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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I nearly bailed on this YA romance near the beginning, but I kept reading because someone whose taste often intersects with mine had recommended it. So I figured, the heroine won't make the obvious choice --and I'm glad I did.
Mattie has two artists as parents--very self-involved parents. One tries to be a good parent, when he remembers, the other is a destructive, emotionally abusive force that one can see as Mattie's major cause of very low self-esteem.
Mattie isn't helped by her own jealousy of her wonderful, beautiful stepsister.
The relationship between the two girls is one of the pleasures of this book. The other is Mattie's gradual attainment of some self-awareness--while still sticking to her guns at decision points that in far too many YA novels carry the other way because that's easier drama.
There is plenty of potential emotional drama in dealing with consequences and choices, which Wilson is aware of, and it's all narrated in a funny, vivid voice that made this book an easy read while I was standing at the stove stirring pots and watching various things cook for a couple of hours.
There is so much insight that I kind of wish the two villains had not been so one-dimensional but that is a small quibble about what is basically a lovely book that I could give a sixth grader to read who is just sliding into the boy-crazy stage. The language stays away from explicit, and so does the behavior, plus there is some real resonance there for kids who have workaholic parents.
Spoiler
otherwise smart but low-self esteem heroine throws common sense and moral choice out the window when her popular forever crush asks her to do something she knows is wrongMattie has two artists as parents--very self-involved parents. One tries to be a good parent, when he remembers, the other is a destructive, emotionally abusive force that one can see as Mattie's major cause of very low self-esteem.
Mattie isn't helped by her own jealousy of her wonderful, beautiful stepsister.
The relationship between the two girls is one of the pleasures of this book. The other is Mattie's gradual attainment of some self-awareness--while still sticking to her guns at decision points that in far too many YA novels carry the other way because that's easier drama.
There is plenty of potential emotional drama in dealing with consequences and choices, which Wilson is aware of, and it's all narrated in a funny, vivid voice that made this book an easy read while I was standing at the stove stirring pots and watching various things cook for a couple of hours.
There is so much insight that I kind of wish the two villains had not been so one-dimensional but that is a small quibble about what is basically a lovely book that I could give a sixth grader to read who is just sliding into the boy-crazy stage. The language stays away from explicit, and so does the behavior, plus there is some real resonance there for kids who have workaholic parents.
❌ Auxiliary Challenge™ 2018 winner for October over at Fallen Into Tijan Books -- Theme: Retellings ❌
The Cheese is strong in this one
I lurve cheese. And I liked this! A lot.
This is kind of a retelling of Cinderella but from the Ugly Stepsister POV. I say kind of cause it really is loosely based.
This was good fluff with look warm action. If you go in expecting battles & drama (like someone that isn't me did) you will be thoroughly and utterly disappointed. Although it is good disappointment and it won't last very long. This was purely character based but instead of creating super angsty drama for the heroes to step into loving themselves we got a couple very mild scenes and a lot of thinking and working stuff out. Which was great! It got somewhat annoying at times but that didn't factor in my enjoyment much.
We also got a lot of cheese. Lot of cheese.
I liked Mattie quite a bit. Snark and fire and self knowledge. Jake is also cute though he is a bit of an arsehole. Ella is the sun, you like her but you want to run away from her after a while.
It could have used some battles thrown in there imo but all in all enjoyable. I started it today and finished in one sitting.
Loved the bonus: At the end of the book we get a few chapters from Jakes' POV. :D
Looking forward to reading the next one ✔
• Quotes
My stepsister, Ella, was ruining my life. She was blonde, petite, beautiful, talented, and popular, and worst of all, she was nice.
Page 1
I was the only carnivore of the group. Both Trent and Ella were vegetarians. This severely limited our options when we all went out to eat together. They also took different tactics in trying to convert me to the dark side. Trent kept trying to show me pictures of slaughterhouses on his phone. Ella attempted to give me tofu, claiming it tasted just like meat. Only a vegetarian would think tofu and meat tasted even remotely the same. At least it gave Ella and Trent something to bond over—what a savage barbarian I was.
Page 16
I stood up and looked down at him. “Come, don’t come. I don’t care. But if I do all the work, I’m taking all the credit.” “Did you need something, Ms. Lowe?” Ms. Aprils asked me [...]
“Yes.” I looked back down at Jake. “I need a note to go to the nurse’s office. I suddenly feel like I’m going to puke.”
Page 67-68
I narrowed my eyes at him. I didn’t trust myself to say anything, so I stepped back and held the door open.
But instead of coming inside, Jake stood on the porch, hovering.
“Are you like a vampire that I have to invite in first?” I snapped.
Page 70
How had I not known this? Jake Ryan of Sixteen Candles was like the perfect man. And my Jake was named after him. Oh my Buddha, I loved him even more now. I knew it was a stupid reason to love him more. I was constantly amazed by the depths of my own shallowness. Wait. Could shallowness have depths? Whatever. He was named for Jake Ryan. Loved him!
Page 75
Mercedes’s venomous words rolled around inside my head. Of course anyone would choose Ella over me. Miss Early Admission to UCLA. Boys falling at her feet. All gorgeous and perfect.
I stopped myself. In the past I would have kept going, comparing myself to her. I would have blamed Ella for Jake’s using me and added it to my List of Grievances. But I could finally see that none of this was Ella’s fault. She had stepped aside and practically gift wrapped Jake for me. She had even schemed to get us together. She had done nothing but support and love me, and I was not about to pay that back by blaming her.
Page 143
“But what if . . .”
Ella let out a loud sigh. “What if, what if, what if? You know, no amount of preventative worrying is going to help you out here. It’s not like you can get the right dose of angst and protect yourself. Just calm down and go with it. See where fate takes you.”
Page 166
The Cheese is strong in this one
I lurve cheese. And I liked this! A lot.
This is kind of a retelling of Cinderella but from the Ugly Stepsister POV. I say kind of cause it really is loosely based.
This was good fluff with look warm action. If you go in expecting battles & drama (like someone that isn't me did) you will be thoroughly and utterly disappointed. Although it is good disappointment and it won't last very long. This was purely character based but instead of creating super angsty drama for the heroes to step into loving themselves we got a couple very mild scenes and a lot of thinking and working stuff out. Which was great! It got somewhat annoying at times but that didn't factor in my enjoyment much.
We also got a lot of cheese. Lot of cheese.
I liked Mattie quite a bit. Snark and fire and self knowledge. Jake is also cute though he is a bit of an arsehole. Ella is the sun, you like her but you want to run away from her after a while.
It could have used some battles thrown in there imo but all in all enjoyable. I started it today and finished in one sitting.
Loved the bonus: At the end of the book we get a few chapters from Jakes' POV. :D
Looking forward to reading the next one ✔
• Quotes
Spoiler
My stepsister, Ella, was ruining my life. She was blonde, petite, beautiful, talented, and popular, and worst of all, she was nice.
Page 1
I was the only carnivore of the group. Both Trent and Ella were vegetarians. This severely limited our options when we all went out to eat together. They also took different tactics in trying to convert me to the dark side. Trent kept trying to show me pictures of slaughterhouses on his phone. Ella attempted to give me tofu, claiming it tasted just like meat. Only a vegetarian would think tofu and meat tasted even remotely the same. At least it gave Ella and Trent something to bond over—what a savage barbarian I was.
Page 16
I stood up and looked down at him. “Come, don’t come. I don’t care. But if I do all the work, I’m taking all the credit.” “Did you need something, Ms. Lowe?” Ms. Aprils asked me [...]
“Yes.” I looked back down at Jake. “I need a note to go to the nurse’s office. I suddenly feel like I’m going to puke.”
Page 67-68
I narrowed my eyes at him. I didn’t trust myself to say anything, so I stepped back and held the door open.
But instead of coming inside, Jake stood on the porch, hovering.
“Are you like a vampire that I have to invite in first?” I snapped.
Page 70
How had I not known this? Jake Ryan of Sixteen Candles was like the perfect man. And my Jake was named after him. Oh my Buddha, I loved him even more now. I knew it was a stupid reason to love him more. I was constantly amazed by the depths of my own shallowness. Wait. Could shallowness have depths? Whatever. He was named for Jake Ryan. Loved him!
Page 75
Mercedes’s venomous words rolled around inside my head. Of course anyone would choose Ella over me. Miss Early Admission to UCLA. Boys falling at her feet. All gorgeous and perfect.
I stopped myself. In the past I would have kept going, comparing myself to her. I would have blamed Ella for Jake’s using me and added it to my List of Grievances. But I could finally see that none of this was Ella’s fault. She had stepped aside and practically gift wrapped Jake for me. She had even schemed to get us together. She had done nothing but support and love me, and I was not about to pay that back by blaming her.
Page 143
“But what if . . .”
Ella let out a loud sigh. “What if, what if, what if? You know, no amount of preventative worrying is going to help you out here. It’s not like you can get the right dose of angst and protect yourself. Just calm down and go with it. See where fate takes you.”
Page 166
lighthearted
medium-paced
I’ll be seeing her at @wildandwindybookevent Vegas. This book of hers is a YA romance. I don’t usually read YA because it sometimes reads so cringy to me. Unfortunately, this writing fell into that category. It is loosely inspired by Cinderella but a modern spin. At one point she takes off her glasses & changes her hair from pink to red and he can’t recognize her. 🙄 2 ⭐️ 1 🌶️
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
My God, Mattie is exhausting. I get being a teenage girl is hard, but she seems to make it even harder on herself by almost willfully refusing to believe anything good can happen to her even when the good thing is happening to her directly at that time. It's one thing if her self-esteem gradually went up and she gained more self confidence as the book went on, but what we get is basically whiplash-inducing back-and-forth opinions about herself from herself. It's A Lot to deal with in only 200 pages, especially when you throw in all the different plot devices Wilson does here (the English project, the student body president race, a random dance, the family dynamics, the abandonment, the college stuff, the mean girls--am I missing anything?).
I liked Ella, though, and her relationship with Mattie. There's just too much going on in too short of a book and none of the characters really get the depth and treatment they should. This also goes for the bonus chapter from Jake's POV.
I liked Ella, though, and her relationship with Mattie. There's just too much going on in too short of a book and none of the characters really get the depth and treatment they should. This also goes for the bonus chapter from Jake's POV.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
It's weird that this is the first book I read this 2021...and I liked it! Nothing like good young adult fiction to get us through the pandemic. This is a fast-paced story of two high school classmates who are secretly in love with each other. Funny and a quick read!
This review can also be found here
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand I found the main character to be extremely annoying but on the other, I actually kind of liked it. When I saw it was free on Amazon I checked the description and figured why not what could it hurt? I admit I didn't have high hopes going in but it was a lot better than I expected.
The plot was simple enough. Girl likes boy, boy is dating the girls perfect stepsister, girl decides to take boy down in the student election. Pretty much all of the problems that come up in the story are resolved a couple pages later. Also a lot of the trouble is pretty much in Mattie's head.
Mattie annoyed me. Plain and simple. She was too worried about herself and constantly put her stepsister down without knowing why her stepsister did the things she did. She did get a lot better by the end of the book though. I actually didn't like Jake. Sure he was a smooth talker and was supposed to be the popular jock that everybody loves, but I didn't. He was full of himself and kind of a jerk. I did like Ella though. I though she was nice and funny and I wish we got more of her in the book.
This book was a quick and easy read. The plot isn't anything dynamic or confusing but it's a fun read that had me laughing at some of the ridiculous antics that happened. I will definitely be looking out for more books by Sariah Wilson since her writing style is simple and fun.
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand I found the main character to be extremely annoying but on the other, I actually kind of liked it. When I saw it was free on Amazon I checked the description and figured why not what could it hurt? I admit I didn't have high hopes going in but it was a lot better than I expected.
The plot was simple enough. Girl likes boy, boy is dating the girls perfect stepsister, girl decides to take boy down in the student election. Pretty much all of the problems that come up in the story are resolved a couple pages later. Also a lot of the trouble is pretty much in Mattie's head.
Mattie annoyed me. Plain and simple. She was too worried about herself and constantly put her stepsister down without knowing why her stepsister did the things she did. She did get a lot better by the end of the book though. I actually didn't like Jake. Sure he was a smooth talker and was supposed to be the popular jock that everybody loves, but I didn't. He was full of himself and kind of a jerk. I did like Ella though. I though she was nice and funny and I wish we got more of her in the book.
This book was a quick and easy read. The plot isn't anything dynamic or confusing but it's a fun read that had me laughing at some of the ridiculous antics that happened. I will definitely be looking out for more books by Sariah Wilson since her writing style is simple and fun.
Just so funny and romantic
Everyone that loves Sixteen Candles should read this book. I love the sense of humor that shows up as Sariah Wilson writes her books.
Everyone that loves Sixteen Candles should read this book. I love the sense of humor that shows up as Sariah Wilson writes her books.
I really liked this book. It was a fun read and totally sucked me in. The characters were realistic and likable, and it was a fun twist on the Cinderella story. I also liked that it was a very clean read.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes