Cinderella is Dead – Kalynn Bayron

Blurb:
It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again.

Sixteen-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors. At the ball, Sophia makes the desperate decision to flee, and finds herself hiding in Cinderella’s mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her step sisters. Together they vow to bring down the king once and for all–and in the process, they learn that there’s more to Cinderella’s story than they ever knew . . .

My Thoughts:
This book takes place 200 years after Cinderella, there are strict rules to follow, every single girl has to attend a ball once they turn a certain age At the ball they will be chosen by a man, sometimes the man may choose more than 1 wife. Women must obey their husbands, the money they earn is their husband’s money and it is no crime to beat your wife.

Sophia is to attend her first ball but she doesn’t want to marry a man, she has zero interest in ‘belonging’ to a man. But the laws are the laws and her feelings and opinions are nothing in this world.

This book reminded me a bit of The Handmaids Tale because of how women are viewed. I really enjoyed hearing about how things are after the Cinderella story and how the King twisted and changed the tale to suit his narrative, but I loved how we get to hear the true story of Cinderella.

There was a twist that I guessed almost straight away, unfortunately, but there were others that I didn’t at all see coming.

Sadly I didn’t really feel connected with Sophia, Erin or Constance, for me there was no emotional connection. Don’t get me wrong I thought the concept of the book was fantastic and changing the tale that most of us know.