The Stepsister Scheme (Princess Novels Series #1)

Love it

I bought this book.

Did you find yourself unsatisfied by classic fairy tales growing up? Tired of happy endings only being for beautiful (and humble and obedient) princes and princesses and witches always being evil and dying in the end (and worse, everyone celebrating the death)? Me too. Its no wonder we've seen a resurgence in twisted or even anti-fairy tales lately, particularly as a generation of people who grew up being Disney-fied come to realize that happily ever takes work, and even then it isn't guaranteed. Shrek, Wicked and countless others celebrate the twisting of the fairy tales we know, the idea of happily ever afters and of them being for everyone (ogres and fairy cursed alike).

The Stepsister Scheme starts with the idea that princesses, like the rest of us, do not necessarily live happily ever after. Neither do they remain the kind of people who sit around and wait to be rescued and fairy gifts are rarely a good thing. Here Sleeping Beauty is a martial arts master from the Middle East who unconventional beauty and tragic curse led to some heinous abuse. Snow White is a mirror-witch who was forced to destroy her mother (and teacher) when her mother killed Snow's true love (and tried to kill Snow), and Cinderella is a new princess, deeply in love with her prince (who has disappeared) uncomfortable with her new position in the kingdom (which has more secrets than she expected) and has to swallow her desire to be nice in order to face down her stepsisters who still very much want to see her dead and the prince in their arms.

More than just being a clever twist on fairy tales and breathing some real life psychology into the tales, The Stepsister Scheme is plain old good writing. Hines layers in the fascination of how things might really go for these very human people manipulated and traumatized by fairies (and other things) with the familiarity of the tales that borne them, as well as some truly creative bits of world building that marks this story as his own. Glass swords, haunted trees, living clothing and prehensile hair all blend right in with the traditional fairytale bits for one fantastic story. In fact the only way this could have been more enticing to me as a reader was if Hines found a way to do a side story (or few) juxtaposing fairytale fantasy with modern times (hint hint). Highly recommended, fun yet meaty The Stepsister Scheme is a great read through and through.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

The Stepsister Scheme is an entertaining escape.

The Stepsister Scheme is both clever and charming. Although there is no significant depth to either the characters or the plot, it is vastly entertaining. I recommend this book as one of the more enjoyable pieces of "mind candy" I've had the pleasure of reading in recent months, and I will certainly plan on purchasing the next installment in this series when it is released.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Highly Recommended!!

If you loved disney princess as a kid, you will LOVE this book. It is full of characters we already love, as well as some great new ones. This book has romance, action, fantasy, it really covers all areas, so multiple readers will enjoy these books.

LOVE IT

This is the best book ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

worth every penny

this is a great book and series

The brothers grim princesses meet charlie's angels. I LOVED IT!

This is an amazing book. I LOVE fairy tales and have read alot of different versions of them in many different styles and this story was very new and refreshingly different. I LOVED every secound of this book. I like the charlie's angels movies and these girls are very much like them. I really like the new spin on the princesses. Hardly anyone thinks about what happens after the suposed happily ever after. Now someone has. I recomend this book completely.

And she rescued him right back

So what happened after Cinderella's wedding?
Enter the imaginative world of Jim C. Hines and find out.
Here Snow White is a powerful sorceress, Sleeping Beauty is a martial artist and Cinderella, well she is still finding out what she is.
Together they will brave the dangers of the Fairy kingdom to rescue Price Charming. An enjoyable romp through the world of fairy tales. Be warned however, this is NOT the Disney version, here not all prince's are kind, fairies are not kindly and death is not the worst fate.

Empowered Fairy Tale Princesses ride forth

Jim Hines' The Stepsister Scheme is the first in a series of two (and at least a third in the pipeline books) that reimagine Fairy Tale princesses as more proactive heroines that are in no need of rescuing.

Or, to put it more flippantly, Disney Princesses meet Charlie's Angels.

The Stepsister Scheme introduces us to Danielle Whiteshore, Cinderella herself, newly married to Prince Armand (aka Prince Charming). Her new happy life as a Princess (and expecting a baby, no less) is short-lived, as her stepsisters, with unexpected abilities, kidnap Prince Armand for reasons unknown.

Fortunately for Danielle, that serving girl Talia is secretly working for the Queen, and is a Princess herself, better known in the stories as Sleeping Beauty. Even better, she is awfully good with weapons. And it turns out that the Queen has another Princess in her service, a certain dark haired Princess named Snow White. She has arcane powers, especially with mirrors.

Although Danielle cannot seemingly compete with this duo, she manages to get herself into their company on their mission to rescue Armand and figure out who or what is backing Danielle's stepsisters in this powerplay. Danielle proves to have powers and talents of her own, and takes possession of a weapon blessed by her mother, unusable by any save her. And thus, these three Princesses, armed and ready, set off to save a Prince.

The book is first and foremost a light, funny and fluffy take on the idea of Disney Princesses, turning them into action heroines. it is entertaining on that level alone, but the book does go further, giving interesting speculations on the nature of faeries, reinterpreting the fairy tales the Princesses spring from, and more. There is even a bit of unexpected and tragically unrequited love (that actually is important as a plot point).

Hines has clearly learned from his previous writing to make a readable and entertaining novel, whose sequels I definitely will seek out.

Must Read

Interesting retelling of traditional tales.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Cinderella as you've never seen her before!

You know how all those old fairy tales take you through lots of scary adventures till you finally reach that inevitable line: "And they lived happily ever after..." Guess what? It's not true. Life in never-never land isn't all sweetness and light.

Danielle, aka Cinderella, did get to marry her Prince Charming and move into the royal palace, but being a princess was a lot harder than she expected. Accustomed to hard work, Danielle finds it hard to relate to any of the nobles, and equally hard to give orders to her servants. And apparently learning to be a proper princess requires memorization of a whole lot of trifling details!

Her new life is suddenly shattered when her evil stepsisters reappear and kidnap her husband, Armand. Danielle decides she needs to be part of the recovery team, and joins up with Talia (aka Sleeping Beauty) and Snow (aka Snow White) to rescue him from Fairytown.

These three are remarkably resourceful, and survive several adventures during their journey. Overall, this was a fun story which gave us a skewed version of some old fairy tale characters. I liked Jim Hine's take on the ladies, but couldn't help comparing them to their Shrek versions. Sometimes better, sometimes worse.

I highly recommend this book for a fun, witty take on some of our old fairy tale favorites. Jim Hines is a very talented writer, and every one of his books has been worth reading!

What really happened in all those fairy tales

I enjoyed the originality of this story. I definitely enjoyed the characters. I think the plot seemed hurried towards the end as if the author couldn't think of anything more to say and decided to just end it. Other than that, an overall decent read.

Fun and Intriquing

This is a very enjoyable story with intriquing twists on well known fairytale women. Empowering for women. I have shared this book with my best friend and family women including my 16 year old neice. We all found it fun and an easy read.

A new spin on some old girls!

Talk about not considering the consequences. Hines definitely reworks some old favorites to give them some new and unique spice. These three princesses join up to foil old magic and show just how wrong some of those old stories went. Get a look into some of the old versions forgotten and some new twists revealed as Snow (White), Talia (Sleeping Beauty) and Danielle (Cinderella), work together to find and rescue the prince kidnapped by some very unsatisfied stepsister. A real wallop in the old and new of fairy tales!

Not your kids Princesses.

This is a very interesing twist on the Disney Princesses. I was very funny and an enjoyable read. If you have a sense of humor that is a little twisted you will enjoy.

Fun, Lively Escapism

The Stepsister Scheme is a fun romp through the world of fairy tales and the ever-after part of one of these stories. For some fairy tale princesses, the ever-afer hasn't been as happy as they would have liked - and they have done something about it. When they get a chance to help Cinderella's happily-ever-after stay on course, they are right there to help thwart the evil stepsisters in their sinister scheme to ruin the rest of the princess's life. This was a lively twist on an old fairy tale.

enchanting enjoyable fantasy

Danielle de Glas Whiteshore, better known as Cinderella, is just getting used to life at the palace when her stepsister Charlotte comes into her castle trying to kill her. Charlotte fails but escapes, but not before mentioning that something happened to her brother-in-law Prince Armand. Her maid Talia, who does not act like a royal servant nor like her famous name Sleeping Beauty, arranges for Danielle to meet with Queen Beatrice and her attendant Snow (as in agent White). They are told Armand has been kidnapped from the inn he was staying at and was taken to Fairytown by Danielle¿s two stepsisters.
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Danielle is shocked that her stepsisters used a spell as she was unaware either had magical skills. The princess obtains the password to call the Summoner to help her and her allies pass through thehedge that separates fairy from human lands. Inside the realm of the Fairy, Danielle and her team learn Charlotte¿s sister Stacia is a powerful mage here. The princess and her two regal agents travel to the powerful fairy Duchess, who is despised by the king and queen of fairy to rescue Armand, but the trek is hazardous as disaster strikes at the courageous princess trio.
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This tale occurs in the days after ¿happily ever after¿ as the three princesses face all types of adversarial situations while Danielle tries to rescue her husband. This adult fairy tale with amusing chick lit asides is an enchanting enjoyable fantasy. Jim C. Hines creates great heroines who even on their dangerous adventure retain their classy demeanor while trying to stay alive. Hopefully Beauty and White get the special Hines treatment.
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Harriet Klausner

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