How to Survive a Modern Day Fairy Tale

💥💥/5

Described as a modern-day Cinderella story, in “How to Survive a Modern Day Fairy Tale”, Claire Ventura, people pleaser and wanna-be cookie entrepreneur is shocked when she literally almost runs into tech billionaire, Nate.  Immediately, Nate knows Claire is “the one” and sets out to woo her by whisking her to Paris.

Candidly, there were just too many unrealistic elements in this book for it to be enjoyable to me. The fact it relied on the instant love trope did not do it too many favors, but, combined with a billionaire hero and the many smaller things that had me thinking “yeah, right” seemingly every other page (what kind of billionaire stays in those hotels?), it felt like a slog to get through at some points. It was incredibly distracting.  

Claire herself was not quirky, but rather irritating and spineless- seemingly the only thing keeping her from going after what she wants is her inability to speak up for herself in the slightest when confronted with her family’s pushy behavior.  Understandable when it comes to her Aunt, but it was frustrating to see the same with her sisters over and over again.  She can only be compared to Cinderella because she put herself in that position, and was unwilling to do anything about it.  The slightest hint of challenge to her cookie business had her running for the hills.  And for such a large family, why is Claire the only one who is able, or willing to take care of her grandmother?  

The pacing was very methodical and the plot points for the most part just seemed convenient. But, then the ending felt rushed. There was no mention of Nate’s family background throughout the book until Claire freaks out about how fast they’re moving and he cuts her out, saying his father left him and now she is too.  It came out of nowhere for a character who was understanding and sensitive previously.  In fact, we learn very little about Nate, other than he is a workaholic, has a few friends with who he also works, and has a dog.

If you can suspend disbelief and are looking for a fluffy, feel-good sorta-Cinderella story, you might enjoy this book, but it was not for me.