I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.The Stepsisters by Susan Mallery tells the story of Daisy, Sage and Cassidy. Sage and Daisy were stepsisters who despise each other. They have nothing in common except for their half sister Cassidy. Sage and Cassidy were close, leaving Daisy out in the cold. Their relationship was further affected when Daisy and Cassidy’s dad divorced Sage and Cassidy’s mom.

Eighteen years have passed with no form of communication between the sisters. However, unforeseen circumstances will lead to a reunion forcing them to confront their issues. A situation which resulted in restoration of their relationship.

Throughout the story, Daisy portrayed an inner strength one could only admire. It could not have been easy. Welcoming back Sage and Cassidy into her life despite the way they treated her in the past, but she did it anyway. To know their return coincided with her husband’s (Jordan) decision to leave the matrimonial home must have been a bitter pill to swallow. Especially given the history between Sage and Jordan.

I admired her willingness to fight for her marriage. My respect for her went up a notch at her willingness to acknowledge her role in the breakdown of her marriage. Although, I have to say I found her husband to be weak and pathetic. He took pleasure in playing the blame game. Also, his many attempts in making everything about him revealed his selfish nature. I wasn’t too fond of Sage and Cassidy in the initial stages, but they grew on me as the story progressed.

Each of the sisters went through a phase of acknowledgement, acceptance, healing, and forgiveness. They encountered many bumps on their journey through these phases. Their love for each other proved more powerful than any of these bumps.

The story captivated me and kept me entertained from start to finish. Drama and tension flowed from the pages. The Stepsisters proved to be a powerful read. It delivered an interesting story about sisterhood, family, love, healing, and forgiveness. Mallery did a wonderful job of capturing the intricacies of siblings, marriage, and blended families.

Overall. a wonderful story and one I recommend to fans of both the author and the genre.This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading

Quirky Cat

Written on May 31, 2021

Susan Mallery is back again with a new novel, The Stepsisters. It's a love story, but probably not the sort you're expecting – it's about the love between friends.

There was a time when Daisy was thrilled about the idea of getting a sister (stepsister, whatever). But then she actually met Sage. Sage was everything that Daisy was not, beautiful, popular, confident; you name it.

Meanwhile, Sage always knew that she was never going to be as bright as Daisy. She struck at Daisy however she could, and her ferocity was returned with enthusiasm. When their parents finally set to divorce, you would have thought that would be the end of it. You'd be wrong.

I am blown away by the characters that Susan Mallery defined in The Stepsisters. They felt so human, with real hopes, dreams, and, yes, flaws. It was heartwarming and heartbreaking all in one, and I have to respect that!

That being said, I can kind of see this being a novel that people will either love or hate. It's going to depend at least partially on your personal experiences. Take me, I'm an only child, and thus I've always had a fondness for the idea of siblings (something that I'm sure would have changed had I had to deal with another one of me all the time).

What I loved the most about this novel is how realistic it is. No, not necessarily the circumstances or any of that. But how long our actions and words can linger. Both Daisy and Sage were truly traumatized from the actions of the other, and that carried them into their adulthood. Mallery was able to perfectly portray this painful truth, and it made their story all the more potent because of it.

This was my first time reading anything by Susan Mallery, but I have to say that I am extremely impressed by what I found here. I'm going to have to go through her backlog sometime and see what else catches my fancy.

Thanks to MIRA and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

Jeff Sexton

Written on May 12, 2021

Strong Character Study With Maybe Not Quite Enough Introspection. This is one of those strong women-bonding-as-character-study type books where we get to see three very different women thrown together as a result of a family that blended and then dissolved years ago, and how that blending and dissolution affected all of them and even their common parents (one step father, one stepmother, both of whom combine to be the natural parents of the third sister). As someone who has a cousin that is actually in the exact position of the third sister - both parents having been previously divorced and having kids from those marriages - this was particularly interesting. As with the other Mallery book I've read so far, she does excellent work keeping things mostly realistic, and really my only fault here - potentially intentional, as it is still a realistic scenario - is that one of the three sisters perhaps doesn't look into herself as deeply as the other two do. Ultimately an engaging and satisfying book, this is thus very much recommended.