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It's 200 years since Cinderella found her prince, but the fairytale is over.Sophia knows the story though, off by heart. Because every girl has to recite it daily, from when she's tiny until the night she's sent to the royal ball for choosing. And every girl knows that she has only one chance. For the lives of those not chosen by a man at the ball . are forfeit.
But Sophia doesn't want to be chosen - she's in love with her best friend, Erin, and hates the idea of being traded like cattle. And when Sophia's night at the ball goes horribly wrong, she must run for her life. Alone and terrified, she finds herself hiding in Cinderella's tomb. And there she meets someone who will show her that she has the power to remake her world.
What a beautiful book. Not just the cover - although they are gorgeous, look at them! - but the story as well. It's an amazing look at how lies can poison a society and truth can save it. It feels pertinent right now, somehow.
This is a theme I often see in cult stories, another of my guilty pleasures. Control the flow of information and you can control the people. The kings have been telling their version of Cinderella's story for so long, letting the men stay in power for so long, that no one questions it any more. It doesn't even occur to them. It's a clever way to control people and used really well here.
It's really cleverly written, too, with twists coming at just the right times and everything paced out nicely. My only objection? Sophia was eyeing up Constance and talking about how wonderful and special she was literally hours after seeing Erin for the last time. Even for the accelerated timeline that novels usually have, that's ridiculously fast. However, I can overlook it, because the rest of the book was just that amazing.
I don't know if this will be a series, but I really hope it will. There's plenty more to explore. (I saw that sneaky reference to Snow White!) I'll be watching out for more.
This is a theme I often see in cult stories, another of my guilty pleasures. Control the flow of information and you can control the people. The kings have been telling their version of Cinderella's story for so long, letting the men stay in power for so long, that no one questions it any more. It doesn't even occur to them. It's a clever way to control people and used really well here.
It's really cleverly written, too, with twists coming at just the right times and everything paced out nicely. My only objection? Sophia was eyeing up Constance and talking about how wonderful and special she was literally hours after seeing Erin for the last time. Even for the accelerated timeline that novels usually have, that's ridiculously fast. However, I can overlook it, because the rest of the book was just that amazing.
I don't know if this will be a series, but I really hope it will. There's plenty more to explore. (I saw that sneaky reference to Snow White!) I'll be watching out for more.
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