Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly

6 reviews

aureolyn's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

This was one of the books under my series of starting books because of their dedication.

“To everyone who’s ever felt that they’re not enough”

I loved this book. I thought the messages were strong and good. I really liked how the author made the distinction between being pretty and being beautiful. Being pretty was just about a person’s appearance. Obviously there’s pretty privilege but once we got to know the characters, we can see how their passions and personalities shine and make them so beautiful. I also like the idea of breaking out of molds and finding oneself. Great character development makes me weak. The more I got to know the characters the more attached and invested I was. Anyways, if you haven’t already guessed this is a twisted tale of the famous Cinderella story but this story follows her stepsisters after the original fairytale. It’s filled with a rollercoaster of emotions that I’m still working through as I’m trying to form my thoughts here. It starts pretty dark and the insertion of chance and fate was a bit confusing. I think their introduction could’ve been better which is why this isn’t 5 stars but as we got to know the characters and as the story unfolded, it started to make more sense. Lastly, I also liked that all the characters were flawed. It makes them so much more human and that much more relatable. 

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freewings21's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I quite enjoyed this book. The sections with Chance and Fate were kind of boring but the rest of the book was really strong. Another win from Jennifer Donnelly

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20sidedbi's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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sophiesmallhands's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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maymoo's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Very brutal but I could not put it down!

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woolgathering_jane's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 “History books say that kings and dukes and generals start wars. Don't believe it. We start them, you and I. Every time we turn away, keep quiet, stay out of it, behave ourselves.” 
This story is like nothing I've read before.
It's so addictive, chilling, strange, and new. It's very fast-paced, you won't even notice you've read the whole book until you flip the last page. And the writing style itself! Not only is it so easy to read, but it's so unique. Don't even get me started on the number of quotes I've marked, I had to buy another pack of sticky notes haha
The main character is one of Cinderella's evil sisters, Isabelle. And honestly, I hated her. She's not a good person, she's jealous and bitter. But she's also one of the most interesting characters I've ever read about. Throughout the book, we learn why she's the way she is and sympathise with her.
The plot itself was not brilliant, but I enjoyed it. But I'm almost happy that the plot wasn't so good because I could focus on the character development and the quotes haha
But seriously, read this book. It will take you three days and I promise you won't regret it.

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