Kelly

This book had potential, and it just wasted it by not exploring the world, the characters, the trials. Nothing, just "oh there is this issue" quickly followed with "and now, TA-DA, that's solved" and on to the next.

The title both buries the lead AND spells out the book - but the book has heart to it that I didn't expect. The stories help these overlooked women find their voices and community/bonds with each other, and though this is not a book that will join my trophy shelves, I am glad that I read it. We all need community and people who "see" us, and the courage to find our voices.

Probably more of a 3.25, but I'll round up for heart!

Okay, I'm sorry, I just don't get the hype. The prose and everything were brilliantly done, poetry almost. HOWEVER, the MMC was awful, AND a pedophile - grooming a 14 year old girl whose parents had entrusted him to look after because he could see how beautiful she would become?! Disgusting. I know time/place/culture, I get that, but he was grateful after she kills herself when he ends their "affair" that she didn't tell her parents. I'm sorry, but that screams that he was well aware that he was doing something wrong.

Loved the FMC, until she gives in to MMC, her pragmatism and realization that she was just infatuated, though abrupt, garnered her my respect.

This book probably would have been a 2, if it didn't have the previous book in this series to compare it to. Enjoyed the references to the film, though it was sometimes a little too much, if that makes any sense. Going to keep slogging through this series though because my love for Disney, each book being written by a different author is fun, and this book being such an improvement over the Cinderella adaptation gives me some hope!

I think I just wanted more from this book, and I know the genre so romance was bound to happen. I really liked the exploration of "what would you do with the time you have left if you know you're about to die" and I feel like the relationships kind of took over that theme. I also think some things were introduced to be red herrings, but never closed the loop - like the woman who makes the calls, no resolution on that whatsoever. Overall, worth the read, but I don't think I would pass it along like I would have for the first half of the book.