Review: Stepsister

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Ugly Stepsisters never get much limelight in most versions of Cinderella, other than to laugh at their misfortunes. Luckily for everyone, this is not a version of Cinderella, not really. This is about what happens afterwards, when Ella goes with the Prince and the Stepsisters are left at home with a mother they were never good enough for.

This is mostly Isabelle's story; as a child she was fearless, strong and fast, but not pretty. Never pretty. And in the world they grew up in, not pretty was almost a death sentence. When beautiful Ella came into their lives Isabelle allowed jealousy to poison her heart, but now, left alone and crippled, she realises what she's lost and longs to regain it.

This is a wonderful story of redemption and believing in oneself. Isabelle is a wonderful character, surrounded by a cast of other wonderful characters. The interaction between the Marquis and Tantine is one of the highlights of an amazing book.

I really enjoyed this book.


The magician pulled the actress close. She kissed her cheeks and wiped her tears away with a handkerchief. Then she balled the handkerchief up and pressed it between her palms. When she opened her hands again, it was gone and a butterfly was sitting in its place.
As the three women watched, the butterfly took wing, carried aloft by the breeze.
It flew past a little monkey playing with a rope of pearls. Past a violinist and a trumpeter, a cook, a scientist, and three ballerinas, all with scars of their own.
Past a man with amber eyes, raging at the falling dusk. Swearing at the treacherous roads. Building his teetering human tower taller and taller.
A smile, small but defiant, curved the magician's full red lips. "That's what we do with our pain," she said, watching the butterfly rise. "We make it into something beautiful."
"We make it into something meaningful," said the diva.
"We make it matter," whispered the actress.

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