Stepsister Review

    Isabelle is one of Cinderella's infamous stepsisters- the one who cut off her toes in her desperation to win the prince and locked poor Cinderella in the attic. However, thanks to the incriminating blood pouring into the glass slipper, Isabelle did not get her happily ever after. Instead, her story spread and she and her mother and sister began their lives of shame. Isabelle wished with all her heart to become beautiful and more like her stepsister, so she lied. This only resulted in her becoming a shell of the girl she once was. Now jealous, shamed, and plain mean, she finds her chance at redemption, her chance to change her image. She just has to take it.

    Keep in mind that everyone has their own opinion. This review is only my opinion, and you may have your own, different one. I would take into consideration what I say, but do not make a decision about the book solely based off of this review. Let's begin:

    A little warning prior to reading this book in case the description and cover were not enough to get this across, this book is dark. It does not take after the happy Disney version of Cinderella, as much as we all love that story. This takes after a much darker version- the one where the stepsisters cut off their toes and heels to fit into the glass slipper. The scene where this occurs is towards the beginning of the book and is relatively short; that does not mean, however, that I did not cringe while reading it (it was in a good way, though, if that makes any sense. The author did a very good job with this whole scene). Therefore, I would be careful with reading this if you are younger. Remember that it is a YA book, though, so it is aimed at audiences no younger than 12 in which it is appropriate, in my opinion. I only included this because I know I read YA books when I was younger than the intended age range.

    I think that one of the biggest aspects of this book is the character development. The author did a fantastic job with this. I definitely experienced a range of feelings about the stepsisters along with some of the other characters. I loved watching them grow and learn from their past. This is also the reason why I appreciated that the darker version of Cinderella was used for this novel. I feel that the change in the stepsisters would not have been as significant if the Disney version was used as is seen with many fairy tale retellings. The redemption ark in this story for Isabelle was pretty cool, overall.

    The story itself was a unique twist on the renowned classic. I thought it was interesting how concepts such as chance and fate were made into people. I also liked the twist put on the fairy godmother. She was an intriguing character and was definitely different than the sweet, old fairy that naturally comes to mind when thinking of the character. The characters all had their own unique personalities. Of course, there are some minor characters that we have seen in countless other books, but they are necessary for the plot. For example, the classic mean girl clique is present, but they allow us to further understand Isabelle and what she experiences.

    These next points have nothing to do with the story itself, but I wanted to mention them anyway. I love the cover design. It is very pretty and symbolic, which I really appreciate. I feel like covers do not make sense in exchange for beauty far too often, but I can understand this one while thinking it is pretty at the same time. The format of the book was slightly different than I am used to. The chapters do not start on their own page. Rather, as soon as one chapter ends, whether it be in the middle of a page or the end, the next chapter is headed and begins. It took me a second to adjust to that format, but it was not a negative.

    Sadly, the book got four stars instead of five for me because I did not feel a deep attachment to it. I am not too sure how to describe what I mean, but I only give books five stars if I felt a deep attachment (both mental and physical reactions to things that happen, really caring about the characters, etc.). It is not that I did not care at all about the characters. I truly did want Isabelle to get her happy ending. I just did not have any big reactions to it. Honestly, I do not know what it was about the book that did not cause me to have these reactions, but it does not change the fact that I didn't. I am sorry I can't explain that better than only saying that it is a feeling I get when reading.

    Overall, I did enjoy the read and would recommend it if you want an easy and quick read. It was a fairly unique telling of a classic story, and it changed my perspective of Cinderella's stepsisters. I can say that I would check out other books written by this author, but I think that I would only rent them from the library rather than actually purchasing them. It is not one that I really connected with and would read again in the future. This could just be me though, so maybe give it a try if you are up for the darkness in humans that this book exposes.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Author: Jennifer Donnelly

# of Pages: 342

Genre: YA, Fairy Tale Retelling, Fantasy Fiction

Series: Standalone