The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back by Sariah Wilson is one of the best chick-lit, romance novels that I have read in a while. I usually don’t read books that are just categorized as romance because they tend to be very similar to one another and I can always predict what is going to happen next and this usually takes away some of the magic from the book. Sariah Wilson’s book The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back takes a fresh new look at the classic fairytale of Cinderella and is not what one would usually expect. Although it took me a little while to get into it, once I got into The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back I was totally hooked.
When first reading the title of this book I automatically assumed that it would be about a stepsister of some kind taking revenge on their super-sweet nice sister that everybody likes. Then after reading the excerpt I had a completely different prediction of what would happen in this book. I thought it would simply be one of those classic “stepsister turns into being nice girl and gets the guy” and I was astonished yet again (in a good way) while reading, that my predictions were not correct. For a hardcore action/adventure reader like myself, I quickly get bored of the same kind of plot constantly used by romance writers. So I was pleasantly surprised when reading to find out that The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back was not a super predictable read and instead there were more than a few times when I was completely caught off guard by what had happened.
Mattie Lowe was not the typical evil stepsister, and her sister wasn't your average “Cinderella” they actually seemed to get along for the most part until Ella started dating Jake, the boy that Mattie had been in love with since she was 9. The story is being told in Mattie’s point of view and she starts out the story by stating all the reasons that she doesn't like her step sister. After reading this, I really didn’t want to like Ella or Mattie because Ella sounded way too nice and that seemed weird and Mattie seemed to have a case of the green jealousy monster. But a piece of me couldn't help but like them because of how I could relate to the both of them in different ways.
The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back is full of classic love story characters. There is mean girls, best friends, annoying teachers, and gorgeous/sweet guys. All these characters mesh together well and this makes the story flow smoothly and still be entertaining. I don’t want to give anything away but Ella’s actions throughout the story prove her to be more than just the pretty stepsister. Mattie’s artistic and stubborn personality make for an interesting and unique “ugly stepsister” that you will love by the end of the story.
The relationships between characters were wonderfully written. Whether it was characters who loved one another or ones who couldn't stand the sight of each other, Sariah Wilson writes these character interaction scenes wonderfully. One of my favorite relationships was of course Mattie and Jake. I loved how they each grew throughout the story and came to terms with themselves. I don’t wanna give anything away so I can’t elaborate on them too much, but the synergy between Ella and Trent was adorable even if it was a little cheesy. Mattie and her mom’s relationship was probably the saddest relationship of the whole book for me. I am super close with my mom, so seeing the way she and her mom acted towards one another made me hurt for Mattie.
The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back is a classic Cinderella tale that has unexpected twists. This book will make you wish you had an “ugly stepsister” or a “perfect Cinderella”. The characters are intriguing and this book will keep you hooked from beginning to end.
My rating for The Ugly StepSister Strikes Back by Sariah Wilson is 4 out of 5 palm trees
