Cinderella Boy - Kristina Meister (August 2020)
Sixteen-year-old Declan is the perfect son… except for one tiny issue. When his sister Delia comes home to find him trying on her clothes, he fears her judgment, but she only fears his fashion choices. One quick makeover later, Declan is transformed into Delia’s mysterious cousin Layla and dragged to the party of the year, hosted by Carter, the most popular boy in school.
When Carter meets Layla, he fumbles to charm her. He adores her sense of humor and her poise. But when she vanishes in the middle of the night, he’s left confused and determined to solve the mystery of who she is.
As their school year begins, their high school embraces a policy of intolerance, both Declan and Carter know they must stand up. Carter is tired of being a coward and wants to prove he can be a knight in shining armor. Declan is sick of being bullied and wants desperately to be himself. If they team up, it could be a fairy-tale ending, or a very unhappy ever after.
Would I recommend it to anyone? Yeah, if you don't want to think too hard about the plot while reading a very simple YA romance.
Level of (dis)satisfaction based on the summary and my expectations? I was disappointed but also... not ? In the sense that I didn't really have any expectations for this book and yet it was still less good than what I was hoping for.
My thoughts on it? It's a no brainer, quick read with some interesting themes like self-discovery or discrimination and harassment at school. Declan is trying to find the right balance between "Declan" and "Layla" but I think it's a shame that we couldn't see more of his journey. However, there was a lot of dialogue where these characters (all under 18) end up having phylosophical rants about love and society that are not quite in tune with the overall tone of the book. Eventhough it was a quick read, the long rants and internal monologues make it seem much longer than that.
I feel like the author tried to address a lot of serious topics in a Cinderella retelling, which maybe isn't the best of setting for that. But well, it's not a bad book I don't think, just one that had too much ambition.
French version under the cut