ELEANOR OF SANDLEFORD’S entire world is shaken when her father marries the mysterious, reclusive Lady Kingsclere to gain her noble title. Ripped away from the only home she has ever known, Ellie is forced to live at Baxstresse Manor with her two new stepsisters, Luciana and Belladonna. Luciana is sadistic, but Belladonna is the woman who truly haunts her. When her father dies and her new … stepmother goes suddenly mad, Ellie is cheated out of her inheritance and forced to become a servant. With the help of a shy maid, a friendly cook, a talking cat, and her mysterious second stepsister, Ellie must stop Luciana from using an ancient sorcerer’s chain to bewitch the handsome Prince Brendan and take over the entire kingdom of Seria.
more
“Queer Cinderella,” I thought. “That’ll be awesome.” Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. The Second Sister is compelling in a number of ways. Well, mainly I’m in favor of the talking animals. Jessith the cat is an A+ character. However, this book is also poorly edited, confusing, and filled with abuse. The antagonist is a sadistic rapist and the love interest, while theoretically an okay person, stands by and does nothing while the main character–and others–are subjected to horrific abuse. Does no one have any wherewithal?
There is no reason for the love shared between the main character, Ellie, and the love interest. Ellie finds a diary detailing how much love interest is infatuated with her and decides she is in love. Ellie is being abused and the love interest does nothing. Well, she does something (does not allow Ellie to be murdered, which seems rather bare minimum for a decent human), but the right thing to do would be to run in any direction which would take them far away. I will say that the sex is pretty steamy. That’s honestly why I kept reading. It is difficult, in my experience, to find good queer romance. Even so, the relationship is unbalanced and, frankly, creeps me out a little. A paragraph or two–hell, even a few sentences?–about consent would have gone a long way.
This is supposed to be a fantasy. I want to know something about the world. Instead I am left to guess what the hell an Ariada is (magical, I guess??), or why they’re hated. What is the kingdom like? I couldn’t tell you. “Magic” is the vague answer I’m left with. The place is magic, the magic works in favor of the antagonist, and I’m just supposed to go with it. I’m confused and exhausted by this mess. Don’t make me guess the entirety of this setting and culture based on vague references to something make-believe. The characters have little depth, and I don’t understand their motivations. The writing leaves so much to be desired; I feel inadequate just trying to puzzle it out, and I’m frankly angry that a book with queer characters could so devastatingly disappoint me.
I liked the story and the characters, but the whole thing felt a bit rushed. I barely had time to get to the edge of my seat before the situation was resolved. I was unresolved about reading the next books, but then the very last words of The Second Sister pulled me back in.
good you will hate one character though
I very much enjoyed this Cinderella retelling! It does touch on some mature themes—rape & abuse being the main ones—but outside of that, it’s a light & easy read. The romance was fast paced, and I could have used some more development there, but, it was well written & sweet enough that I didn’t mind too much! All in all I would recommend it to others looking for f/f stories!
Began well but finished in too many same sex intimacy scenes.
I didn’t care for this book
I couldn’t get into this book and stopped reading it on the 10th page.
This book is for very mature readers.
I had a real hard time trying to finish this story. I fact it took me months because I kept stopping and picking it back up. The concept was interesting, the delivery could have been better.
Not my type
I love the way the author writes and describes. The characters were wonderful and I loved that the book was steamy without being crass.
It’s a story that’s very well written and has an interesting take on a fairytale classic.
YES ALL I CAN SAY IS YES
I really loved the love story. But beyond that, the plot was great and the pacing was good. I wanted more, but I got it for free and plan to pay for other writing by this author.