This fantasy story made the YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers list.
In this tale we meet Sophia Grimmons, a young lady who will be attending her first ball at the palace where women are chosen by suitors as a way to honor the memory of Cinderella, who died 200 years ago. While you may expect that the young girls are eager to attend the ball and get their fairy tale ending something far more sinister is at work. Women go missing after not being selected. Women who are selected are at the mercies of their husbands. Knowing that it's impossible to be with the woman she loves and dreading the future that lies before her Sophia flees and stumbles upon the terrifying truth of the king's rule while partnering with the last of Cinderella's living kin to help save all the oppressed and mistreated citizens in Lille. It turns out that fairy tales may not alway be what they seem.
While I have read my fair share of fantasy stories in my youth I have not read a book of this genre in quite some time. I paused for a moment when I read the book's synopsis and learned that Sophia was gay, only because I hadn't read a book with a gay female main character before. I thought it would make it impossible for me to relate to Sophia. It turns out that her sexual orientation fuels her desire to make a stand for justice and give women the freedom to make their own choices. When Constance tells Sophia "My mother taught me that I am a whole person .with or without a husband...Who I am inside and how I treat others are the only things that matter (pg. 160)" I found myself hanging on to those words, wanting to use them to empower my daughter as she learns and grows.
This book also evoked a lot of emotions. When the characters use a rabbit sacrifice during a necromancy ritual to summon a rotting corpse back from the dead those feelings of disgust I experienced just proved the writing power Bayron has to capture her audience. Thankfully the scarier scenes were few and far between and what may feel uncomfortable for me may be exactly what my readers are looking for. It was also exciting to consider a different take on the classic Cinderella story. I always wonder what has happened to the "evil" characters' pasts to make them who they are in the stories. This book just goes to show that everyone has a different perspective. You may be the hero in your own story, but you may turn out to be the villain in someone else's.
While the plot sounded intriguing and inspired me to read this book I can also appreciate that while it serves as a window into the challenges others may face, it too can be a mirror to my patrons who find themselves in the minority. It's so important that all readers find some representation of themselves on the shelves and I believe this book will do exactly that. That is why I give this book a 4.5 out of a 5 star rating.
Bayron, K. (2020). Cinderella is dead. Bloomsbury.
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