cinderella book review

A Summary and Analysis of the Cinderella Fairy Tale

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Cinderella’ is, of course, a classic fairy story, a ‘rags to riches’ tale about a kind-hearted girl who suffers various hardships only to marry the prince of the kingdom. Why is Cinderella called Cinderella? Since she is shunned by the rest of her family (especially the stepsisters), the poor girl sits among the ashes in the chimney corner – hence her cindery name.

The ‘rags to riches’ transformation comes about when Cinders, who wishes to attend the royal ball, has her wish granted and subsequently meets the prince. Although she has to flee the ball and return home – losing one of her slippers in the process – the prince searches for and finds her, thanks to what is perhaps the most romantic shoe-fitting in all of literature. So far, so familiar.

The earliest appearance of the Cinderella story in print was in 1634 in the  Pentamerone , a collection of oral folk tales compiled by Giambattista Basile, a Neapolitan soldier, poet, and courtier. Here Cinderella is called Cenerentola.

In 1697, French writer Charles Perrault published the story of Cendrillon, a variation on the story. Perrault added several details now intrinsically associated with the story – notably the pumpkin, the fairy godmother, and the glass slipper – to Basile’s version, which already featured the wicked stepmother and the evil stepsisters, as well as the prince figure (though in Basile’s he is a king rather than a prince) who hunts for the owner of a slipper (though it isn’t glass in Basile’s version). Perrault’s version would form the basis of the hit 1950 Disney film  Cinderella , which in turn inspired Kenneth Branagh’s 2015 live-action remake.

But in fact the story is even older than these seventeenth-century versions: ‘Ye Xian’ or ‘Yeh-Shen’ is a Chinese variant of the Cinderella story that dates from the ninth century. A detailed plot summary can be found here .

But even this isn’t the oldest version of the story: a tale dating back to the 1st century BC, more than a thousand years before even the Chinese ‘Ye Xian’, is perhaps the earliest of all Cinderella narratives. The story is about a Thracian courtesan, Rhodopis, who ends up marrying the King of Egypt . It even features a royal figure searching for the owner of a shoe, suggesting that it is the progenitor of all later Cinderella stories.

In the nineteenth century, the Brothers Grimm offered a slightly different version of the tale in Aschenputtel . The Grimms’ retelling of the fairy tale is somewhat … well, grimmer than the Basile or Perrault versions.

At the end of the Grimms’ version of the story, the stepsisters’ eyes are pecked out by birds to punish the sisters for their cruelty towards their sibling – a violent conclusion you won’t find in Disney. In order to try to dupe the prince into thinking they are the wearers of the missing slipper, each of the stepsisters cuts off part of her own foot to make it fit, but the blood that fills the slipper gives the game away. Indeed, the Chinese ‘Ye Xian’ telling of the Cinderella story ends with the stepmother and ugly sisters being crushed to death in their caves by stones. In the Disney film they get off lightly, to say the least.

What’s more, in the Brothers Grimm version of the Cinderella story, the slipper is not glass, but gold. There is disagreement among scholars and commentators as to whether the glass slippers that first appear in Perrault’s version (and, subsequently, in many famous retellings and adaptations of the tale) were the result of Perrault’s mishearing  vair  (French for ‘squirrel’s fur’) for  verre (French for ‘glass’).

The majority of experts reject such a theory. The website Snopes.com states that Perrault intended the slippers to be made of glass all along, and wasn’t acting on an error, while another site suggests that the glass slipper was perhaps ‘an ironic device since it is a fragile thing’, so might be seen as a form of artistic licence.

Interestingly, the ‘error’ theory – that Perrault was not inventing an iconic literary trope but simply mishearing one word for another – appears to have been put about by the French novelist Honoré de Balzac. So, although Perrault added the glass slippers, it was most likely not down to a mishearing (especially since the word  vair was not in common use when Perrault was writing) but to creative licence.

Roald Dahl updated the fairy tale of Cinderella in 1982 in his R evolting Rhymes. The most significant Dahlian detail in his verse retelling of the tale comes near the end, when one of the stepsisters replaces the glass slipper with her own shoe. But even though the shoe subsequently fits the sister’s foot perfectly (as you’d expect), the prince declines to marry her and instead – cuts her head off.

The tyrannical prince does the same to the other stepsister, and Cinderella’s head would have been done for too, had her fairy godmother not intervened and saved her – granting Cinderella’s wish to be married to an ordinary husband rather than a prince who would, let’s face it, make Prince Joffrey look like Oliver Twist.

So that’s a happy ending, just not the one you find in traditional fairy tales.

Before the Disney film of 1950, and long before the 2015 Kenneth Branagh remake, there were many film adaptations, the first of which (from 1899) can be seen here .

If you enjoyed this post, you might find something of literary interest in our summary of the curious history of ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ ,  25 great facts about children’s books and our surprising facts about Aladdin and the Arabian Nights .

20 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of the Cinderella Fairy Tale”

Reblogged this on Língua Inglesa .

I always enjoy your posts. Just the sort of facts I find fascinating. Thank you. Kris http://www.awritersden.wordpress.com

We just covered the Brothers Grimm and their grusome tales in the Romantic Period of our senior English lit section. Students are mesmerized by the cruelty and violence of the original fairy tales. One of my favorite versions is Ever After with Drew Barrymore. In the beginning of the film the glass slipper is shown and it is golden glass–which solves both theories of the famous shoe.

I love the Ever After version of this tale as well. The Brothers Grimm tend to be too grim for me. :)

Nice post! I love researching this sort of thing. One of my favorite Cinderella adaptions (shadow puppets) is from 1922 by Lotte Reiniger. You can find it on YouTube.

Interesting to see how far back the story goes. But I thought there was a version (though I can’t remember where) where the stepsisters are forced to dance on hot coals until they died?

This ending seems familiar – though I can’t remember which version it was exactly. Maybe I should reread my old fairytale books. By the way, why are so many suprised about the cruelty in the original fairytales? I’ ve grown up with them and especially the Disney version appeared always too nice in my opinion.

You might be thinking of a version of Snow White where the stepmother is forced to dance in red hot iron shoes until she died.

Reblogged this on Getting Lit Fit .

Huh. Interesting as always.

Reblogged this on your worst nightmare and commented: So gosh-darn cool.

Reblogged this on justthetraveller and commented: Well, that’s New to me.

Reblogged this on Wyldwood Books and commented: Yet another interesting and informative post from interestingliterature.com

I knew of Pentamerone from my time at university along with the Grimm version (which I thoroughly enjoyed), but knew little of the earlier versions. Great reading.

Reblogged this on Beyond The Beyond.. .

Such an intersting post. Loved it.

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A Review of Four “Cinderella” Books

Walt Disney Pictures’ latest live action fairytale is a retelling of the evergreen classic Cinderella . The film is directed by Kenneth Branagh, stars Lily James, Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham Carter, and has a screenplay by Chris Weitz. Audiences will have to wait until March 13th to see the latest film version of one of the sweetest stories ever told, but for the young and young at heart the wait can be over right now with four movie tie-in books published by Disney Press. All four books tell the same story in different ways.

The story starts with young Ella, who has a happy life with her adoring parents. When her mother gets deathly sick, she gives her daughter words to live by: “Have courage and be kind.” Years later, her father decides to remarry to bring some happiness back to the house, but after he passes away Ella’s mother’s words are put to the test. Can she be courageous in the face of the humility her step family force upon her? Can she be kind to them through it all?

Ella meets a stranger in the woods one day, a handsome man named Kit. Their chance encounter reveals how alike they are, but is quickly interrupted. Kit turns out to be the prince and he is being forced by his dying father to choose a bride. Desperately hoping to see the mystery girl again, he convinces his father to throw a ball and invite everyone in the kingdom, regardless of status. When she hears about the ball, Ella dreams of attending to find Kit. However, her stepmother Lady Tremaine has other plans for Cinderella.

Ella’s chances of attending the ball are destroyed by her stepmother and stepsisters, but she soon discovers that she has a Fairy Godmother who transforms her into a beautiful princess and whisks her away to the ball in a pumpkin coach. There, she discovers that Kit is really the prince and that he is just as much a prisoner as she is, just in different ways. She runs away at midnight just before the spell breaks without giving him her name. Now the prince must have the courage to follow his heart to find Ella so they can both live happily every after.

Cinderella – The Junior Novel

The junior novelization of  Cinderella is aimed at ages 8 to 12 and tells the story in 165 pages. The author is anonymous on the cover and the story is told by the Fairy Godmother, who routinely interjects her own comments as the story unfolds. However, the real author is Elizabeth Rudnick, who writes junior novelizations for many Disney films (she most recently did  Maleficent ).

This softcover book features 8 pages of color photos from the film. I remember reading junior novelizations of almost every movie I was excited for as a kid and reading this one brought back that nostalgic feeling. The age recommendation feels right for this book.

Have Courage, Be Kind: The Tale of Cinderella

I preferred this version to the Junior Novelization because it takes its time telling the story. In comparison, the junior novelization feels a little rushed and doesn’t give much dialogue. This book feels like it more closely follows the screenplay. As a result, the sadder moments are more impactfull (I teared up a few times) and the ending has more weight. If you’re an adult fan interested in knowing the story before seeing the film, I recommend this one above the rest.

Cinderella: A Night at the Ball

This thin, 28 page picture book by Rico Green uses images from the film to tell the story. While the title suggests that it is all about the ball, it starts with a quick retelling of what came before and includes a brief recount of what happened after. It’s geared towards children 3-5, but that’s if a parent is reading it to them. I’d say the reading level is more appropriate for 1st through 3rd grade, but with such opulent images from the film, it can easily be enjoyed by anybody.

Cinderella Picture Book

This hardcover picture book by Brittany Candau features the same illustrations by Cory Goldbey, but on larger pages. It tells the complete story as a rhyming poem. It is recommended for children ages 3 to 5, but like  A Night at the Ball , the story would have to be read to that age group. And to make things rhyme, this one features less common words and sentence structure that might confuse children. But it is a very nice storybook version and as an added bonus, it comes with a digital copy. The code can be found inside with simple instructions on how to redeem it.

Final Thoughts

I was already excited for  Cinderella before reading these books, but have greater anticipation for it now after seeing what Disney has done with the story. It’s more faithful to the animated classic than I was expecting, but the meaning of the story has greater impact in this retelling. All of the movie tie-in books are well done, but I recommend  Have Courage, Be Kind: The Tale of Cinderella to anyone out of elementary school.

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Is Pink Necessary?

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By Annie Murphy Paul

• Jan. 21, 2011

The “princess phase.” So inevitable is this period in the maturation of girls today that it should qualify as an official developmental stage, worthy of an entry in Leach or Brazelton: first crawling, then walking, then the urgent desire to wear something pink and spark­ly. Whether we smile indulgently or roll our eyes at the drifts of tulle and chiffon that begin accumulating in our daughters’ rooms around age 4, participation in these royal rituals has come to seem necessary, even natural.

Yet the princess phase, at least in its current hyper-feminine and highly commercial form, is anything but natural, or so Peggy Orenstein argues in “Cinderella Ate My Daughter.” As she tells the story, in 2000 a Disney executive named Andy Mooney went to check out a “Disney on Ice” show and found himself “surrounded by little girls in princess costumes. Princess costumes that were — horrors! — homemade . How had such a massive branding opportunity been overlooked? The very next day he called together his team and they began working on what would become known in-house as ‘Princess.’ ” Mooney’s revelation yielded a bonanza for the company. There are now more than 26,000 Disney Princess items on the market; in 2009, Princess products generated sales of $4 billion.

Disney didn’t have the tiara market to itself for long. Orenstein takes us on a tour of the princess industrial complex, its practices as coolly calculating as its products are soft and fluffy. She describes a toy fair, held at the Javits Center in New York, at which the merchandise for girls seems to come in only one color: pink jewelry boxes, pink vanity mirrors, pink telephones, pink hair dryers, pink fur stoles. “Is all this pink really necessary?” Orenstein finally asks a sales rep.

“Only if you want to make money,” he replies.

The toy fair is one of many field trips undertaken by Orenstein in her effort to stem the frothy pink tide of princess products threatening to engulf her young daughter. The author of “Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self Esteem, and the Confidence Gap,” among other books, Orenstein is flummoxed by the intensity of the marketing blitz aimed at girls barely old enough to read the label on their Bonne Bell Lip Smackers. “I had read stacks of books devoted to girls’ adolescence,” she writes, “but where was I to turn to under­stand the new culture of little girls, from toddler to ‘tween,’ to help decipher the potential impact — if any — of the images and ideas they were absorbing about who they should be, what they should buy, what made them girls ?”

She turns, like many a journalist before her, to the child pageant circuit, the world of sequined “cupcake dresses” and custom-made “flippers” (dental prosthetics that disguise a gap-toothed smile) that has proved irresistible to reporters since the killing of the 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey in 1996. To her credit, Orenstein recognizes this as well-trodden ground. “It would be easy pickin’s for me to attack parents who tart up their daughters in hopes of winning a few hundred bucks and a gilded plastic trophy; who train them to shake their tail feathers on command, to blow kisses at the judges and coyly twirl their index fingers into their dimpled cheeks,” she writes. “But really, what would be the point? That story has been told, to great success and profit.”

Such meta-observations, which appear throughout the book, are part of Orenstein’s method: she argues with herself, questions her own assumptions, ventures an assertion and then has second thoughts — all in full view of the reader. At times, her assiduously cultivated ambivalence seems to paralyze her; she gets stuck between competing concerns, unable to say anything definitive about what she believes. By and large, however, Orenstein’s reflexive self-interrogation is a good match for her material. It allows her to coax fresh insights from the exhaustively analyzed subject of gender and its discontents.

In the case of child beauty pageants, Orenstein offers a shrewd critique of why media exposés of the phenomenon are so perennially popular. They “give viewers license, under the pretext of disapproval, to be titillated by the spectacle, to indulge in guilty-pleasure voyeurism,” she observes. “They also reassure parents of their own comparative superiority by smugly ignoring the harder questions: even if you agree that pageant moms are over the line in their sexualization of little girls — way over the line — where, exactly, is that line, and who draws it and how?” Orenstein allows us to watch her struggle with these questions, and when she arrives at a few answers, they feel well earned.

Orenstein finds one such enlightening explanation in developmental psychology research showing that until as late as age 7, children are convinced that external signs — clothing, hairstyle, favorite color, choice of toys — determine one’s sex. “It makes sense, then, that to ensure you will stay the sex you were born you’d adhere rigidly to the rules as you see them and hope for the best,” she writes. “That’s why 4-year-olds, who are in what is called ‘the inflexible stage,’ become the self-­appointed chiefs of the gender police. Suddenly the magnetic lure of the Disney Princesses became more clear to me: developmentally speaking, they were genius, dovetailing with the precise moment that girls need to prove they are girls, when they will latch on to the most exaggerated images their culture offers in order to stridently shore up their femininity.” For a preschool girl, a Cinderella dress is nothing less than an existential insurance policy, a crinolined bulwark to fortify a still-shaky sense of identity.

Orenstein is especially sharp-eyed on the subject of what comes after the princess phase, for in the micro-segmented world of marketing to children, there is of course a whole new array of products aimed at girls who begin to tire of their magic wands. These include lines of dolls with names like Moxie Girlz and Bratz: “With their sultry expressions, thickly shadowed eyes and collagen-puffed moues, Bratz were tailor-made for the girl itching to distance herself from all things rose petal pink, Princess-y, or Barbie-ish,” Orenstein notes. “Their hottie-pink ‘passion for fashion’ conveyed ‘attitude’ and ‘sassiness,’ which, anyone will tell you, is little-girl marketing-speak for ‘sexy.’ ”

As Orenstein forges on, braving Toys “R” Us, the American Girl doll store and a Miley Cyrus concert, the reader may occasionally wonder: Is she reading too much into this? After all, it’s just pretend; it’s just play. “To a point I agree,” Orenstein half-concedes, equivocal as ever. “Just because little girls wear the tulle does not mean they’ve drunk the Kool-Aid. Plenty of them shoot baskets in ball gowns or cast themselves as the powerful evil stepsister bossing around the sniveling Cinderella.” By this point the reader knows what’s coming. “Yet even if girls stray from the prescribed script, doesn’t it exert its influence? Don’t our possessions reflect who we are; shape, even define, our experience?”

The author’s process of restless self-examination continues, all the way to the book’s open-ended conclusion. Orenstein has done parents the great favor of having this important debate with herself on paper and in public; she has fashioned an argument with its seams showing and its pockets turned inside out, and this makes her book far more interesting, and more useful. Because the thing about a phase is: kids grow out of it. (The marketers are counting on that.) But parents’ internal deliberations about what’s best for their children are here to stay.

CINDERELLA ATE MY DAUGHTER

Dispatches from the front lines of the new girlie-girl culture.

By Peggy Orenstein

244 pp. Harper/HarperCollins Publishers. $25.99.

Annie Murphy Paul is the author of “Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives.”

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• Book Review: Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover

My thoughts about Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover

The book synopsis for  Finding Cinderella   by Colleen Hoover

Discussing  Finding Cinderella   by Colleen Hoover

Quotes from  Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover

“God, this sucks, man. The only good thing about this entire school since you moved is fifth period.” “What’s fifth period?” Holder asks. “Nothing. They forgot to assign me a class, so I hide out in this maintenance closet every day for an hour.”

Her breath tastes like Starburst and it makes me want to keep kissing her until I can identify every single flavor.

“I am so not a virgin,” she says. “That’s why it’s sad. I’m pretty skilled in the sex department, but looking back . . . I’ve never loved any of them. None of them have ever loved me, either. Sometimes I wonder if sex with someone who actually loves you is different. Better.”

My favorite part about you though is when I catch you staring at me. I love that you don’t look away and you stare unapologetically, like you aren’t ashamed that you can’t stop watching me. It’s all you want to do because you think I’m the most amazing thing you’ve ever laid eyes on. I love how much you love me.”

I’ve been waiting patiently for Six’s flaws to stand out, but so far I can’t find any. Granted, we’ve only interacted with each other for a collective three or four hours now, so hers may just be buried deeper than other people’s.

“Ignore it all. I want to kiss you and I want you to want me to kiss you and I don’t really feel like waiting until I walk you to your porch tonight because I’ve never really wanted to kiss someone this much before.”

“Don’t open your eyes,” I whisper, still staring at her. “Give me ten more seconds to stare, because you look absolutely beautiful right now.”

“We all have deal breakers, Daniel. Some of us just hope we can keep them hidden forever.”

She’s smiling when I look at her again. “Oh, there are definitely expectations,” she says teasingly. “I expect this to be the most mind-blowing thing I’ve ever experienced, so you better deliver.”

“I have no interest in faking disinterest,” I say. “If you want to call yourself my girlfriend half as much as I wish you would, then it would save me a whole lot of begging. Because I was literally about to drop to my knees and beg you.”

“Are you a witch?” I ask. Her laugh returns and I suddenly don’t care if she’s a witch. If this is some kind of spell she’s put on me, I hope it never breaks.

That’s exactly what this feels like. Like she’s a drug I’ve become immediately addicted to, but I have none in supply. The only thing that satiates the craving is her laugh. Or her smile or her kiss or the feel of her pressed against me.

“I thought your window was out of commission.” “Only to people with penises.” I laugh. “What if I told you I didn’t have a penis?” She glances at me. “I would probably rejoice. My experiences with people who have penises never end well.”

She shoves my chest. “Stop! Stop saying things that make me grin like an idiot. My face has been hurting since the second I met you.”

“For real,” I say. “You’re my best friend and I love you. I’m not ashamed to admit that I love a guy. I love you, Holder. Daniel Wesley loves Dean Holder. Always and forever.”

Whatever this is between us, neither one of us was searching for it. Neither one of us knew it even existed. Neither one of us is even remotely prepared for it, but I know we both want it. She wants this to work with me as much as I want it to work with her and seeing the look in her eyes right now makes me believe that it will. I’ve never believed in anything like I believe in the possibility of the two of us.

Where to find   Finding Cinderella   by Colleen Hoover  online:

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Heidi Dischler

Book review: finding cinderella by colleen hoover.

Today, I’m going to review Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover for you guys. I’m usually not a fan of novellas, but this one was just so  freaking  adorable. You won’t regret it if you’ve read  Hopeless and want a little more from the characters in that book. 

Book Information

In this novella from the world of  Hopeless , Daniel finds the girl of his dreams. There’s only one problem, though. He doesn’t know who she is. After a chance encounter in the janitor’s closet with no lights, Daniel thinks he would be able to recognize his Cinderella anywhere. However, when Six comes back from Italy and she and Daniel meet, Daniel thinks he’s found his girl, but it’s a lot more complicated than it seems. 

Review | Heidi Dischler

Let me start out with this: Daniel is an… interesting character. He is goofy, definitely there for comedic relief in  Hopeless,  and, to be completely honest, not a character who you could see falling in love. It was so adorable, though, seeing his personality in all its wonders as he found someone who fit well with him romantically. 

This is definitely one of those books that you pick up and finish in a few hours. It was a quick read for me and I found it so much more enjoyable than  Losing Hope (mainly because you get a whole new storyline instead of the exact thing you had read before). Daniel was definitely an interesting enough character to propel the book forward, and after all the reveals happened, this book became even more intriguing. 

Overall, this short novella by Colleen Hoover will give you all the feels (as CoHo normally does), and you won’t be left disappointed. You’ll be even more elated after reading  Finding Perfect , the next novella (and last) in this series. That one… that one stole my heart. 

Source: Personal Copy

“Because it feels like her air just became my air and I suddenly want to take in fewer breaths in order to ensure she never runs out.”

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REVIEW: ‘Cinderella is Dead’ by Kalynn Bayron struggles to keep up the momentum

‘Cinderella is Dead’ delivers another interesting premise to the retelling genre, but lacks enough spark to retain reader interest

While having an incredibly diverse cast and an initially interesting premise, this fairytale retelling struggled to find its spark.

From the 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 . . .

It always hurts to walk away from a book feeling disappointed. And then, there’s walking away disappointed from a book with as gorgeous a cover as the one Cinderella is Dead is blessed with.

When it comes to dark, gloomy retellings, I’m a big fan. I adore books like Dorothy Must Die and Cinder , which took the stories of age-old tales and turned them into wholly transformed narratives fit for modern audiences — admittedly, usually with a hefty addition of romance and teenage-angst. So, when I first picked up Cinderella is Dead , I was hoping to encounter a similar experience. I mean, if the idea of Cinderella ‘s original tale being used as a weapon for a tyrannical, dystopian patriarchy to excuse its oppressive behavior isn’t an interesting one, then I don’t know what is. Unfortunately, it seems the idea behind Cinderalla is Dead is where the interest starts…and stops.

From the get-go, it’s clear this story isn’t a light one. As soon as the first chapter began, I was plunged head-first into a world of strife, misery, and a good dose of widespread misogyny. While you might expect this book to take place in modern-day society based on that description alone, it very clearly states itself as a retelling early-on — and a twisted one at that. In fact, Cinderella is Dead is special in that it isn’t exactly a retelling you’d expect, with the same plot points and characters as the original. Instead, Bayron creates an entirely new world set 200 years after the original events of Cinderella .

As you might expect, Sophia is your typical girl forced to live a life she doesn’t want by an ever-powerful governing force. To make matters worse, her society is completely run by malicious, repulsive men who have far too much power in their hands (sound familiar?). While Cinderella is Dead succeeds in reflecting some of our current real-world struggles, what it fails to do is apply these themes into a story compelling enough to merit their inclusion.

It didn’t take long for me to realize why I was struggling to connect with the plot: there wasn’t exactly much of one . While the first half of the book sets Sophia on a journey filled with the potential for greatness, the story never really extends past a relatively safe and uninteresting cycle of events. After openly defying her oppressors, most of what Sophia does while on the run is ultimately uneventful, and does nothing to push the story forward. From overly-long knife training scenes to short adventurous excursions that don’t result in anything meaningful, I found the better half of Cinderella is Dead to be dragged down by filler.

That’s not to say there aren’t times when I saw some spark. However, these usually fizzled out quickly, leaving me even more desperate to see the novel’s potential realized. One of these moments resided in the diversity, which absolutely knocked it out of the park with four queer characters and racial representation, (I mean, look at that cover!). As happy as I was to see this inclusion, diverse identity was as far as these characters went when it came to holding my interest.

From characters vanishing after being introduced in the first few chapters, to a villain who was so melodramatically evil it was hard to take anything he did seriously, I struggled to connect with any of Cinderella is Dead ‘s characters. Sophia doesn’t go far beyond the typical headfast and rebellious teen fighting against a dystopian world. While there’s nothing wrong with that character type, hers wasn’t fleshed out enough to set her apart from any of those other typical, one-dimensional heroines. In particular, the romance she forms with Constance lacks any true chemistry, which proves that — as much as I hate to admit it — even gay romances aren’t immune to the bane that is insta-love.

Ultimately, the main drive behind Cinderella is Dead ‘s story all comes down to its themes. Any reader will connect to the oppressive patriarchal regime presented throughout the novel, and the struggles that its women characters face in fighting to break down these constructs. In fact, one of the closest fictional parallels Cinderella draws is with The Handmaid’s Tale . But while these themes are timely — and important! — Cinderella is Dead struggles to warrant interest past these ideas.

Essentially, I felt as if the book was a neverending cycle warning about the dangers of oppression and misogyny…with a plot on the side. At some point, it became far too much and left no room for the proper story or character development. Where feminist YA novels like The Grace Year and Girls With Sharp Sticks took the same thematical elements and incorporated them into exciting storylines fit with compelling characters, Cinderella is Dead was too bogged-down by an overemphasis on such messages.

All in all, I can tell Cinderella is Dead was a story written with true passion behind it. For a debut author, Bayron’s writing remained consistently good throughout the novel, and I think I’ll be sticking around to see what she comes up with next. Still, despite being backed by an exciting idea, valuable themes, and filled with much-appreciated diversity, I’m afraid Cinderella is Dead is another novel drenched with potential that simply failed in execution.

Unfulfilled potential

Cinderella is Dead  had all the elements that should’ve made for a great retelling, but became too distracted by its own themes to offer anything truly compelling. Seasoned readers will likely be turned off by its mostly one-dimensional characters and overly-long plot, but newer readers to the genre may appreciate its simplicity.

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Yes! I’m so happy someone finally said this! Cinderella is dead is a book I really wanted to like, because of the diverse cast, the queer representation, and because the idea seemed really cool! But you were never actually able to connect with the characters, and I agree that Sophia and Constance didn’t really have any spark. Even though it wasn’t much that happened, it somehow felt rushed and disingenuous.

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Set the Story You Know Aside in “Cinderella Is Dead” – Book Review

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron says no more fairy tales – only fiery tales of resistance and magic.

I was provided with an ARC of Cinderella Is Dead via NetGalley and Bloomsbury in exchange for fair review. All opinions are my own.

Cinderella Is Dead  is the first novel I’ve read from Kalynn Bayron. From start to end, this retold fairy tale had me enchanted. Everything, from the core themes to the characters to the action, kept me turning pages as fast as I could. It’s a fantastic example of how to explore and deepen a story that’s been told for centuries.

Though the tale of Cinderella is one that’s come under fire in recent times for being un-feminist, it’s one that has always meant a lot to me. The original Cinderella’s struggle to free herself from a traumatic family situation, and her strength in remaining kind and hopeful despite that struggle, is one that’s brought me a lot of comfort. I went into this book super excited, and with the usual tinge of trepidation at experiencing a beloved story in new hands.

There are a lot of little details that warmed my heart to see, moments where the original tale is woven through. I particularly liked that the story was set in an alternate version of France, a nod to the famous 1697 version of the story written by Charles Perrault. This simple choice easily allowed me to picture the aesthetic of the story without the need for lengthy prose, allowing the story to stay character-focused. I also liked that the main character’s last name was Grimmins, recalling the version of the story recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Neat little touches like that just make me happy as I read, letting me know that the author’s eye is on the details and making the book feel more intricately constructed.

Cinderella Is Dead does rework a lot of the context of the fairy tale. However, it still concerns itself with the same issues as the original, and opens up a nuanced and contemporary discussion about what can be done when overbearing authority figures cannot be trusted.

If the original Cinderella could be read as a message of understanding for those who have frozen when caught in terrible circumstances, and been unable to safely defend themselves or leave, Cinderella Is Dead is instead a message of inspiration and action.

The protagonist of the story, Sophia, is fiercely aware of herself and what she wants. She burns like a brand through the clouded confusion of the people around her. She knows what she likes and dislikes, what she will and won’t stand for, and what she needs to do. Her drive to be truly herself is what defines her.

The options in a high-stakes scenario are flight, fight, or freeze; Sophia flies and she fights, but she never freezes. Through the loss of loved ones, the loss of her family, the loss of a roof over her head and food on the table, Sophia never freezes. Though she accepts help, she never waits to be saved. If the original Cinderella  story says with understanding, “It can be like this,” Cinderella Is Dead  answers fiercely, “It doesn’t have to be.” It feels cathartic to read about someone who refuses at every turning point to feel powerless.

It’s through not only Sophia but also all the other characters in the story that Kalynn Bayron explores the effect of living under an oppressive system. In real life, as we know better than ever in 2020, different people will have different priorities and reactions when bad things happen, and that’s what Cinderella Is Dead  captures.

There are characters who try to do everything properly and follow the letter of the law. There are characters who betray others around them to save themselves. There are characters who try to defy the authorities in small ways, feeling too much loyalty to those in power to truly bring about change. There are characters who openly fight, and refuse to back down.

Not every character gets a happy ending, and with their narratives Bayron makes strong statements about what a person can expect from trying to appease or battle a system that is biased against them. Rather than being cut-outs – only simple representations of the point Bayron is making – each of these characters is real, emotional, and desperate. Though the book isn’t too long and most of the focus is on Sophia herself, the personalities of the side characters are drawn in quick, bold strokes. Through them, the themes of the story are delivered with a profound social understanding.

The book centers itself around societal struggles and structural inequality. Focusing mainly on misogyny and homophobia, Bayron delivers upward punch after upward punch.

Sophia is a queer character and the way that her queerness is written feels so good to read. Because she knows her own mind so well, her feelings are clear to her, and they don’t seem wrong to her. Usually, I avoid fantasy books in which homophobia is present – there’s enough of that in real life – but here, it’s written with intimacy and understanding. Sophia is a brave person, but her attraction itself isn’t portrayed as so brave , something to make straight people clutch their chests over the tragedy – her attraction and love simply exist, and are beautifully written.

The romantic relationship that gets built over the course of the book is wonderful, growing slowly after an initial burst of instant chemistry. There’s nothing I love more than a relationship that seems to set two characters free – these are two characters I want to see together, because they liberate each other.

There are some great moments of wlw/mlm solidarity in the book, too. Though Sophia never expects help, she does receive it. It’s just another way in which Bayron so adeptly shows the effect of living in a society under oppression; friendships that would otherwise have blossomed easily are made complicated, and options that would immediately occur to me as the reader don’t enter Sophia’s mind for some time because she’s just not used to looking to a stranger for so much as a shred of solidarity or mutual aid. It subtly illustrates how Sophia’s resourcefulness and practicality have been honed in a world constantly and specifically biased against her.

There are no characters in the book who are canonically outside the gender binary, and since it’s written in a world so divided by gender, I would have loved to have seen a greater exploration of that. There are also a few instances of using “men and women” rather than “people” to speak about everyone. However, there is a moment in which a character questions their assumptions about Sophia’s body that feels trans-inclusive.

The thing that I love most about Cinderella Is Dead is the way it strikes a chord so strongly with our current balance of power in the English-speaking West. There are many more conservative fantasy stories that take the route of presenting an evil villain who wants to change everything, while the heroes fight to maintain the status quo.

Instead, Kalynn Bayron presents a world where the evil villain wants to maintain the status quo, and it’s the heroine who fights for radical change. Sophia herself doesn’t change hugely as Cinderella Is Dead goes on, and this is one of the strengths of the book. In her world full of villainy and lost people, Sophia knows her mind and knows what’s needed. It’s clear from the start that the world around her needs to shift, not Sophia herself. She’s not perfect, but she’s fighting to free herself and people like her. It feels fiercely right that in this story, rather than bend with the wind, she instead plants herself and says no, you move .

Perhaps most of all,  Cinderella Is Dead is a story about consequences – the consequences we face for trying to be ourselves, and the consequences we can give to those who think themselves above them.

You can find the Goodreads page for Cinderella Is Dead  here , and you can check out more book reviews and recommendations here at The Geekiary !

Author: Em Rowntree

I’m a non-binary writer, teacher, and cat-lover from the UK.

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A MEXICAN CINDERELLA STORY

by Tomie dePaola & illustrated by Tomie dePaola ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2002

Placing this Cinderella variation in upper-class Mexico in the last century, dePaola ( A New Barker in the House , p. 409, etc.) has framed the story in a more realistic vein than usual. There are no magical elements, yet the prolific author-illustrator weaves together a very satisfying tale of the beautiful and good Adelita and her sweet young man, Javier, a childhood friend. The fairy godmother is a faithful servant who has always worked for the Mercado family. The dress belonged to Adelita’s mother and instead of the glass slipper, Adelita uses her beautiful rebozo , a shawl covered in birds and flowers, to lead her rich young gentleman back to her after she leaves the fiesta early. The human relationships remain the same: the evil stepmother and the selfish stepsisters are depicted here in the usual way, yet kindly Adelita invites them all to her wedding at the end. Esperanza, the servant who quietly manages to bring an end to Adelita’s sufferings, brings a cart to take her to the hacienda , not a coach made out of a pumpkin. Spanish phrases and their translations are used throughout the text and a list providing pronunciations is given at the end. The acrylic paintings are handsome and dignified, with borders of Mexican tile and many archways giving a graceful unity to dePaola’s signature characters. The rich colors change in tone as sad times, mourning, and great happiness are all depicted in different double-page spreads. The endpapers explode with the lively pattern of the all-important rebozo . Decorative objects, including religious items, pottery, Mexican crafts, and kitchenware give the illustrations an authentic touch. Heartwarming, but not sappy, this version will lead young writers off in many directions as they write their own Cinderella tales in locations of their own choosing. An enjoyable read-aloud, this is a fine addition to the author’s growing collection of stories set in Mexico. ( Picture book. 6-10)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002

ISBN: 0-399-23866-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2002

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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by Cheryl B. Klein ; illustrated by Tomie dePaola

by Tomie dePaola ; illustrated by Tomie dePaola

WILD, WILD WOLVES

by Joyce Milton & illustrated by Larry Schwinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1992

At ``Step 2'' in the useful ``Step into Reading'' series: an admirably clear, well-balanced presentation that centers on wolves' habits and pack structure. Milton also addresses their endangered status, as well as their place in fantasy, folklore, and the popular imagination. Attractive realistic watercolors on almost every page. Top-notch: concise, but remarkably extensive in its coverage. A real bargain. (Nonfiction/Easy reader. 6-10)

Pub Date: April 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-679-91052-2

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Random House

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1992

More by Joyce Milton

by Joyce Milton ; illustrated by Franco Tempesta

RIVER STORY

by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Bee Willey ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2000

Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper ( The Drop in My Drink , 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River , 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)

Pub Date: June 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4

Publisher: Candlewick

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000

More by Meredith Hooper

by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Bee Willey

by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Stephen Biesty

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