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The Stepsister's Tale

Tracy Barrett (Goodreads Author)

3.55 · Rating details · 890 ratings · 223 reviews

What really happened after the clock struck midnight?

Jane Montjoy is tired of being a lady. She's tired of pretending to live up to the standards of her mother's noble family-especially now that the family's wealth is gone and their stately mansion has fallen to ruin. It's hard enough that she must tend to the animals and find a way to feed her mother and her little sister ...more

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Hardcover, 272 pages

Published June 24th 2014 by Harlequin Teen (first published January 1st 2014)

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Lists with This Book

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Fairy Tale Retellings Coming Soon

115 books — 251 voters

YA Books - Publishing June 2014

52 books — 57 voters

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· 890 ratings · 223 reviews

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Apr 01, 2014 Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it it was ok

DNF at 75%. It is inoffensive, but it is so. fucking. dull.

I've been at 75% for months.

Something exciting could happen in the next 25%. I don't care.

It would take me roughly 20 minutes to finish the book, it's not much time at all. I don't care.

You know why? I don't want to. This book is really, really freaking boring.

It takes the myth of Cinderella and make it so that "Cinderella" is a spoiled, whiny (but really, really pretty!) little bitch.

Here's how the plot goes.

The "stepsisters" are really ...more

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May 06, 2014 Anne rated it really liked it

Shelves: fairytale, read-in-2014, arc, netgalley, retelling, kindle, young-adult

Also reviewed for Addicted2Heroines

This isn't the first time I've read a retelling of Cinderella from the POV of the wicked stepsister, and I'm sure it won't be the last. I'm addicted to retellings, and if I don't get my fix I start shaking like a crack addict. The good thing about my kind of addiction is that you get to keep all of your teeth.
Just somthin' to keep in mind, if you're weighing your options.
Crack...living in a cardboard box beside a Waffle House dumpster.
Retellings...too much time ...more

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Jul 11, 2017 Cyndi rated it really liked it

This was a really cute story. Jane and Maude are the stepsisters. But they aren't evil. They are dirt poor. Jane works hard to keep a small bit of food on the table, then their mother comes home with a new husband and his little girl. All Jane sees is more mouths to feed.
A wonderful twist on the Cinderella story. ...more

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Feb 05, 2014 Stuti Rai rated it really liked it

Shelves: fairy-tale-and-or-retelling, historical-fiction

When it comes down it, while nothing out of the ordinary happens beyond a few liberties taken with Ella's character, The Stepsister's Tale remains an unconventional and refreshing story.

A retake on the Cinderella tale, it treads the very same path yet out comes a very different story-in the way that past is prone to, in the hand of history and verbiage. Myths, rumors and truths become tangled irrevocably with no one to care.

Frankly, the way the story is being pitched leaves much to be desired, a ...more

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Jun 12, 2015 Kim at Divergent Gryffindor rated it liked it

Shelves: from-netgalley, rating-3-stars, earc-tbr

When I first started reading The Stepsister's Tale, I was actually very invested in the story. As a fan of fairy tale retellings, it's always interesting to be able to read from the villain's perspective. But as I read on, I found the book to be too long because it was full or narratives, which I never seem to enjoy. In addition to that, I actually read Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman, which is a Snow White retelling from the Evil Queen's perspective.

The main difference of that book and this ...more

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Apr 29, 2014 Lauren rated it liked it

Shelves: first-reads

2.5 stars.

Thank you First Reads for the opportunity to read this book.

I love fairytale retellings, especially when they look at the original story a little differently. This is Cinderella from the perspective of the ugly stepsister, called Jane in this telling. Only it's not the same story at all. Jane lives with her mother and sister Maude in their family's manor house. But the once stunning estate has fallen into extreme disrepair. They have no servants and must do all the work to survive the 2.5 stars.

Thank you First Reads for the opportunity to read this book.

I love fairytale retellings, especially when they look at the original story a little differently. This is Cinderella from the perspective of the ugly stepsister, called Jane in this telling. Only it's not the same story at all. Jane lives with her mother and sister Maude in their family's manor house. But the once stunning estate has fallen into extreme disrepair. They have no servants and must do all the work to survive themselves, although their mother pretends not to notice the realities of their situation. They live in a few rooms on the first floor as the staircase to the second level has begun to rot away, and their clothing is old and frequently mended. Then Jane's mother gets remarried to an old family friend, with the hopes of increasing the family's wealth. Only that doesn't work out how she planned either. The man soon dies leaving her with no money and a spoiled stepdaughter who is used to fine things.

It is Jane who works hard to hold the family together, and this is her story more than any others. Although it is mostly a story about family and finding your own place in the world, when you feel like you no longer fit where you're supposed to be. How does a once fine family fit into the world around them? Are they really better than the friendly laborers who live in the woods, especially when no one in their own class will acknowledge them anymore? Appearances can be deceiving, and facing reality can be tough, but also rewarding. I like that message, especially watching Jane struggle through the pull between what her mother wants of her, what she needs to do to survive, and what she wants of her own life.

Unfortunately, nothing much happens in this book. The characters nearly starve a few times. But most of the plot elements are centered around fracturing the original fairytale, in scattered details. I liked the idea of finding out the "real story" behind the one we all know, but this book was painfully slow in places and just did not hold my interest. It does have a romance as a smaller side plot, but that failed to draw me to this book either. There is nothing I greatly disliked about this book (except for the cover), there was just nothing that I loved either.

Love Triangle Factor: None
Cliffhanger Scale: standalone ...more

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Feb 05, 2014 Tatiana rated it liked it

Recommended to Tatiana by: Kirkus

Shelves: fairy-tales-myths, children-s-middle-school, 2014

3.5 stars

An interesting spin on Cinderella. Wish it were written in a little more mature way. It read as an MG novel, the feeling was exacerbated by the audio narrator who sounded as if she was 10.

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May 05, 2014 Larissa rated it did not like it

You can also find this review at: YA Midnight Reads

This one was just simply boring to me. I made it through forty nine percent of The Stepsister’s Tale before I called it quits. I just felt like I was reading nothing but empty words. I couldn’t connect to any of the characters on any sort of level. I just found myself in a observer sort of role. The issue came in through when I was observing….nothing. Just the constant monotony of Jane doing farming chores. Milking the cow, gathering food…it was ...more

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Jul 12, 2014 Alana White rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-novels

Tracy Barrett's engaging new Young Adult novel, "The Stepsister's Tale" is an imaginative and immensely entertaining retelling of the classic "Cinderella" story. The setting is the Montjoy family farm and the formerly grand old home now crumbling around the two sisters who live there with their mother. Made destitute by the debt-ridden father who abandoned them, Jane and Maude struggle daily to find food and survive the harsh winter, often sharing only an egg or two a day and huddling together f ...more

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Apr 07, 2014 Hannah McBride rated it it was amazing

This is one of those books I went into a little curious about, but ultimately got swept away in a fantastical fantasy world. THE STEPSISTER’S TALE is truly a fairytale for more grown up people, and Tracy Barrett does a brilliant job of bringing the storied tale of Cinderella to life in a whole new way.

I’m a huge fan of de-villainizing a villain. I love seeing a character typically written off as bad become reformed and a heroine. Jane is just such a character. Seeing the humanity of Jane, of see ...more

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Mar 13, 2017 Heather Hayden rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I love fairy tale retellings and Barrett's twist on Cinderella is amazing! I haven't read one from the stepsister's POV before and when I stumbled upon this story, I decided to check it out. I'm so glad I did!

Without giving away too much of the plot, I can say that I loved the main character, Jane, who works so hard to keep her mother and sister (and, later, her stepfather and stepsister) from starving--they may live in a grand house, but it's falling down around their ears and there's little fo ...more

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Sep 23, 2021 Molly Blue rated it it was ok

I guess my expectations were too high. I thought it will be a multidimensional, non-cardboard and not black&white retelling of Cinderella story and I was really excited. But all it did was reverse the roles of good and evil and leave it at that. DNF.

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Jun 15, 2014 Nasty Lady MJ rated it liked it

To see full review click on one of the following links:

My blog

Booklikes

Disclaimer: I do not own the lyrics to “I Want It Now” which belongs to Warner Brothers. Also, I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley. It did not effect my opinion of this book.

Yes, I read another Cinderella retelling.

I can’t help it. Fairytale tellings are like my weak point in YA. Luckily, this one was a lot better than the last fairytale retelling I read, Cinderella’s Dress.

I actually enjoyed reading The Stepsi ...more

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Jul 21, 2014 Mariko (The Storybook Kingdom) rated it it was ok

A copy of this book was provided by the author via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This review is also posted on The Storybook Kingdom

I love me a good fairy tale re-telling. I pretty much read every one I hear about. Unfortunately I don't always love the ones I read. This is one of those stories....(dun dun) Sorry I had a Law and Order moment.

My main problem? I was so incredibly bored. There is just so much time spent telling about how their daily lives. I mean I feel like I'm told ...more

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Jul 13, 2014 Alisha Klapheke rated it it was amazing

This was NOT what I expected. In a GREAT way. Ms. Barrett throws readers into a difficult, back-breaking world of churning butter, scouring a barren farm for nuts and eggs and berries, and the struggle a girl goes through choosing who to keep alive. The way Ms. Barrett wove the old Cinderella tale from the stepsister's point of view had me believing this could've really happened, that the story we all know has roots in reality. ...more

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May 09, 2014 April rated it liked it

Shelves: for-review, ya, netgalley, ereader, fantasy

The appeal began to rise when I realized that Barrett’s book was a retelling of Cinderella from the point of view of one of the stepsisters, who always seem to get the shaft when it comes to this story. Read the rest of my review here ...more

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Jun 30, 2017 Jamie rated it really liked it

Shelves: retellings, kindle-read

I really enjoyed this overall. I loved the retelling aspect and the characters. Although the mother and Isabella drove me crazy at times. Jane is so strong as a young woman trying to care for her family and I adored Will and his family. I hated the prince. UGH!
No fantasy in this retelling, just honest, harsh struggles of a hard time. The story is a bit slow at times and parts could have been cut out to make is move along better. I liked the romance. Very sweet.

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Apr 15, 2015 Dark Faerie Tales rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed-by-kaitlin

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: This retelling was more of a survival story the first half, but I enjoyed it all the same.

Opening Sentence: The house- it was too small to be called a palace- sat at the top of a hill, overlooking thick woods and a river.

The Review:

Jane, her mother, and her sister used to be a part of a rich family that lived in a stately mansion. Years later, after the death of her father and him gambling away their fortune, the beautiful home is falling to rui Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: This retelling was more of a survival story the first half, but I enjoyed it all the same.

Opening Sentence: The house- it was too small to be called a palace- sat at the top of a hill, overlooking thick woods and a river.

The Review:

Jane, her mother, and her sister used to be a part of a rich family that lived in a stately mansion. Years later, after the death of her father and him gambling away their fortune, the beautiful home is falling to ruins. Jane lives every day unsure if her belly will be full the next. Her mother refuses to see how their lives have changed, instead stuck in the ghost of a life that’s over. Until Jane’s mother meets a man whom she believes can solve all of her problems. He has a daughter, Isabella, who is spoiled and rude. Just as their lives take a turn for the better, Isabella’s father dies, leaving them with little money and one more mouth to feed. Isabella is not the sweet Cinderella of the fairytales, and when the ball comes around, it will play out more different than you could ever imagined.

Before you read The Stepsister’s Tale, you need to understand something about it. This novel is more of a survival story than a retelling. There are a few very obvious similarities, but it’s also a story of its own, born from the idea of the classic. A lot of it centers around finding the next meal, the next penny, and just managing to get by. There are many instances where Jane is out in the woods searching for berries, or mushrooms, or bird’s eggs, to feed her family for the day. She and her sister are the only ones doing the real work, with Isabella being so lazy and their mother too ladylike to dirty her hands. I really appreciated how they got down to the grit and worked hard for everything they had. They might have lived in a stately mansion, but it was decaying, old, and falling apart. The only way that they managed to survive was through hard work and each other. There was that strong family bond between the two sisters that I liked seeing.

Jane narrated the story, and through her eyes, I saw a whole new side to Cinderella, one I despised. The fact that the book could change my opinion so thoroughly of this classic princess seems to prove that it did its job as a retelling. It put a new, unique spin on a story that’s been told countless times through countless different books, legends, and mouths. There were a lot of facets to Jane’s character I really enjoyed. She was a realistic, relatable narrator. She did what she needed to do to help her family, and even if that meant getting dirt-studded knees and ripped clothing, she did it. There was also a degree of vulnerability to her character as well that I enjoyed. She wasn’t weak, but she definitely had a realistic part of her that was filled with doubts, like any other teenager or human. So did her sister, who had to grow up a little early in the harsh circumstances, but was still a tad bit naive.

There were many themes that played a part in this novel. One was pride. How far will you go to keep your dignity? For the “wicked stepmother”, that was a whole lot longer than I expected her to hold out. At the beginning of the story, when she married Isabella’s father, she saw that as a way to restore the family to its former riches and glory. That failed. She was so convinced that they were just going through a rough spot in terms of money, and did not help either of the sisters with the chores, because working was for the servants. It got a little annoying. I wanted her to get a wakeup call- eventually, she did, but she held her beliefs for a long time. At one point Jane mentions that she wouldn’t let them have maintain a garden, because though picking berries and sewing dresses back together may be considered respectable for two young girls, gardening wasn’t. It was infuriating to watch.

Most of this novel didn’t even concern a ball. Again, mostly it was a survival story. But when the ball did come along, it played out a whole lot differently than it did in the original. It was enjoyable to see the fresh look. In the end, Isabella gets her redemption, and the girls work things out, and that helped my vicious opinion of her lesson. In any case, I found this book enjoyable. One subplot included a love interest, Will. Their relationship was very hot and cold, but I didn’t exactly disapprove. He seemed nice enough and he helped Jane to see what really mattered, in the grand scheme of things. There was also a brief epilogue that I really enjoyed. I liked seeing where all the characters ended up and how they felt about it. I thought that the pacing could have been faster, but the characters were strong and the plot stable, so altogether, I really enjoyed The Stepsister’s Tale.

Notable Scene:

Jane caught her breath. The girl looked unlike anyone she had ever seen before. Her hair was of that pale brown called ash-blonde, and it hung to her waist in shiny waves. Her oval face was a clear, delicate white, and she had pale pink cheek and dainty red lips.

FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of The Stepsister’s Tale. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ...more

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May 18, 2014 Rachel rated it really liked it

Shelves: for-review, net-galley

THE STEPSISTER’S TALE is an absolutely wonderful and imaginative retelling of the classic fairy tale. With a shift in perspective, not everything is as the Cinderella story led readers to believe – the stepsisters weren’t so evil, the stepmother not so wicked, Cinderella not so innocent and the prince not so charming or benevolent. And with a number of deviations from the original, this delightful tale is as captivating and enchanting as the story it was based upon.

Jane Montjoy doesn’t remember ...more

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Jun 07, 2014 Lexie rated it liked it

Shelves: ebooks-owned-read

Overall I enjoyed this inside out retelling. The pacing was uneven however, with the bulk of the "Cinderella" tale in the last 25%. Its at this point Isabella (Cinderella) goes to the ball and from there its a mad dash to reimagine it all.

+++
Obviously I enjoy fairy tale re-tellings. I have two shelves dedicated to those sorts of books alone and so many others boxed away waiting to shine forth. Cinderella though isn't a favorite since honestly nothing beats Ella Enchanted for me. That remains alm Overall I enjoyed this inside out retelling. The pacing was uneven however, with the bulk of the "Cinderella" tale in the last 25%. Its at this point Isabella (Cinderella) goes to the ball and from there its a mad dash to reimagine it all.

+++
Obviously I enjoy fairy tale re-tellings. I have two shelves dedicated to those sorts of books alone and so many others boxed away waiting to shine forth. Cinderella though isn't a favorite since honestly nothing beats Ella Enchanted for me. That remains almost pitch perfect to me and is book I point to when folk want to know how to re-imagine a fairy tale correctly. (I love the movie Ever After as well, but movie re-tellings are a separate matter entirely).

Barrett's book has much to recommend it. Our main character, Jane (one of the "ugly stepsisters") gives us a focal character who from the start is shown to be working hard. She's trying with everything she has to preserve what her mother sees as their "way of life" and live up to those ideals while still dealing with the every day tasks of having to do everything for a large estate. Tend the animals, clean, cook...Jane (and her sister Maude) do it all just to keep up a pretense of some gentility.

Something had to give and when Isabella ("Cinderella") and her father move in and that something occurs when Isabella's father dies. Its no longer Jane keeping her mother and sister alive, its now Jane keeping her mother, sister and vain useless stepsister alive. Keeping the dreams of one person alive is hard enough, but meeting the demands of two people running around in denial is just awful.

Two problems curbed my enthusiasm for this book, no matter how much I liked Jane and appreciated their budding relationship she was building. The pacing is horribly skewed. Its not that its a slow character driven novel (I love those) its that for 75% of the book its a character driven novel and then the last 25% seemed to remember it had to weave in a whole lot of the original tale.

In short order we have Cinderella's "fairy godmother", the ball, the search for the lady who fits the shoe and the "happily ever after". It felt very rushed and several character turns rang as unrealistic and contrived. Jane fared the best, but I still was sideswiped by her abrupt 180 on how she viewed Isabella's nature.

Meanwhile Jane's mother, Lady Margaret, suddenly has character and a will of her own while Isabella gets over herself long enough to realize she made some big mistakes. In neither case does either character show many glimpses of such traits, they just appear to help save the day at the end. And if we're being technical neither ever admits they were in the wrong. After Jane conceives the solution to their problems the main book ends and in the Epilogue we're told how it all worked out for everyone because of her solution.

I really, truly HATE it when books do that. I don't believe Epilogues should prove the ending. If I read the last page and I don't believe whatever the author wanted me to believe in (the romance, the end of a war, that the sky turned red forever and ever after) I don't want an Epilogue telling me how the ending was correct. An Epilogue should add to my already established belief in the ending. Or set up the continuation of the series itself by moving the focus to a new character. Its a bit like a scientist stating in his research paper that the experiment turned out correctly after only listing the original hypothesis and nothing at all about how he came to that conclusion.

Overall this wasn't a bad book, it just needed to expand on the characters outside of Jane more. ...more

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Jun 09, 2014 Jessica Nicole rated it did not like it

Shelves: fantasy, blah, romance, netgalley, did-not-finish, 2015-challenge, fairy-tale-retelling

I love fairy tale retellings. Love them. I have 100% drunk the kool-aid for The Lunar Chronicles. I was charmed by Entwined by Heather Dixon. I also have great affection for Harlequin Teen, especially on NetGalley. I cried through most of the new Disney Cinderella movie that came out this earlier this year. So you would think that a Cinderella re-telling told from one of the step-sister’s POV would be perfect for me, right? How could it go wrong?

Too bad it was boring as all get out.

Full disclosu I love fairy tale retellings. Love them. I have 100% drunk the kool-aid for The Lunar Chronicles. I was charmed by Entwined by Heather Dixon. I also have great affection for Harlequin Teen, especially on NetGalley. I cried through most of the new Disney Cinderella movie that came out this earlier this year. So you would think that a Cinderella re-telling told from one of the step-sister’s POV would be perfect for me, right? How could it go wrong?

Too bad it was boring as all get out.

Full disclosure: I DNF this sucker at 40%. Because nothing was happening. Nor had anything really happened in that 40% that prompted me to keep reading.

So the story follows Jane, one of the not-so-ugly stepsisters. Their family is really poor. And really hungry. Jane milks the cow a lot. Mother brings home a new husband and a stepsister for Jane and her actual sister Maude. They continue to be very poor and very hungry. Jane milks the cow about ten more times. Poor, hungry men come to fix their roof. Everyone continues to be poor and miserable. Jane milks the cow again. We spice things up a bit by eating mushrooms for dinner instead of cheese or eggs. Yet again, Jane finds herself milking the cow. New husband randomly dies. Jane continues to milk the cow. Everyone is still poor and hungry.

I am not even exaggerating. There was sort of maybe the beginnings of a romance between Jane and a boy named Will who was not even remotely interesting.

Is it too much to ask to have some conflict in a book?

I suppose if you’re looking for something very calm, where almost nothing happens, you might enjoy this. The first chapter was very promising, but then we entered a sort of limbo where each chapter felt exactly like the first and the story went nowhere. I hear there’s a ball near the end, but I don’t care enough. I know how Cinderella ends. A retelling has to capture my interest to make me forget how the story ends, or at least, keep me interested in HOW the story is different from the original.

Or, you know, be interesting just in general.

If you like reading about people milking cows, this is the books for you.

See this review and others like it in a more awesome format at Ramblings On Readings

...more

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Jul 01, 2014 The Twins Read rated it really liked it

Shelves: michelle-s-shelf, requested-from-publisher, earc

Actual Rating: 3.5/5

This review can be found at The Twins Read.

While her mother may still have her delusions of grandeur, Jane Montjoy knows that her crumbling estate is now reduced to a has-been. Jane and her sister Maud milk the cow, mend and repair their own now too-tight dresses, and clean the place up to the best of their abilities while their mother pretends that servants are still doing the work for them. But Jane's mother remarries and not too soon, her new husband dies, leaving debt and Actual Rating: 3.5/5

This review can be found at The Twins Read.

While her mother may still have her delusions of grandeur, Jane Montjoy knows that her crumbling estate is now reduced to a has-been. Jane and her sister Maud milk the cow, mend and repair their own now too-tight dresses, and clean the place up to the best of their abilities while their mother pretends that servants are still doing the work for them. But Jane's mother remarries and not too soon, her new husband dies, leaving debt and his own daughter to the care of the Montjoys.

Jane Montjoy and her sister Maude are used to a life of scrubbing floors, and making do with what meager things they have. I like both sisters because while others might moan and complain about having to have a difficult childhood amidst a once-glorious setting, they both take it all in stride and try to survive a day at a time. Their mother, however, is unaccustomed to the hard life, having been born to affluent parents and a place in society. While I surmised that the mother is embarrassed of having to stoop down from her pedestal to do anything around the house, I really felt bad for the sisters for having a mother who instead of contributing anything to their survival, only thought that they might have a better life if she remarried.

And thus, we meet Ella - and she is not the angel we all pictured in our heads when we were five years old. This Ella is selfish and a total brat, but I'm guessing that this is stemming from the fact that she is uprooted and suddenly has to call a bunch of strangers her family. Ella, who knows nothing but to make herself look pretty and presentable to society, has to share an apple with other members of the family, because as it turns out, her father is good at keeping up airs. I won't go into the details anymore, as this is a retelling of Cinderella, but I did like how Barrett handled a slew of characters who had minds and personalities of their own. It's quite uncanny how very humanlike they are, as they exhibit flaws and traits that both endear and irk the reader - a huge factor, I think, why this retelling worked out so well.

Forget Grimm's version of Cinderella. Forget Disney's version as well. Barrett's version is much, much better, and it satisfactorily fills in the holes that any skeptical audience of the other versions poked at.
...more

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Apr 08, 2014 Reading Teen rated it really liked it

In this book the stepsisters live in a big house. But the house is falling apart, they can't even go upstairs without being in danger of falling through the floorboards. The story kicks off with Jane and her sister, Maude, gathering whatever food they can find. After a bit, their mother comes home from the city in a fancy carriage with the news that she has gotten married. Now Jane has a new stepfather and stepsister. Right off you can tell that her stepsister, Isabella, is a spoiled brat. You c ...more

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Sep 10, 2021 Krystal Ayers rated it liked it

Shelves: read-fairytale

High 3.5 stars, close to 4. This was a simple read but simple in a good way. The characters were kept to a minimum so confusion did not happen. Each one played their own role perfectly. Jane was a great big sister, doing what she needed to take care of her family. Their mother tried to hold on to her glory days but eventually, by the end, came around and realized that was not important. Isabelle was a brat at first but she definitely learned that family is important, not riches and pretty things ...more

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May 18, 2014 Seanean rated it it was ok

http://librarytalker.blogspot.com/201...

Ever since her father gambled away the family fortune and then ran off to die drunk and alone, Jane and her sister, Maude, have trying everything they can just to survive. Their house is literally crumbling around them and their mother's mind is crumbling with it. She insists that they continue to behave like ladies even though they are alone with no servants, no money, and no future.

When Mamma returns from a long journey with a new husband and a new stepd ...more

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Jun 21, 2016 Kagama-the Literaturevixen rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: people who like their fairytales changed around

Recommended to Kagama-the Literaturevixen by: Joanne RenaudRenaud

Shelves: fairytale-retelling

Thanks to Joanne for reccing this book even if it did take me a while to get around to it

Jane lives with her Mamma and younger sister in the faded grandeur and rotting rooms of their ancestral home Halsey Hall. Once they had a father too...but drink and ultimately death separated him from his wife and children

With her mother living on the memories of what once was and her sister too young to remember anything but the squalor Jane does her best to keep things together

When her mother returns from ...more

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Mar 23, 2014 Rae Parker rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: scbwi-midsouth-author-illustrators

A fun, imaginative twist on the Cinderella story, told from the stepsister's point of view. Full of beautiful details and characters to root for. ...more

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Apr 02, 2014 Annie Stone rated it it was amazing

I love this book -- amazing fairy tale retelling in the style of Donna Jo Napoli or Robin McKinley. It's been a pleasure working with Tracy on this one! ...more

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Mar 24, 2014 Genetta rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Such a fun retelling! The ending is clever and delights the reader with an unexpected twist.

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Jun 05, 2017 Kathy Filardo rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed this retelling of Cinderella--because the protagonist Jane, reminded me a lot of Jane Eyre and read similar to a Bronte or Austen novel but set in a much earlier time. The tale was woven well, and all the characters were represented more realistically and so were the situations. I especially liked the ending, which was much different from the Grimm one, and how she referenced Grimm a few times in the story. I also liked the twist that Isabella wasn't some pure and syrupy good pe ...more

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YA Buddy Readers'...: Stepsister's Tale by Tracy Barrett - Starting September 9th 2021	8	10	Sep 20, 2021 04:45AM
Sinopsis en Español // Synopsis in Spanish	1	1	Apr 15, 2016 03:26PM
Fairy Tales Eclectic: The Stepsister's Tale	1	15	Jul 31, 2014 01:14PM

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About Tracy Barrett

Tracy Barrett

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Tracy Barrett has written more than twenty books for children and young adults. She’s much too interested in too many things to stick to one genre, and has published nonfiction as well as historical fiction, mysteries, fantasy, time travel, myth and fairy-tale retellings, and contemporary realistic novels. She knows more about ancient Greece and Rome and the European Middle Ages than anyone really ...more