Once upon a time, a girl named Sophie rode into the forest with the queen's huntsman. Her lips were the color of ripe cherries, her skin as soft as new-fallen snow, her hair as dark as midnight. When they stopped to rest, the huntsman took out his knife . . . and took Sophie's heart.
It shouldn't have come as a surprise. Sophie had heard the rumors, the whispers. They said she was too kind and foolish to rule -- a waste of a princess. A disaster of a future queen. And Sophie believed them. She believed everything she'd heard about herself, the poisonous words people use to keep girls like Sophie from becoming too powerful, too strong . . .
With the help of seven mysterious strangers, Sophie manages to survive. But when she realizes that the jealous queen might not be to blame, Sophie must find the courage to face an even more terrifying enemy, proving that even the darkest magic can't extinguish the fire burning inside every girl, and that kindness is the ultimate form of strength.
Goodreads | Amazon
Rating: ⭐⭐
My Review: I feel kind of torn with this one. There were aspects that I really enjoyed and then there were parts that really felt like this was written for the middle grade age group vs. teen. I know that my ARC says that it is for 12 and up which would put it in the juvenile category but the girl in the story is 16/17 if I remember correctly. So as I said I am torn. I wanted to really love this one but it just didn't seem to know where it wanted to go. It was fast and then so slow that I wondered if it was ever going to pick up again.
I loved the characters and the evil step mother and but the writing just didn't mesh with me at all. And the plot seemed under constructed. I wished that it could have been better for me because I love retellings but this one just didn't work out at all.
Review
Praise for Stepsister:
* "The gorgeous prose and the fairy-tale themes have obvious appeal, but the real strengths here are the depth of character across the board; the examination of the cost of beauty in a world that reveres it; and Isabelle herself, a shattered but not unreedemable girl with a warrior's heart." -- Booklist, starred review
"A breathlessly exciting and utterly satisfying fairy tale." -- Kirkus Reviews
"This is another needed voice exposing cultural myths that suffocate girls in the name of likability and pit them against one another in the name of beauty." -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
* "The gorgeous prose and the fairy-tale themes have obvious appeal, but the real strengths here are the depth of character across the board; the examination of the cost of beauty in a world that reveres it; and Isabelle herself, a shattered but not unreedemable girl with a warrior's heart." -- Booklist, starred review
"A breathlessly exciting and utterly satisfying fairy tale." -- Kirkus Reviews
"This is another needed voice exposing cultural myths that suffocate girls in the name of likability and pit them against one another in the name of beauty." -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
About the Author
Jennifer Donnelly is the author of A Northern Light, which was awarded a Printz Honor and a Carnegie Medal;Revolution (named a Best Book by Amazon, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and the Chicago Public Library, and nominated for a Carnegie Medal); the Deep Blue series; and many other books for young readers, including Lost in a Book, which spent more than 20 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. She lives in New York's Hudson Valley.
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FTC Guidelines: In accordance with FTC guidelines regarding endorsements and testimonials for bloggers, I would like my readers to know that many of the books I review are provided to me for free by the publisher or author of the book in exchange for an honest review. If am compensated for any reviews on this site I will state that post has been sponsored.
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