Cinderella Is Dead in Rolling with the lgbt

Jun 01, 2021 Eva B. rated it it was ok

Shelves: disappointing, retellings-reimaginings-etc, queer-leads, eat-his-heart-in-the-marketplace, young-adult, banned-or-challenged-books

This had a lot of potential, but the instalove-y romance between Sophia and Constance was very disappointing. I called the twist fairly early on. I feel like the story of Cinderella as presented in this book would've been far more compelling than the story we got. ...more

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Apr 20, 2025 Charlie Spring rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, lgbtqia-books, reading-challenge-minority, fantasy

That smacked me omg, that’s so good! Like the characters and the universe are wow but also I would like to have seen more of Liv and Luke and to know more about Sophia’s grandmother like aaaaaaaaaah.

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Mar 08, 2024 eli ★ rated it it was ok

after a year of dnfing this on and off, i am finally free!

(spoiler alert: it was not worth it)

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Apr 05, 2021 mary ♡ (she | they) rated it liked it

Shelves: lgbtqia

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 2.5 stars

I was initially super excited about a sapphic cinderella retelling with bipoc rep! I am a sucker for fairytale retellings and am always looking for more diverse books, so this seemed like the perfect read!!

However....

...the characters ruined this book for me. And I can still thoroughly enjoy books that have less dynamic/interesting characters if I really enjoy the plot. But with this book, I disliked the main characters and was bored by the plot.

The protagonist of this book is named So 2.5 stars

I was initially super excited about a sapphic cinderella retelling with bipoc rep! I am a sucker for fairytale retellings and am always looking for more diverse books, so this seemed like the perfect read!!

However....

...the characters ruined this book for me. And I can still thoroughly enjoy books that have less dynamic/interesting characters if I really enjoy the plot. But with this book, I disliked the main characters and was bored by the plot.

The protagonist of this book is named Sophia. She’s sixteen years old & very in love with her best friend, Erin. In their kingdom, teenage girls are forced to go to a ball in search of a husband, but if they aren't chosen by a suitor, they are left to become spinsters and fend for themselves. Therefore, these teenage gays are desperate to escape their fate & Sophia takes every chance she has to complain about their circumstances. While I understand that her life is far from ideal, her character is the definition of telling rather than showing, and I get tired of simply being told how much she hates her life and kingdom.

The kingdom itself was so extremely misogynistic & homophobic, that I was turned off from reading about life there. Additionally, all of the characters had internalized (or very external and vocal) homophobia/misogyny that kept me from really connecting with any of them. The antagonist (the king) had no redeeming qualities and felt almost robotic because of that. I am a huge villain/morally grey fan so when I don't even enjoy the villain character, I get disinterested quickly.

After running from the ball (and Erin), Sophia meets Constance, and begins to fall in love with her. While Constance and Sophia are getting to know each other, the plot begins to drag quite a bit. Constance has a little bit of fire in her—which I appreciated—but in general, she was another bland and flat character who I didn't really care about. Also, Constance and Sophia have a somewhat instalove relationship and not nearly as much chemistry as I was hoping for. The instalove between them not only ruined their relationship, but also Sophia's relationship with Erin. I say this because Sophia gave up on/fell out of love with Erin very quickly, which made their romance seem not as important. And if their romance wasn't important, than Sophia's motivation in the beginning of the book is even less solid than I thought upon first reading.

Since this is the author's debut novel I am hoping that her writing continues to grow, as I really enjoyed the premise and the writing style, and would love to read more of her books in the future. :) ...more

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