[Review] Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

 

Cover image from the goodreads website.

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: 7 July, 2020

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Genre: Young Adult/YA Fantasy/Fairytale Retellings/YA Romance/YA LGBTQIA+ Romance

ISBN: 9781547603879

Edition: Hardback (available in audiobook and eBook)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 14 December, 2020
Warnings: instances of necromancy (and necrophilia? I'm not sure if that's the right warning or not), a lot of patriarchal bs, magic, rigid gender norms, spousal abuse, mild violence

Summary:  

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 . . .

This fresh take on a classic story will make readers question the tales they’ve been told, and root for girls to break down the constructs of the world around them.

See more by Kalynn Bayron at her website.

[Review] The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Series: Stand-Alone

Release Date: 28 February, 2017

Publisher: HarperCollins

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Emotions & Feelings/Social & Family Issues /Prejudice & Racism/Violence

ISBN: 9780062498533

Edition: Audiobook

Rating: ★★★★★

Review Written: 16 June, 2018

Summary: Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, Angie Thomas’s searing debut about an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances addresses issues of racism and police violence with intelligence, heart, and unflinching honesty. Soon to be a major motion picture from Fox 2000/Temple Hill Productions.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

See more by Angie Thomas at her Website.

Trigger Warnings: Police Brutality, Murder, Graphic Violence