Stepsister Hardcover – May 14, 2019

Read it with a day couldn’t lay it down

Isabelle is not a traditionally pretty girl. Her face is not lovely for suitors to gaze upon. She is uncomfortable and out of place in silk gowns and dainty shoes that pinch. She gallops her stallion and jumps over stone walls, sword fights with a young boy her age, plays pirate queen, climbs trees, reads and studies about brave generals. Isabelle is not a normal girl. Isabelle is a strong-willed creature.“Isabelle had a strong will. She did not know that this was a good thing for a girl to have, because everyone had always told her it was a terrible thing. Everyone said a girl with a strong will would come to a bad end. Everyone said a girl’s will must be bent to the wishes of those who know what’s best for her.Isabelle was young, only sixteen; she had not yet learned that everyone is a fool.”Isabelle and her sister Tavi enjoyed the company of their stepsister Ella in their youth, until one day an adult male decided to make a remark on their appearances. After that defining moment, the two stepsisters realized that their future depended on their appearance and temperament more than anything else. No one would value them for their intelligence or bravery. The two sisters started to despise Ella, for she was everything that they were not. We all know how Cinderella’s story goes: she goes to the ball, wins the prince, gets everything she desires thanks to her beauty. Her stepsisters get left behind. They are ridiculed. Defined as nothing but ugly and useless. They are nothing.Life is hard for Cinderella’s step-family after she leaves to live in her grand castle with her adoring husband. Her step-family is about to go down a dark and twisting path to change what Fate has drawn for them. Will Chance be able to change their course of destiny? Or will Fate win all and seal their dark ending? Isabelle tries to be sweet, to obey, but she simply cannot. She is too wild and gnashes at her bit in her struggle for her desire of freedom.“A wolf lives in Isabelle. She tries hard to keep him down, but his hunger grows. He cracks her spine and devours her heart... The wolves in the woods have sharp teeth and long claws, but it’s the wolf inside who will tear you apart.”Isabelle is given a task when she meets Cinderella’s godmother: find the pieces of your heart and I will give you what your heart most desires. She must find these missing pieces of her heart before time runs out and destruction comes to her village. She will have to dig deep within herself for strength, even when her future looks bleak and hopeless. She must come to terms with past hurts and learn to forgive those who have hurt her. She must learn her “faults”, defined those by small minded people, are her strengths. Fate wants to keep her down, Chance wants her to get up, dust off, and stop taking everyone’s crap.“History book 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 book is amazing! I could not stop reading. Page after page was another astonishing moment. I love fairytales and the original princess stories, but it’s not always that you find a book that show and tell the “ugly” side of fairytales. But somehow the ugly turned into beauty, courage, and bravery. Jennifer Donnelly wrote a breath taking book and I cannot wait to read more from her.

Oh Stepsister I wanted to love you. That cover! That premise! A feminist retelling of Cinderella from the stepsister's view point! Yessss. Well I didn't quite love it but I did really like it. First some things I really liked about the story:-The very mild, hardly there, romance was sweet.-The pro-woman slant was amazing and fit into the story very well. You don't have to be physically attractive to be beautiful. Your unique traits make you shine. Including Isabella's bravery and (deep-down) kind heart.-The looming war plot line was interesting and while we just skimmed over the villain, he was a pretty good big baddie.-The crazy mother, the other 'ugly' stepsister-Hugo...I loved Hugo. No he's not the love interest. Read for Hugo and feminism.-The backstory which told us how the stepsisters became the way the did.Some things that kept this book from being a full five star read:- The jewel of the story was twined between another plot where a guy named Chance fights an old crone called Fate to change the map of Isobella's life. While Chance and his band of buddies are entertaining I just felt like the book didn't need Chance or Fate. (There is a version of a fairy Godmother in this book and she made sense.)- Fate is determined to see Isobella die so she does some things (trying to edit this for no spoilers) that actually causes huge amounts of people to die. What about THEIR fate's? Didn't she just change all those lives? And why was Isobella's fate so special to outweigh tons of others? Wasn't explained in the book and caused some loopholes in my mind.So overall I did really like this one. It just didn't live up to the hype I built around it in my head. But this was still a really fun book and I love all the girl power. IF there were more stories written in this manner by Jennifer Donnelly I would read them but I hope she wouldn't continue with the tug of war between Chance and Fate.

I have no problem with the product itself, though with the rocks and pebbles that were in the envelope it did make me wonder as to the cleanliness of the one who sent it to me.

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 SH*T!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.

My thanks to Bonnier Zaffre/Hot Key Books for an eARC via NetGalley of Jennifer Donnelly’s ‘Stepsister’ in exchange for an honest review. I found that I was enjoying the first few chapters so much that I elected to buy its Kindle and Audible editions.This was a skilful retelling of the story of Cinderella, focussing on what happens to Ella’s stepsisters after the failed attempt by their ambitious mother to trick the Prince into accepting one of them. As in the original story this is quite gristly rather than the idealised Disney version.Yet these ‘ugly’ sisters are not quite the charectitures one might expect. Octavia (Tavi), the oldest, is very interested in mathematics and science and wanted an education, not gowns, corsets and suitors. The younger sister, Isabelle, was described by her mother as a hoyden (tomboy) and was made to learn to sing and dance and behave like a proper lady.Isabelle has also come to the attention of cosmic forces. In the Prologue we are introduced to the Fates. They are visited by a mercurial figure that names himself Chance. He challenges them to a wager over Isabelle’s destiny. Both he and the eldest Fate head to the village of Saint-Michel, where Isabelle and her family live. They proceed to meddle in her life. Another player is Tanaquill, the fairy queen who had assisted Ella to attend the Prince’s Ball, but now is summoned by Isabelle to assist her. She sets a quest for Isabelle before she will grant her wish.This was a delight. The writing was beautiful and elegant with rich characterisations. Jennifer Donnelly clearly has a good grasp of the original fairytale as well as the tropes of fantasy so was able to weave various strands together into a new perspective for a contemporary audience.I felt that it was excellent and recommend it for lovers of fairytale retellings.

I listened to this as a free library download, mainly as it sounded like something I could have on in the background whilst cooking etc. I was drawn in from the very beginning!It was a fabulous story and a really interesting insight into why we act the way we act. It showcases resilience in horrible circumstances, and each of the many female characters have strength, vulnerability, and flaws like the rest of us, rather than being unattainable fairytale princesses. It's a solid book and an interesting twist on a story that's been told to death.I'm no reviewer so I'll leave the detail to others, but I liked it so much I've now bought it for my 11 year old to read on her kindle.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this book, I've read lots of fairy tale re-imaginings but often find myself disappointed. Not the case with Stepsister. It was a really cracking book, strong, fleshed-out characters, a fast-paced plot, and great elements of fantasy. I absolutely love a strong female protagonist, and Isabelle was certainly a great one. I loved how she grew and changed as the story progressed. I'll be recommending this to anyone who enjoys fantasy and fairy tales, and I'm sure I'll read it again sometime soon.

I like fairytale retellings especially if they are a little dark. This book ticks all my boxes and I really enjoyed it. In fact, I was a little upset when it ended because I wanted to read more straightaway.Stepsister focuses on the story of Cinderella's step sister, Isabelle, and picks up from the traditional fairytale at the point where they are trying on the shoe. I loved all the little nods to the many different versions of the well known Cinderella stories - clearly Jennifer Donnelly has done her research. She has also managed to put her own twist and spin on the tale by introducing Fate and Chance. I was really interested to see what impact they had on the story.

We often get consumed in the fairy tale and we don't think of the other characters - we are just glad they got what they deserved. As in life it is not always black and white... I really liked the story, how it unravelled, the twists and how things come together. I also liked the structure of the book with the small, scene-like chapters. I read it in one go - good use of my lockdown time... :-)