2.5☆

I really wanted to like this. It sounded like such an amazing story, the type of story I'd love. But only the first part of the book was interesting, pretty soon it became boring and flat, with plotholes and scenes that were too fast paced.

I liked the main character, Sophia. I've seen a lot of reviews where people don't, but I did. She's not the best character ever, and there were moments where I was like "please don't do this", but overall I enjoyed her.

But the other characters... no. I thought Constance was annoying. Except for the fact that she's the new queen in the last chapter, she had no purpose except for eye rolling, annoyed comments to Amina, and being the love interest.

I didn't see or feel a connection between her and Sophia, and I really didn't care whether they would be together or not. It felt really instalovey.

I mostly did like Amina, though her constant bantering with Constance got annoying really quickly, and here betrayal was predictable.

I thought the villain was boring, and I also didn't really get at first why he was so focused on Sophia, when he could've just assumed that she died somewhere in the woods. But that question was later answered by Amina's betrayal, but it still felt worth mentioning.

The last thing that I disliked that I'll mention is something that's just a personal thing I dislike: violence to animals. Even if there are no details, it makes me nauseous. There were two animals harmed, one very detailed and one barely mention, but both still made me sick. This is just a me thing, it happens no matter how much I love a show, movie or book. But still, it felt unnecessary.

What I did like (yes, finally some positive stuff) was how the author did a twist on Cinderella. I've not read any other Cinderella stories yet, so no idea if it's original or not, but it was definitely interesting (and the reason this is rounded up as 3 stars instead of 2) and one of the reasons I kept reading.

I totally get that someone would like this. But for me, sadly, it was a disappointment.

However, I definitely do NOT regret buying it, because it has such a beautiful cover! (one of the reason I bought it in the first place)