Stepsister

"3.65 - Hmmm. Not as good as I expected. <br/><br/>[RTC]<br/><br/>"

"Barely got into the first few pages before I realized it was way to dark of a read for me"

"I loved how this addressed the original Grimm's fairytale, not any of the cleaned up versions. In the original story, the stepsisters cut off their heels in an attempt to fit in the glass slipper. This takes place after happily ever after so this shows the effects of that choice on their life. It also shows the conceptions people have of the family Ella left behind. Very wonderfully done. "

"One of the best books I’ve read this year! Incredible!"

"I really enjoy a good fairytale retelling. This was one of them. I liked that they showed that not one person in the book was perfect. Cinderella (or Ella) is always shown to be perfect. But no, she was jealous and did things that were wrong. I liked the concept of fate being broken. I liked Isabelle’s character but I felt the end was a bit rushed. "

"This was far better than I had expected it to be. I am very glad I read it. I like fairy tale retellings that make you feel sympathetic for the villain."

"When i first started reading this book i expected to love it. The story stars with the stepsisters cutting of their heal and toe like in grim’s fairytale. Depending on the story i enjoy dark story. This story had a lot of potential. It had a lot of good ideas but didn’t execute it very well. The basic idea of this book was really good. A story in the point of view of one of the stepsisters after they cut off their toes. Then on the side having fate and chance having their competition to change Isabella. Plus it became a competition for Isabella’s life. That is really interesting and i was exited to read about it. <br/><br/>I love redemption arcs or mean characters with layers when they are done right. I haven’t read a good story with a good redemption arc. The only good ones are the ones on TV. The main problem with this redemption arc is that they were trying to redeem a character that didn’t need to be redeemed. The book keeps on telling us that the stepsisters and mother are mean and selfish but we don’t get to see any of that. Sure there were times that they weren’t nice but they didn’t do anything evil. There were flashbacks but it was more of sibling bickering. Even when we get to see Isabella thoughts she isn’t evil or cruel. She doesn’t wish harm upon others. She cares about others. There was a sence that she found someone’s pearls and returned it to them. I know that it’s simple but most mean people would of kept it. I know that you can argue that she was “trying to find her heart” at the time but there was no struggle to do good deeds. During that scene the book didn’t even mention “trying to find her heart”. She just found them and her first thought was that she should return them. If that doesn’t convince you there was a scene that the house was on fire and her mom was being difficult. She could of just left her but she stayed and kept on trying to convince her. Isabelle would of probably stayed in the fire if her mom didn’t leave with her. <br/><br/>It is the same thing with the stepmother and Octavia. They didn’t do anything evil. We are told that Octavia is mean but we don’t get to see it. Same with the stepmother. During the time she is having her mental breakdown because of Ella leaving and not being able to marry the two stepsisters. Almost everything bad the stepmother does it is more of because the times. The book is set a long time ago back when women’s purpose was to be married off. Making them cut off there heal and toe was a little too far but she did it so that one of the stepsisters could get married. The prince was a big deal and the stepsister’s only chance to get married. <br/><br/>Another problem about the characters is that they are one demential: Isabella is the girl that wants to be a fighter despite society saying no, Octavia is the smart girl, Ella is the pretty nice girl, stepmother is the stepmother going through mental background, Hugo is the winey guy that doesn’t like the sister but helps them anyways and then there is the love interest and the villain. No one goes beyond their stereotype. There is a blind girl and i wish that we could of seen more of her. We only got to have one scene that tells us nothing about her<br/><br/>I’m probably the only one but i didn’t like that the book shoved it in our face that Isabella is ugly but the book doesn’t tell us what she looks like. The only description in the the whole book that tells us anything about Isabella’s appearance is one character comparing her hair to a squirrel.<br/><br/>Isabella was too easy for Chance and Fate to convince. Every time one of the two tells her to do something she just does it. It felt too easy. “Finding her heart” was too easy. If Isabella couldn’t get it the object was just handed down to her. There was much sense of struggle. Isabella was even very good at sword fighting even though she hasn’t practice in years and was never taught. Isabella got together wish her love interest too easily because the whole thing ended up being a misunderstanding that could of been cleared up if they had a conversation. <br/><br/>Also i didn’t like Ella’s confection. I’m not going to say what it is because spoilers. It was out of character for Ella and it felt like it was shoved in there just so that Ella’s abuse was ok because they both did bad stuff because of being jealous."

"SO, SO, SO, SO, SO GOOD!!! This is definitely the best book I have read this year. Actually, this book is officially on my top ten favorites list. It pulled me in from page one and kept me enthralled the whole time. I was thrilled with the entire book and the ending while also being sad to see it go. Just read it. Don't hesitate! Just read it!!"

"This made me sad but the end was worth it "

"It was an amazing book. I loved the story, the character, everything about it! If there was a love button on this app I would press it for this book."