into the novel. I also liked the relationship between Sophia and Erin because you got to see how the world that they live in impacted them. Overall, I would very much recommend this book, especially to the people who like to read fairy tale retellings!

Emily W.

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