Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly

Stepsister

by Jennifer Donnelly

'In an ancient city by the sea, three sisters - a maiden, a mother, and a crone - are drawing maps by candlelight. Sombre, with piercing grey eyes, they are the three Fates, and every map is a human life . . .'

Stepsister takes up where Cinderella's tale ends. We meet Isabelle, the younger of Cinderella's two stepsisters. Ella is considered beautiful; stepsister Isabelle is not. Isabelle is fearless, brave, and strong-willed. She fences better than any boy, and takes her stallion over jumps that grown men fear to attempt. It doesn't matter, though; these qualities are not valued in a girl. Others have determined what is beautiful, and Isabelle does not fit their definition. Isabelle must face down the demons that drove her cruel treatment of Ella, challenge her own fate and maybe even redefine the very notion of beauty . . .

Cinderella is about a girl who was bullied; Stepsister is about the bully. We all root for the victims, we want to see them triumph. But what about the bullies? Is there hope for them? Can a mean girl change? Can she find her own happily ever after?

Reviewed by Emma (SCR) on

4 of 5 stars

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This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.I love a good fairytale and I am very partial to a retelling too. I originally requested this book on netgalley but I listened to the audiobook which I borrowed vias my library app Borrowbox.

The book's main character is one of the 'ugly' stepsisters from Cinderella. Isabelle has spent her whole life being told what she can't do and has now got to the point where she believes she is rotten and ugly. Over the course of the book, Isabelle is shown that she is not rotten and ugly and she can do anything she likes. It's so empowering to see Isabelle realise her full potential.

Jennifer does an excellent job of turning Isabelle from a villain to hero. Jennifer makes it really easy to root for Isabelle and the others to succeed. This book has such a strong moral message.

I enjoyed Jennifer's writing style and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 19 November, 2019: Finished reading
  • 19 November, 2019: Reviewed