A disappointing story which is very loosely based on Cinderella!

After receiving this book I was really looking forward to reading it. I hadn't read a retelling before but I thought this sounded like an interesting take on the story of Cinderella. Unlike Cinderella, this book followed the story of Isabelle, one of the ugly stepsisters, and her perspective of what has happened following the end of Cinderella. How she was not mean, a bully but rather misunderstood and wanting to change her life around. This was the aspect of the story I was interested in but I ended up being very disappointed. For the first few chapters of the book I couldn't wait to see what happened next and I was really enjoying the writing style but after being introduced to the characters Fate and Chance in a sub plot of the story I lost interest pretty quickly as the story seemed to turn into a a confusing mess with different characters and points of view coming in and out of the book all over the place and a clean plot line seemed to be lost. For most of the book the story dragged on and I was never quite sure what was meant to be happening and sometimes what relevance this had to the book. Though the story is based on Cinderella it couldn't be any more loosely based if it tried. Aside from starting with the glass slipper and the characters of the ugly sisters (Isabelle and Octavia), Ella (Cinderella) and their mum there really was no resemblance to Cinderella. It's as if that was only to draw you into the book and then you end up reading a strange medieval story set in France. I thought the character of Isabelle was alright but I expected so much more from her. I wanted to know why she and Octavia were bullies but I don't feel I ever really found out the answer. It just seemed that the answer was Ella was the bully all along and not them but that doesn't explain the reasons behind their actions or why they feel that way. Aside from when Isabelle needed help at the end Ella was just blamed for everything but never part of the story or their to have her say! With the inclusion of the war at the end of the book I felt it didn't give me what I was hoping for. Seems like an easy way to show a change in Isabelle but we never got to see any changes for her as a person, just in her actions, and I felt this was one of many unecessary parts of the book. I did not enjoy this story in the end and contemplated giving it up a few times during reading the book. It is not what I expected and not really related to the story of the bully or what happened after Cinderella ended and the constant morals pushed onto you throughout the book are irritating to read. Maybe it is down to preference but this is not a great book for me!