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    Survivors: the Quest®

    Survivors: the Quest®

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    Three strangers find themselves stranded on a secluded island. Abandoned buildings, an old laptop...

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ClareR (6256 KP) rated Stepsister in Books

Sep 29, 2020  
Stepsister
Stepsister
Jennifer Donnelly | 2019 | Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
The story, with a feminist slant, of the ugly sisters that Cinderella left behind.
I do like a good fairytale, and I seem to be enjoying fairytale retellings quite a bit when I come across them. Stepsister is a great example of a retelling - told from the other side.

Isabelle and Tavi are the ugly sisters, left behind with their unhinged mother, after Cinderella has left with her Prince. The ‘ugly’ sisters actions aren’t excused, in fact they are left to live and struggle with the consequences of their actions. Isabelle has a permanent limp where she sliced off her toes in the hope that she would be able to fit in to the glass slipper. All on the instructions of her mother. Isabelle is a strong character who feels hemmed in by her mother and the restrictions that society has thrust upon her. Her worth is dictated by her looks - something which she falls short on, as does her sister. Instead of the soft mannered, beautiful, obedient girls that society wants, the sisters are clever, resourceful and regrettably ugly. Maman tries to marry them off to the Prince in any way that she can - even making them mutilate themselves. When Cinderella leaves to marry her Prince and the locals discover how she was treated, Isabelle, Tavi and Maman are both ostracised and vilified. Isabelle truly regrets the way that she treated Cinderella, but doesn’t know how she can put right what she did. However, both Fate and Chance have now got an influence over her life, a vested interest, and they have opposing opinions on how Isabelle’s life should play out.

I thought this feminist slant on the after-story of Cinderella was really engaging. I loved it, and if I had a daughter I’d be passing it on to her to read next!

Many thanks to Readers First for my copy of this book.
  
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ClareR (6256 KP) rated Creature: A Novel of Mary Shelley and Frankenstein in Books

Aug 27, 2025  
Creature: A Novel of Mary Shelley and Frankenstein
Creature: A Novel of Mary Shelley and Frankenstein
Amy Weldon | 2025 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book tells the story of Mary Shelley, how she ran away with the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, in order to live the life that she wanted to live, free of the constraints of society and hopefully live up to her perception of her mother’s standards. Instead, it felt as though she was dragged around Europe by her (eventual) husband, everything at his whim, paying for freedom from society with the deaths of 4 of her 5 children.

Ok, I may be a little harsh here. Mortality rates in infants were abysmal at this point in history, but I’m. Still not a Shelley/ Byron fan 🤷🏼‍♀️

If it sounds as though I’m being negative, I actually loved this book. The writing is wonderfully descriptive, the perspectives swapping between Mary and (and this is what really makes this novel stand out)the Creature from the novel, Frankenstein. His life plays out at the same time as Mary’s, he grows up with her from childhood, always nearby, I’m sure she could have seen him from the corner of her eye. His life is as tragic as hers.

Reading this novel, I was standing beside Mary and her Creature, experiencing their lives with them, which was pretty hard-going at times. To experience such loss and keep going really shows Mary’s strength of character.

Mary’s life was adventurous, uncertain, unconventional, rich in experience, and pretty frustrating at times - thanks to Shelley and Byron!

This took me longer than it possibly could have to read. I kept going through the footnotes, googling, reading some of Shelley’s and Byron’s poetry - this book took over my reading entirely!

Now, where did I put my copy of Frankenstein? I might just have to reread…

I received an ARC of this book for free, and I’m reading this review voluntarily (and why wouldn’t I?!). Many thanks to the publishers, BookSirens and Amy Weldon.