Scan barcode
A review by mbenzz
Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly
4.0
I love fairy tale re-tellings, and this addition to the genre was not a disappointment. The story starts out strong with the ending of Cinderella. The Prince is going door-to-door looking for his love when Isabella and Octavia, Ella's stepsisters, mutilate themselves (on their Mothers orders) to try and fit into the glass slipper. Once their deception is discovered, we continue following their (mainly Isabelle's) story, and part ways with Ella as she rides off into the sunset with her Prince.
This book, while dark and disturbing in some places (as classic fairy tales are wont to be), does have a powerful message to it...just because you are born a girl, or are less attractive than someone else, or don't excel in the same areas, does NOT make you less of a person or second to men. Nor should other peoples opinions and negativity bring you down, or cause you to doubt your own self-worth. You are YOU, and you need to OWN THAT SHIT!
I think this is a wonderful message to have in a YA novel, and will hopefully resonate with some of todays young readers.
While the story is a really good one, I felt it started to drag a bit in the middle. The side stories of Fate, Chance and Tanaquill were interesting, but just stretched the story out in ways that weren't completely necessary. That being said though, I still enjoyed this, and would absolutely recommend this to anyone who loves Grimm Fairy Tales, or fairy tale re-tellings.
This book, while dark and disturbing in some places (as classic fairy tales are wont to be), does have a powerful message to it...just because you are born a girl, or are less attractive than someone else, or don't excel in the same areas, does NOT make you less of a person or second to men. Nor should other peoples opinions and negativity bring you down, or cause you to doubt your own self-worth. You are YOU, and you need to OWN THAT SHIT!
I think this is a wonderful message to have in a YA novel, and will hopefully resonate with some of todays young readers.
While the story is a really good one, I felt it started to drag a bit in the middle. The side stories of Fate, Chance and Tanaquill were interesting, but just stretched the story out in ways that weren't completely necessary. That being said though, I still enjoyed this, and would absolutely recommend this to anyone who loves Grimm Fairy Tales, or fairy tale re-tellings.