Book Review: The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy

When the Prom Queen becomes your fairy godmother…

Sixteen year old outsider, Jess Parker, gets the chance of a lifetime: an invitation to join a secret society of popular girls dedicated to defeating the mean girls of the world. The Cinderella Society guides all new recruits through its top secret ultimate life makeover. It’s all part of preparing them to face down the Wickeds and win. Determined not to let the Cindys down, Jess dives in with a passion. Finally, a chance to belong and show the world what she’s made of.

…be careful what you wish for.

Jess’s transformation wins her the heart of her dream crush and a shot at uber-popularity. Until the Wickeds–led by Jess’s arch enemy–begin targeting innocent girls in their war against the Cindys, and Jess discovers the real force behind her exclusive society. It’s a high stakes battle of good vs. evil, and the Cindys in power need Jess on special assignment. When the mission threatens to destroy her dream life come true, Jess is forced to choose between living a fairy tale and honoring the Sisterhood… and herself. What’s a girl to do when the glass slipper fits, but she doesn’t want to wear it anymore? (From Goodreads)

I'll begin with Jess, the protagonist, and my favorite character. She was a great character for a few reasons. She was smart, and she had flaws. At the start of the book, Jess is fairly self-conscious, and is skeptical when the popular girls include her in their yearly sleepover. As the book progresses, Jess becomes more confident, and sure of herself. Cassidy did a great job of making Jess easy to relate to. Even as a senior in college, I was able to understand and sympathize with some of her insecurities.

Lexy, Jess's archenemy, is one of the Wickeds. Unlike the Cindys (the society in which Jess belongs), the Wickeds don't think about the consequences of their actions, and thrive on manipulation. In short, they're bullies. I'll admit that Lexy does her fair share of cruel things over the course of the story, but I had a hard time hating her. In fact, some information is revealed toward the end of The Cinderella Society that actually made me pity her. Lexy was the younger sister of Ryan, the prince charming of the story. He was an interesting character, too. He seemed to be the perfect, popular, chivalrous guy, but he had some secrets and insecurities of his own.

The plot was definitely unique, and Cassidy was able to promote kindness, community service, friendship, and self-love. She managed to do all this without preaching to the reader. Personally, I finished the book with a few ideas about how I could be more like a Cindy. I'll be trying to cut back on my Wicked Chatter (gossip, putting others/myself down), and using The Rule of Fives when something embarrassing or stressful happens. The one thing I would have liked to see more of is the wickeds. Readers get to see how they manipulate others through Lexy, but I wish I knew more. I'd really have liked to see into Athena, the headquarters of the Wickeds. I'm confident that we'll get to see more about them in the sequel, so it didn't detract from my reading.

Overall, I loved this book. The characters were realistic, and relatable. No character was perfect, and Jess wasn't a damsel in distress. I personally think that girls today are socialized to be self-deprecating. Honestly, how many of you say, or hear friends say "I'm so fat". It was refreshing to read a book with some great girl-power messages. This is definitely one I'll be passing on to my teen sister, and my friends.

The Cinderella Society
By Kay Cassidy
Published by EgmontUSA
320 Pages
Rating: A

Don't forget to stop back tomorrow, when I'll be posting an interview with the author!