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 tweetybugshouse on

4 of 5 stars

Share
This is the perfect kind of retelling of a classic fairy tale story, why because it rooted in the original Grimm fairy tale. The first part of the story is right at the part where the prince is coming to find the mysterious lady from the ball who will fit the glass slipper. True to the original we have the two ugly stepsisters disfiguring their feet to fit into the glass slipper and Ella locked away. Of course, the story goes that Ella gets the prince and the two ugly stepsister and evil stepmom are left to their own devices.

This is where our retelling comes into play this story focuses on Isabella and Tavi, I like that this story hits the nail on the head on all kind of girl personality’s that the world deems as ugly. There, of course, is a lesson to be learned buried in this story and it centers around the ugliness that is buried inside Isabella who makes a bargain with a fairy to become pretty.

This story interweaves fate and chance into the story and makes you really examine how you see yourself. Fate tests you with negative feelings of self-doubt and Chance gives you opportunities to think again and try again. Their a few humorous parts involving cheese and how a disgusting experiment will save the day in a very smelly way. If your feeling like your less then what you are or that the world has condemned you as not pretty pick this book up your sure to see yourself in another light when you are done.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • Finished reading
  • 14 March, 2019: Reviewed