The Ugly Stepsister

Reimagined Fairy Tales, Book 2

By: Megan Van Dyke

Narrated by: Sienna Frances, Dan Calley

Only Anna knows the truth about Cinderella: The pauper turned queen wasn't the victim, but the bully.

Anna fled when the castle guards came to arrest her mother and sister on Cinderella's orders. But leaving them in bondage at the Fairy Godmother's workhouse? Out of the question. Disguised as a young man and taking the name of Ansel, she'll do whatever it takes to free her family and set the record straight.

Will, a former royal huntsman, was nearly killed for dissenting Cinderella's rise as queen in the wake of the sudden death of the king and his son. He hatches a plan to take Cinderella down, and encounters Ansel, who wants revenge just as much as he does.

Drawn together by a common goal and burgeoning feelings neither can ignore, Will and Ansel enact a plan to assassinate the queen. But when that goes awry and buried secrets come to light, they'll have to choose: continue running from their pasts or accept themselves in order to forge a new future together.

Contains mature themes.

©2022 Megan Van Dyke (P)2023 Tantor

Slight improvement from book 1

While set in the same world, there’s barely any connection to book 1 (only one character reappears). This book was a mashup of Cinderella and Snow White, and making Cinderella’s sister Anna the MC. I enjoyed this story only slightly more than book 1.

My biggest complaint is the blandness of it all; there’s just nothing that will stick with me a month from now. The villains were one-note, trotted out to speechify and sneer, but not layered or interesting. There was an endless array of reveals, where we’re told about old friends/enemies, their backstories, and how poignant it was when xyz person (who was in hiding) pops back into the story. Yes, a lot of telling instead of showing. The sex scenes were still more adult than the otherwise teenage feeling book, but they were milder than book 1. I liked Anna better as a MC, although the woe-is-me inner pity partying about being the ugly sister was overdone.