I quite liked this, but it isn’t my favourite of Jennifer Donnelly’s novels and the more of them I read, the more ‘samey’ they become.
I do enjoy retellings and enjoyed the dark feel of this one - to be honest, though, Donnelly’s writing never really surprises me, and it isn’t as though we haven’t heard the perspectives of Cinderella’s Ugly stepsisters many times already, at least five times, off the top of my head! As far as I’m concerned I still greatly prefer Gregory McGuire’s retellings and would recommend them as a better-written alternative. Donnelly’s books seem to have been written with a mainly female audience in mind, whereas McGuire seems more likely to appeal to all. Everybody has heard of Wicked but there is a larger series to enjoy.
I do enjoy retellings and enjoyed the dark feel of this one - to be honest, though, Donnelly’s writing never really surprises me, and it isn’t as though we haven’t heard the perspectives of Cinderella’s Ugly stepsisters many times already, at least five times, off the top of my head! As far as I’m concerned I still greatly prefer Gregory McGuire’s retellings and would recommend them as a better-written alternative. Donnelly’s books seem to have been written with a mainly female audience in mind, whereas McGuire seems more likely to appeal to all. Everybody has heard of Wicked but there is a larger series to enjoy.