Because in Lillie, it’s not unheard of for a wife to go missing leaving a man free to choose a new bride at the next ball. They hope she’ll luck out and the man who choses her will appreciate and care for her. So, despite her belligerent resistance, they take on debt to ensure her beauty’s shown to its opulent best. They also know Sophia risks death the more she persists in speaking against the King and his mandates. Her parents know she has no interest in marrying a man. To make matters worse, any girl who fails to be chosen by her third ball is “forfeited” to the crown. Men are the head of the house and Manford encourages his every edict be enforced, brutally if need be. He demands obedience unto death and uses the myth of Cinderella to force women and girls into subservience. The current king, Manford, is a vain and cruel tyrant. In the years since Cinderella, the Kingdom of Mersailles has fallen under the thumb of increasingly brutal rulers. They just want to survive the night unscathed. Not a single girl hopes for a magical love connection. It’s 200 years after that fateful night when Cinderella met Prince Charming and young women still attend an Annual Ball at the palace. Unable to leave her behind, Sophia reluctantly prepares for the ball. She won’t consider running away and is deeply resentful that Sophia won’t stop pushing her to choose them over all else.

To Erin, there’s no hope of outrunning their future. Erin thinks Sophia’s refusal to submit is selfish and dangerous. But her best friend and first love, Erin, refuses to flee Lillie. So, have a care because where patriarchy holds sway, abuse – physical and emotional – exist.Īs far as sixteen-year-old Sophia Grimmins’s concerned getting her invitation means one only thing. In Cinderella is Dead, debut author Kalynn Bayron, reimagines the world of this classic with a striking sapphic story about a determined young woman willing to risk it all to expose the secrets and lies at the very heart of Cinderella’s mythic ‘happily ever-after’ in order to free a kingdom.Ĭontent Warning: Cinderella is Dead takes care to avoid wallowing in pain or trauma but neither does it flinch from acknowledging that violence goes hand-in-hand with oppressive regimes. 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. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her stepsisters. At the ball, Sophia makes the desperate decision to flee, and finds herself hiding in Cinderella’s mausoleum. Sixteen-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors.

Cinderella is dead kalynn bayron