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My Review:Title: The Ugly Stepsister (Unfinished Fairy Tales #1)
Author: Aya Ling
Series: Unfinished Fairy Tales #1
Published by: Indie
Release Date: June 10, 2015
Pages: 453
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Reading Challenges: CC's Goodreads Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon
My rating:
Blurb:When Kat accidentally rips apart an old picture book, she's magically transported into the world of Cinderella--as Katriona, one of the ugly stepsisters! Life turns upside down now that she’s a highborn lady and must learn how to survive the social season, including how to get through the door in a huge metal hoop skirt. 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 drop-dead gorgeous, the fairy godmother is nowhere to be found, and the prince, despite being insanely hot, openly dislikes balls. Can she ever return to the modern world?
I dug the crap out of this book! It started out with a bang and the fast pace kept me interested to the bitter end. I love fairy tale retellings but I’m not really a fan of Cinderella so this one was a hard sell for me. I’m so happy to have enjoyed it. The romance was not the main focus of this book for me, what caught my eye was the system in place and how the characters struggled in it. It had terrific world building, seeing the world through the characters eyes was intense for me.
The interaction between Kat and Edward was so not fairy tale-ish, if that makes sense. They weren’t immediately physically attracted to each other but they each made memeorable impressions with their first encounter. Edward started out a bit grumpy yet was so down to earth. He cared about his people and was frustrated with the lack of options trying to change laws for the better.
Living in caste system was quite jarring for Kat and I loved how she didn’t compromise her values even though she very well could have been dismissed due to her gender. I think that’s what Edward and she had in common and the passion they each felt is what eventually sparked their attraction.
The sexist shown in this book felt so real to the time. The child labor issues, the nobles power plays and the caste system were all portrayed with perfect balance. This helped to give the story so much more depth than a simple cinderella retelling.
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