Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

All the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella's Stepmother by Danielle Teller

2 reviews

tew_11's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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larkais's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Slow means insanely slow. I skipped a lot during the mid point since the writing was not interesting and it dragged on for ages. There were a lot of sad moments such as
Agnes' abuse as a worker and all the deaths that she faced at the workplace. One person died of overwork and one died on the job. Agnes' rape scene was also very sad but the author seemed to play it off?? They got married, he was an absent husband and Agnes dreamed at the very end that she would see him again but it was just her daughters coming to meet her. It really rubbed me the wrong way.
The whole Cinderella plot doesn't happen until the last 90% of the book. I like the perspective shifting sometimes. The book jumps from Agnes' youth to her current court life every so often and I just wish it was more compelling.

There are some clever moments like how Agnes accused someone else of being a witch by making use of the rumor mill. 

Overall, I did not like this fairy tale retelling. The step mother's perspective or even time traveling back in time is very common in manga and webcomics. A Stepmother's fairytale did a lot better where they made her and the children she raised more sympathetic/understood the plight from both sides. 

I've already started a Thousand Splendid Suns and I already feel like the female characters in that novel are stronger than this cast. The mother (Nana) was a mistress to a wealthy businessman and gave birth to Mariam (MC) out of wedlock. You could really feel Nana's pain where she really felt like the only thing she could do was endure until she couldn't anymore. Mariam's childhood trauma is palpable in a way that this novel's take on suffering was not.
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