Cinderella is Evil

Cinderella is Evil

(Image from the author's website)

Jamie Campbell

This is, sadly, only a short story. We can't have everything.

Cinderella is Evil is the classic story of Cinderella told through the eyes of one of the ugly step-sisters, Anna. 

Since that was a horrible description, here's a link to its goodreads page- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17701814-cinderella-is-evil

 Okay. On we go.

I'm getting really tired of all the Cinderella stories in YA. Cinder was good, but the sheer amount of Cinderella stories is staggering. And kind of sad. And really unoriginal.

This story is not a Cinderella story.

Well, it is, but it's a Cinderella story that isn't based on a 'boo-hoo, life's so sad' heroine who doesn't do anything but fall in love. This story was original and entertaining, with the voice of Anna living up to all of my literary expectations.

The story shows how Cinderella is shallow and unfriendly without making them her only characteristics or without reason. It kind of balanced everything out, like, 'yeah, Cinderella is a jerk and all, but hey, why shouldn't she be?'

A large portion of the story focused around the ball and preparations for it instead of whether Anna would help Cinderella with the whole shoe thing. The description promised a little more of that, and I felt disappointed there wasn't just a little more of after the ball kind of stuff. However, it was still good. It's not like everything that happened was shoved into one page, which it could have, considering the length of the story (it's not extraordinarily long for a novella).

The formatting was a bit strange. I didn't think it really needed chapters, just...

Uh...

What are those called-

***

That kind of thing. Page breaks? No... Whatever. The point is that it didn't really need to be defined by chapters. 

The descriptions were well thought out. Mind the tangent, but the descriptions in fairy tale retellings always seem to be so flowery. I mean, a bit of description is great, but 'the curtains were blue' is just as good (better, even) as 'the curtains, an azure blue like the sky of a crisp autumn day, tiny bone-white Fleur-de-lis lining the edges of the satin fabric, hung in front of the window'.

Back on topic. The descriptions were simple when they needed to be and more complex at appropriate times. Who cares about those blue curtains? The dress is where it's at. The dress deserves way more than those dumb curtains.

The romance in it seemed kind of misplaced. Well, it was important, in a way, but at the same time, I don't feel like it was totally necessary. I can see it as a 'looks are superficial, people can still love you' moral, but you know. Just my opinion.

Also not the point. The point is that this story explains the life of the ugly stepsisters and cushions and betters the backstory of Cinderella. It deserves a read.

Though I agree with the person on goodreads who put it in the 'bad covers' list. Sorry.

~Corinne