The Ugly Stepsister by Aya Ling

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Title: The Ugly Stepsister
Author: Aya Ling
Series: Unfinished Fairy Tales #1
Published by: Audible Studios
Release Date: May 25, 2016
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Luci Christian
Length: 11 hours and 42 minutes
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Fairy Tale Retelling
Source: Audible
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 AtoZ Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Monthly Motif Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Reading Assignment Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Retellings Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ iTunes ✩ Book Depository
My rating:

Blurb:

What if you are trapped in a fairy tale book?

When Kat accidentally rips apart an old childhood picturebook, she's magically transported into the world of Cinderella - as Katriona, one of the ugly stepsisters! To get back, she'll have to complete the story, right to the end of happily ever after. But the odds are huge: The other stepsister is movie-star gorgeous, the fairy godmother is nowhere to be found, and the prince isn't interested in balls at all. Can she ever return to the real world?

My Review:

4.5 stars — Wow.  I didn’t expect to cry as much as I did at the end.  I think it was all the anxiety over how it was going to end.  But damn…I was seriously sucked in and attached to Kat and Edward.  It was such a strange tug of war between what I wanted to happen, and what I knew had to happen.  Ms. Ling somehow made it work, though I’m still unsettled.  Which is making me intrigued about the rest of the series.

This one wasn’t the straightforward retelling I was expecting!  And I loved that!  I mean, I knew it would veer off course, but it’s amazing how many little pieces of other stories I felt like I encountered.  And Kat referenced modern movies and books all the time!  Sometimes it got to be a bit much, but it also felt authentic for a 17 year old girl.

Seriously though, I couldn’t have predicted all the places this story would take me, all the topics it would tackle.  It was a lot more involved, and it got into some deep issues from that kind of society.  I loved the stuff with Jimmy and the causes that Kat stood behind, and of course her friendship with Poppy and helping her out.

Occasionally I felt like Kat was kind of naive and oblivious to some pretty obvious clues.  I’m not sure how I feel about that, because she comes across as a smart cookie, yet she would overlook the most obvious of details.  But on the whole I loved how sassy Kat was, how she stood strong with her convictions, and how she wouldn’t be bullied.

I kind of loved the romance between Kat and Edward…it was *really* subtle, and not necessarily a prominent part of the plot, but it reminded me of the romance in the movie Ever After.

There were all sorts of crazy side characters in this one, and they all brought something interesting to the table.  From Elle, Henry, Jimmy, Poppy, Bertram, Mr. Wellsley, Martha, Kreve (no idea on spelling since I listened to it), Lady Gregory, Lysander, and Meg…damn, there was a lot going on.  So many tiny side offshoot stories that either helped or distracted Kat in her journey to the HEA.

I really enjoy Ms. Christian’s narration in general…  She’s so lively and just provides the perfect voice for Kat.  Her voices were pretty good, even the accents were okay since we were in a fictional world, so they didn’t have to be something real.  I found she occasionally pronounced things in a different way than I thought they should be, but that could be a me-being-a-Canadian thing.

So yeah.  This one surprised me in a lot of ways, and I’m totally going to be listening to the next one!