Review: If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are mine!

I was up until almost 2 am reading If the Shoe Fits in basically one sitting. Julie Murphy is the first author to publish in Disney's first take on modernizing their classic fairy tales for an adult book audience. This first novel is a reinterpretation of Cinderella. Cindy is returning to live in California with her step-mother, step-sisters, and half-siblings after graduating with a design degree from an NYC university. Once there, her step-mother's tv show, Before Midnight, a Bachelor analog has multiple contestants drop out last minute, and Cindy is volunteered. Cindy is the first fat woman to be on the show and becomes a bit of a body positivity icon.

I was excited about this book from the moment I saw the cover. I like a lot of Disney's properties, as most do, and was so excited for modern rom-com's inspired by the Disney princesses. Starting out with Cinderella absolutely did not disappoint. I was also excited because I had read and really liked Dumplin years ago, so I was quite excited for Murphy's first adult novel.

This book is very, very funny. I laughed out loud multiple times throughout the story; it was truly so much fun. I did also cry, so it worked on my emotions on both fronts. I am always annoyed when something is pitched as a rom-com and then doesn't deliver on the comedy side of that equation, but If the Shoe Fits is certainly funny. This story was so enjoyable; I read it in one sitting because I was just enjoying it far too much to put the book down or to be distracted by my phone.

The way Murphy interprets so much of the story into a contemporary story was delightful and often hilarious. Obviously, there are still serious parts of the Cinderella story leftover; Cindy's mom died when she was quite young, and her dad died a few years after marrying her step-mother, but in this version, Cindy has an occasionally contentious but mostly supportive relationship with the Tremaine's. Cindy really really loves shoes, it was her focus in school, and she has an incredible collection. Her half-siblings are the mice; I found this absolutely charming. I could list funny analogs, but I don't want to spoil too much of the surprise.

I also really loved the places where Murphy deviated from the Cinderella structure. I thought each reference and each deviation was very well thought out and really helped to tell this story in a meaningful and interesting way. There are also a few changes to the structure of The Bachelor to make it more plot-friendly and Disney-friendly (though I think Disney owns the show?). I have not actually watched any of The Bachelor's family of products (except once as a child with my babysitter), but I did listen to a now-defunct podcast about the show a few years ago, so I know enough about the program to get some of the jokes and references. The biggest change is that the show is airing while filming is happening; I think this works very well for the plot, even if it seems like it would be a production nightmare.

Cindy's experience as a fat woman is written so well (and just as a heads up, fat is Cindy's preferred description, there are a few times in the book where folks tap dance around the word in a quite funny way). We have airplane scenes and clothing disasters on the page that are able to talk about being fat in the world very frankly and really work to show the ways fatphobia keeps fat people from certain experiences. I also really enjoyed that this book isn't about Cindy gaining self-acceptance; she already views herself as a person deserving of respect and love, and dignity and already feels positively about herself. There are books about that journey, but this one happens to have different things as emotional conflict. Cindy is just a fat woman who is at the center of this love story.

The romance is so incredibly cute. Murphy spends quite a bit of the beginning of this book lets the reader get to know and love Cindy; it really was excellent to have so much time with our heroine before we start getting to know Prince Charming. The initial time spent with Cindy really pays off with the romance; you really root for Cindy because you know who she is and what she wants and not just because she is the lead character. As a heads up, this is a fade to black kind of book and not a, as TikTok would say, spice kind of book.

Getting to know the male lead of this book was just as delightful as getting to know Cindy. The banter is absolutely excellent. It is absolutely what kept me turning pages at 1 am when I might have otherwise picked sleep. I really liked the way his character's backstory and emotional arc contrasted so well with Cindy's. Murphy writes romance so well, I really hope she writes more adult romance in the future.

I loved the way Cindy's step-family was approached. I thought it was a perfect handling. They weren't absolute angels who had never had problems with each other, but they were also treated as full people who are a family unit even if they haven't always gotten along perfectly. I have had other retellings fail completely for me because I hate the way they handle the villains, this book didn't have them as an abusive family, but it is clear that Murphy put a lot of thought into how to keep some of their personality traits the same in this interpretation.

I could write for pages and pages about how much fun I had while reading. But I should probably wrap it up at some point. I am so excited to get a finished copy with the book is properly out on August 3rd, and I am so excited to read more in this series!

I gave this book five stars on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.