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 Joséphine on

5 of 5 stars

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May 9, 2019

Full book review is now up on Word Revel.

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May 2, 2019

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

Initial thoughts: I love that this retelling took the form of an extended fairytale. After Ashputtel had her "happily ever after," her stepsisters were left behind to take care of their wounds. Jennifer Donnelly reimagined what happened after the royal wedding and spun a feminist story, which I found quite a joy to read. Stepsister stayed true to the gruesome version in which a stepsister cut her heel and the other her toe, which adding another layer with the warring Fate and Chance tugging at Isabelle's life trajectory.

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Note: I received an advanced reading copy from a local distributor in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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  • 26 December, 2018: Reviewed