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Please join Ioana, Denise, Alissa and me as we read Stepsister. I own a paperback of this book, so I probably will be able to read it at a normal pace, instead of speeding ahead with the audiobook and finishing early. I love fairy tale retellings, so the bar is set pretty high. I hope it lives up to expectations!

Isabelle should be blissfully happy – she’s about to win the handsome prince. Except Isabelle isn’t the beautiful girl who lost the glass slipper and captured the prince’s heart. She’s the ugly stepsister who’s cut off her toes to fit into Cinderella’s shoe ... which is now filling with blood.

When the prince discovers Isabelle’s deception, she is turned away in shame. It’s no more than she deserves: she is a plain girl in a world that values beauty; a feisty girl in a world that wants her to be pliant.

Isabelle has tried to fit in. To live up to her mother’s expectations. To be like her stepsister. To be sweet. To be pretty. One by one, she has cut away pieces of herself in order to survive a world that doesn’t appreciate a girl like her. And that has made her mean, jealous, and hollow.

Until she gets a chance to alter her destiny and prove what ugly stepsisters have always known: it takes more than heartache to break a girl.

I should add, when do we all want to start this one?

I'll probably start around June 9th, but I can do later too. I have the audiobook, but I listen at normal pace.

I own a hard copy so I can start whenever you guys are ready.

I also have the hard copy, as I said above, so I can also start whenever, and I'm less likely to blaze ahead. June 9th is fine with me.

Ioana's already finished this one, so I'm going to get going on it. I have a hardback, so it may take me awhile to get finished.

Ioana finished it and was not impressed. Definitely not the target audience.
I liked the premise, the idea, but not the execution.
Lea, I'm happy you'll read the book; I listened to the audiobook. To me, the characters are supposed to be young adults, but the narrator made them sound like teenagers. How do you read them?
And I know there is some magic involved, but the ending was too much for me. Not the what, but the ways to achieve the final "what".

Ioana, I will definitely let you know about the characters voice when I read them and what I think about the ending once I get there.

I like the premise - I love fairy tales retold - but they definitely have to be done correctly. I did read Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book by the same author. I three starred it, but I don't remember what I liked or didn't like about it.

I started it last night, but only a few chapters in.

So far I am liking it! Ioana, the main character of Isabelle is 16 so she is definitely young and acts that way. While I like the premise of second chances, she has a lot to learn

Some items I am liking (view spoiler)[ The "fairy godmother " is an menacing scary fae in the forest and not some grandmotherly looking woman.

I LOVE this circus group and I wish they had their own book/story.

I am also liking the Fates storyline as well! I'm about halfway through and while it's definitely not mind-altering it's enjoyable! (hide spoiler)]

16, wow....that makes the last chapters even more unbelievable. I know, it's a story, fantasy....What about Ella?
I liked (view spoiler)[ the Fate/Chance interaction (hide spoiler)]

It's been a low start for me. I think it is just me, though.

I'm on page 44, I think Chapter 19 or something. The chapters are very short.

Some chapters were better than others, and I think in the last quarter of the book, the chapters are even shorter. Some times, annoyingly short.

I should finish this tonight!

I finally finished. It's too bad you guys didn't like the book too much. Fingers crossed for Denise.

I may have liked it better than you both, but I do usually like fairy retellings. I love turning a fairy tale into another story entirely, and I liked the premise quite a bit.

I did think that for a self empowering book, there was a pretty heavy reliance on magic. If it weren't for the book's message, the reliance on magic wouldn't have bothered me so much.

I definitely am glad I didn't do the audiobook. :-)