This book was amazing.  It hooked me right from the start.  This book takes place in one of my favorite time periods to read and learn about- World War II.  The author tied that into the story and it fit together perfectly.  I absolutely loved all the characters and this book was just perfect.  The writing was beautiful and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next and last book of this series.  

The best thing about this book is the cover.

Overall, the main character was shallow, the premise unconvincing, and the resolution altogether too easy. The "magical dress" part of the story didn't really work for me.

Not bad, not great. Meh.

This had a lot of potential, though very little by ways of living up to it.

The writing is simply what it is. It is not beautiful, it does not turn a good phrase, but it is also not painful to read. There were a few points when I cringed at the dialogue, but that's not much out of the normal, to be honest. And it's set in the 40's, so there's a few phrases or ways of saying things that haven't been uttered in approximately 70 years.

As for the story itself, I expected it to be more about the keeping of the Cinderella Dress and have a little more action to it than it did. It is a pretty dull book, and what little action we do get is generally nonsensical with plot holes or unanswered questions. Such as, Elsie acts like Keeper of the Wardrobe for the Cinderella Dress has been an age-old tradition, taking place for generations, but at the end of the book, when we meet Fyodora, one of Cinderella's descendants; she had worn the dress at her wedding! The timeline is never clearly laid out and so it leaves you questioning exactly when Cinderella's family stopped taking care of the dress. Not only that, but the story is mostly more about Kate and her life at the department store than it really is about the Cinderella dress or even Kate learning to guard it, let alone keeping it from the step-sisters' descendants, as the synopsis would indicate. And the end is ridiculously anti-climatic, which was a huge let-down, as I was banking a lot of hopes on that the end would be better than the rest of the book. There is a sequel, about Cinderella's shoes, but I won't be sticking around to see if it is any better or answers some of my questions.

And as for our main character...Kate is, simply put, not the sharpest crayon in the crayon box. She puts the ACTUAL Cinderella dress, both the wedding gown and her rag dress, on display at the department store, even after she knows what they are and that Cinderella's step-sisters' descendants are after them. Which is just abysmally stupid. She also intentionally scares Elsie, who has Alzheimer's, so that she could garner more information about the Cinderella dress. That's downright cruel.

Few nitpicks in editing:

Kate uses the term "Cinderella dress" before she even knows that Kopciuszelz is Cinderella! Elsie reveals this fact a few pages later. Page 53, I believe.

At some point in the book, Kate receives a telegram. Didn't telegrams have "STOP" at the end of lines?? Cause this one didn't, which seems slightly inaccurate.

So I am actually VERY happy with the reading that I've done in June! It's been a crazy busy month, with moving and the wedding, but I've somehow managed to read 10 books, including 2 books that I hadn't actively planned to read and every single book on my June TBR list except for Where Angels Fear to Tread, and that's just because it's not in at my new library yet. And, even better, most of these books were really awesome! Great reading month. 

I think that my favorite book this month would have to be We are the Goldens, with Treasure Island very close behind. If you haven't read We are the Goldens yet and you're a fan of YA literature, I highly recommend checking that out - it's very well-written and it was just published last month. I'd recommend Treasure Island to just about anyone. It's a great adventure story and a wonderful introduction to classic literature if you're new to it. The book that I struggled with the most this month was definitely The Art of Arranging Flowers, not because the book itself was bad, but because I received a really awful galley copy. I'm going to be revisiting the book in July once it comes to my library. 

What were your favorite books this month? Have you read any of the books I read in June? 

Being a teen-ager during World War II is tough. Finding out you’re the next keeper of the real Cinderella’s dress is even tougher.

Kate simply wants to create window displays at the department store where she’s working, trying to help out with the war effort. But when long-lost relatives from Poland arrive with a steamer trunk they claim holds the Cinderella’s dress, life gets complicated.

Now, with a father missing in action, her new sweetheart, shipped off to boot camp, and her great aunt losing her wits, Kate has to unravel the mystery before it’s too late.

After all, the descendants of the wicked stepsisters will stop at nothing to get what they think they deserve. (source)