'This is a dark tale. A grim tale. It’s a tale from another time, a time when wolves waited for girls in the forest, beasts paced the halls of cursed castles, and witches lurked in gingerbread houses with sugar‑kissed roofs. That time is long gone. But the wolves are still here and twice as clever. The beasts remain. And death still hides in a dusting of white. It’s grim for any girl who loses her way. Grimmer still for a girl who loses herself. Know that it’s dangerous to stray from the path. But it’s far more dangerous not to.'
This was beautiful. It was dark, compelling, and everything I could have asked for in a book. I originally wanted to read Stepsister because of that gorgeous cover, and I am so glad that that is what drew me to picking this up.
The story starts where the traditional Cinderella story ends, toe-cutting and all. It was so cruel and clever I loved it: the story was so easy to slip into, partly because of its familiarity, partly because of how easy it was to understand Isabelle, the main character, an ugly stepsister.
From there we learn about the choices she has had to make, and she is offered a chance at redemption. I loved watched her grow as a character, finally becoming accepting of who she is, and how she and her sister boldly defy all stereotypes of how women ‘should’ act in society.
I really enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t just a story of Isabelle finding herself, but also one of sisterly love and moving on too. It was moving how accepting and caring of each other Isabelle and Tavi (the other stepsister) were, and how they began to feel remorse for their past actions.
Maybe the only reason why this wasn’t a solid 5/5 is because I thought it’d end up getting a lot darker throughout the book. Even though it didn’t, the story was amazing and did flow with ease.
If fairytale retellings about the ‘other side’ of the story and empowering reads are your kind of thing, you should definitely pick this book up!
This was beautiful. It was dark, compelling, and everything I could have asked for in a book. I originally wanted to read Stepsister because of that gorgeous cover, and I am so glad that that is what drew me to picking this up.
The story starts where the traditional Cinderella story ends, toe-cutting and all. It was so cruel and clever I loved it: the story was so easy to slip into, partly because of its familiarity, partly because of how easy it was to understand Isabelle, the main character, an ugly stepsister.
From there we learn about the choices she has had to make, and she is offered a chance at redemption. I loved watched her grow as a character, finally becoming accepting of who she is, and how she and her sister boldly defy all stereotypes of how women ‘should’ act in society.
I really enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t just a story of Isabelle finding herself, but also one of sisterly love and moving on too. It was moving how accepting and caring of each other Isabelle and Tavi (the other stepsister) were, and how they began to feel remorse for their past actions.
Maybe the only reason why this wasn’t a solid 5/5 is because I thought it’d end up getting a lot darker throughout the book. Even though it didn’t, the story was amazing and did flow with ease.
If fairytale retellings about the ‘other side’ of the story and empowering reads are your kind of thing, you should definitely pick this book up!