Cinder X Bella

Damsels of Distress, Book 2

By: Dakota Krout

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Dakota Krout presents Book 2 in the Damsels of Distress series.

©2025 Dakota Krout (P)2025 Tantor Media

very good though frustrating

this was a very well done book and fantastic performance!

Also,the puns and alliteration were on point for this one.
Krout is one of my favorites due to his unashamed usage of puns and alliteration, I thought book one wasn't as pun filled as a typical DK book, but this is much more to what I expect from krout

one warning though: the stepmother has serious umbridge vibes. so if, like me, you found order of the phoenix hard to get through because you just wanted to punch umbridge in the face... yeah this might be a tough one. it took me a while to get through this because I kept walking away from it because I was pissed off. but I never walked away for good, always came back to find out what happened next.

my only critique would be that I wished that we saw more of cinder. basically just pops in at the end, I wish we could have gotten to know him more.

all in all, a solid use of a credit, can't wait for the next one!

Righteous Anger.

Dakota Krout did an amazing job with his adaptation of the beloved story of Cinderella. I love the way he integrated the skills of CALS world, into the characters of this classic fairy tale.
In a story of “it’s gonna get worse before it gets better”. Dakota definitely played on my heart strings as much as he could. Almost to the point of me wanting to walk away from the series as a whole.
However I’m optimistic that this was the worst of the series, and am looking forward to seeing how the rest of the “Damsels of Distress” interact.

Rarely hated characters more

Dakota really put the evil in the evil step-family in this gamafied Cinderella retelling. a strong beginning and a satisfying ending sandwiches a middle that makes you uncomfortable and upset in the best of ways. As always, narration was on point, and characters believable flawed creatures.

LitRPG fans, don't shy away- there isn't enough romance to make you cringe and there's plenty of system exploration.

Best book I’ve read in a while

I loved the richness of each of the characters, how fantasy felt grounded in reality, and the fantastical twist on a Cinderella story. Everything about this was pure gold. X.

Loved it!

It it a really good adaption between fairy tales and video games. Well done! I cant wait to see what the other stories bring, and any possible future books!