The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back by Sariah Wilson
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.
Purchase
Praise
“My top pick of 2012 YA… This book is just. plain. fun.”
“Sariah Wilson's new book, The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back, is hilarious…What follows is a story of fun and romance with some good non-preachy life lessons thrown in. The voice in the main character, Mattie, makes the whole thing. I thought it was definitely a book I'd recommend to anyone with teenagers or who just want to read a good teen romance.”
“Sariah [Wilson] has written one of the funniest stories I've read in such a long, long time. I literally couldn't put it down. Yes, my poor Kindle's battery died and I was attached to a short power cord, contorted in a very uncomfortable position while I read to the end…. Sariah Wilson captured the back-biting, insecure, hormone-driven, clique-riddled high school atmosphere so perfectly you'd think she never grew up. I dare you not to laugh as you read this witty and oh, so, romantic story.”
“Sariah Wilson writes like the best of/most popular YA teen fiction/teen romance authors - Sarah Dessen, Jennifer Echols, Susanne Collins, Cassandra Clare. She sucks you in and never lets you go. I finished the ~194 novel in one night because I just couldn't go to sleep without knowing the ending! I hope that Sariah comes out with more novels, I know I'll be re-reading this one all the time! She's extremely talented and needs to be talked about. I highly recommend The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back! to anyone (over the age of 12) who wants a YA novel that's a real modern-day fairy tale.”
“This was such an entertaining story! I shouldn't have started reading it so late in the evening, because I didn't want to put it down to go to sleep…This is a book I can see myself reading several times. It's a fast, clean read with great characters, and I highly recommend it.”
The book is wonderful. It’s quirky and fun. The story makes you laugh and you fall in love with the characters right from the beginning…This is a well-written book. It is one that will make you smile and sigh as you remember your first love. And it has a moral…be yourself, believe in yourself and maybe, just maybe, your fairytale will come true. Pick up this book.”
My Review
Mattie Low is jealous, jealous of her perfect step-sister, Ella. Ella is blonde, beautiful, a cheerleader and has all the luck with guys, in fact, Ella's boyfriend Jake Kingston is the boy that Mattie has had a crush on for ages. Mattie always seems to come up lacking in comparison to Ella. Mattie is a bit sarcastic, while Ella is sweet and kind. Mattie thinks that the maid needs to be paid, so she can keep her job, Ella is constantly cleaning something or other. Ella even refuses to spend the money that dad puts on her credit card as an allowance and has her own job instead. One day, Mattie is given detention for a snarky comment she made to her English teacher, and it just so happens that Jake is given detention too. When he tries to leave early and get Mattie to cover for him, Mattie realizes that he isn't perfect after all, and decides that he needs someone to bring him down a few notches. That's when she comes up with her plan to do just that by running against him and winning for class president. A cause that Ella is happy to get involved with, especially if Mattie can get rid of the new rules enacted over the summer. But when Mattie starts spending more time with Jake, she realizes that he really is a great guy and she really does care for him. Could he ever care for the Ugly Step-sister back?
This was such a fun book! Mattie is such a crazy, funny character, you can't help but like her, bright pink hair and all. I really liked the way it showed Mattie's family, artist dad, tons of crazy step-mothers, and Ella and Mattie, two way different step-sisters. The plot was really fun, sort of a backwards Cinderella, but wil both Cinderella and her ugly step-sister getting their happy endings? You'll never look at this fairy-tale the same way again.
I was able to get this book free from Amazon, it happened to be one of the free books of the day.
Author Sariah Wilson
Sariah Wilson has never jumped out of an airplane, never climbed Mt. Everest, and is not a former CIA operative. She has, however, been madly, passionately in love with her soulmate and is a fervent believer in happily ever afters—which is why she writes romance. The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back is her fourth happily ever after novel. She grew up in southern California, graduated from Brigham Young University (go Cougars!) with a semi-useless degree in history, and is the oldest of nine (yes, nine) children. She currently lives with the aforementioned soulmate and their four children in Utah, along with three tiger barb fish, a cat named Tiger, and a recently departed hamster that is buried in the backyard (and has nothing at all to do with tigers).
Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 3/10/13
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
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Labels: clean ya, fairy tale re-tellings, Sariah Wilson
