#we have the enemy prince she's trying to con but he's not a dumb strawman royal

[fictionadventurer]

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#okay i promise i'm going to get off tumblr and actually get something decent done #but i just have to mention that i started reading 'thief liar lady' #the cinderella retelling where she's pulling a con #which i did not have high expectations for because that concept screams 'we're going to prove how dumb the original cinderella story is' #so i have to give it credit that so far it's pleasantly surprising me by pulling back every time it's about to do something stupid #within the first page or two we have 'they say the slippers were glass and the carriage was made of a pumpkin which is so dumb' #which seems like standard cinderella bashing but it's also framed as an explanation of the magic system #as in 'this is a waste of magic based on the rules' not 'this story is stupid and my 'real' one is better' so i can live with it #we have the enemy prince she's trying to con but he's not a dumb strawman royal #he's actually a sweet guy and a shrewd diplomat #all the royals are actually getting credit for talents as well as flaws #no strawmen in sight (i still shudder to remember 'just ella') #it feels like real politics #and there is *so much* politics and i am eating it up #(which makes me realize that one of the reasons i love cinderella retellings is that there's a lot of potential for politics) #we did have a scene where she goes into the throne room and meets a strange disheveled nobleman lounging on the throne #which made me roll my eyes because you could not have had a more obvious 'meeting the ya love interest' scene #but then there's a scene where she's like 'i don't care about embroidery' #and i internally groaned #but then she's like 'but i do like the embroidery circle because it's relaxing to be away from the men for a while' #so to my delight i could cancel the 'not like other girls' alert #the queen is feminine and her social skills are presented as a vital political skill #the swearing is really stupid and out of place and brings the book down #and i know that there'll most likely be something that makes me stop reading it before the 25% mark #but i do want to give the book credit for pleasantly surprising me #i'm liking it more than i otherwise would because of all the ways i was expecting it to disappoint me