The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back

by Sariah Wilson

Everyone knows how those fairy tales go. The princess gets beautiful, nabs her prince and leaves her evil stepsisters in the dust.

But what happens when you’re the ugly stepsister and your obnoxiously perfect—pretty, smart, and, worst of all, nice—stepsister is dating the charming, devastatingly handsome guy you’ve had a thing for since you were nine?

Quirky, artistic and snarky Mattie Lowe does not lead a charmed life. Her mother is constantly belittling her online. The school mean girl has made it her mission to torment Mattie. But worst of all? Her stepsister is the most popular girl in school and is dating Mattie’s secret crush, Jake Kingston.

Tired of being left out and done with waiting for her own fairy godmother to show up, Mattie decides to change her life. She’ll start by running for senior class president against Jake.

Ella can keep her Prince Annoying. Mattie's going to rule the school.

And no one, not even a cute and suddenly flirty Jake, is going to stop her.

• ASIN: B075MRYGJP
• Publish Date: 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Format: eBook (Kindle)
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

[clairelm]

Although it took me a while to get into this book, I really enjoyed it. Mattie and Ella were lovely characters and it was nice to see the interactions between them grow. A great feel good story.

I would've preferred to read Ella and Trent's story. I kept hoping for glimpses but instead I got Mattie and Jake. It wasn't bad, I just didn't love it. It was easy enough to get through and it was humorous but it had two main problems - the characters. As in Mattie and Jake. I didn't like them. I think a lot of people will enjoy the pop culture references and Mattie's quirky humour - which were good - and perhaps a lot of other people will like Mattie and Jake. But it wasn't for me. 2.5 stars, rounded to 3 because I loved Ella. Further thoughts/rant on characters below.


Mattie kind of sucked. I hated her to start with (the first chapters made me want to kill her) and while she got better I was never really loving her. She had some funny lines but she was mainly just annoying. She was mean and bitter and petty. Ella didn't deserve any of her nasty thoughts. And yes, I get that it's a Cinderella retelling - but you can't make a mean character oh woe is me without some serious rewriting. Mattie was a bitch. It was hard to like her. And harder to be sympathetic towards her. Which is fine. Write that story. But don't bag on Ella because she's generous and nice and kind and then say you hate her because she exists and expect me to feel like Mattie's been hard done by. She hasn't. Any problems she has are of her own making. But sure, she got nicer. Less prickly or whatever but I just didn't find it enough for me to care for her.

And I didn't like Jake either. He was a jerk. Sure, he's got parental issues and whatnot but it never really redeemed him from being the jerk he started as. The romance between them started out bad and got fluffy but I just didn't care.

[mrs_mander_reads]

loved the book. super catchy story, and hilarious.