Peacock Flock Review #23 - The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back

The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back 

Author: Sariah Wilson

Length: ~ 224 pages

Genre: Romance

Heat level: Clean  

Stars: 3 Enjoyable Purple Stars 

Book Summary:

Everyone knows how all those fairy tales go. The princess gets beautiful, nabs her prince, falls instantly in love, lives happily ever after and leaves her evil stepsisters in the dust.

But what happens when you’re the ugly stepsister and your obnoxiously perfect—read pretty, smart, and, worst of all, sickeningly nice—stepsister is dating the charming, tall, devastatingly handsome guy you’ve had a thing for since you were nine years old? Quirky, artistic and snarky Mattie Lowe does not lead a charmed life. Her mother is constantly belittling her on Skype. Mercedes, the school mean girl, has made it her personal mission to torment Mattie. But worst of all? Her stepsister Ella is the most beautiful, popular girl in school and is dating Mattie’s secret longtime crush, Jake Kingston. Tired of being left out and done with waiting for her own stupid fairy godmother to show up, Mattie decides to change her life. She’ll start by running for senior class president against wildly popular Jake. Ella can keep her Prince Annoying. Mattie’s going to rule the school. And no one, not even a cute and suddenly flirty Jake, is going to stop her.

Review:

We thought this was a good cozy up book. Albeit quite stereotypical, and nothing too particularly different from other chick flick type books of its kind. Mattie was a likable character most of the time and the dance scene at the end of the book was fun and with a little bit of a surprise too. However there was a significant amount of telling the reader exactly how the characters felt or using dialogue to give the reader information which felt off and not like a real scene. We liked some of Mattie's decisions and Jake's too, we also really liked the cultural references, especially the fact the Mattie likes John Hughes so much. The other thing that stood out as a little too run of the mill was how often cliched and common phrases were used to express feelings and emotions. Eg: ___ hit me like a tidal wave - etc. We wanted there to be more conflict within the plot that didn't feel contrived, as Mattie's continued stubbornness felt a little like conflict for the sake of conflict (instead of something the character would actually do.) But all in all a good book to read when you want something light and fun.

That's it from the flock!