Rating: 7.75/10
Favorite Character: Isabelle
Personally, I thought this story was a brilliant feminist subversion of the classic Cinderella fairytale. I always wondered why the princess always had to be beautiful and her step-sisters brushed off as ugly. In this story, the stepsisters are still ugly, and Cinderella is still the kind, beautiful girl swept away to live in a palace. Yet Isabelle is strong, stubborn, and determined; qualities that Donnelly took from her character in the original story. After all, can you imagine the force of will it must have taken to chop off her own toes without letting her pain be seen? This book, picking up after the fairytale ended, stars Isabelle as the heroine. Isabelle is not pretty or submissive; instead she longs to fight. Her sister does not fit in either, being absorbed by her scientific curiosity. While Donnelly explores the resentment between Cinderella and her stepfamily, she also explores the love they hold for each other, as well as the bonds between mother and daughter. This is an excellent story that shows that there are more roles for a female in a fairytale than the innocent damsel and vain villain. Concentrating on making the once two-dimensional characters come to life, Donnelly weaves a beautiful tale of a girl who’s forceful personality allows her to forge her own fate.
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