From the Stacks: The Stepsister Scheme

Boy, what a week this has been. I'm thinking that maybe at the end of the year I'll have to do a week of From the Stacks post because of how many books I've been reading lately. See, doing one review a week means that I'll be doing 52 reviews...but I read more like 80+ books in a year. I feel bad about those books who get left behind. What do you guys think? Would it be nice if I did a week of reviews at the end of December?

Anyway, yes, today I am back to another Jim C. Hines book. Why? Because he is an amazing author! I absolutely loved Libriomancer and I can't wait for the next book to come out. Seeing that he had a series of four books that twisted princess fairy tales, I couldn't resist. Fairy tales are back to popularity, and you can especially see that with shows like "Once Upon A Time" and "Grimm" and I really just love reading fairy tales  anyway.

Today on From the Stacks I'm looking at The Stepsister Scheme, which takes a few very well known princesses and brings back some of the dark elements of their stories, you know, the ones Disney didn't include.

The Stepsister Scheme
ISBN: 978-0-7564-0532-8

Summary:

"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. Cinderella-whose real name is Danielle Whiteshore (nee Danielle de Glas)-does marry Prince Armand. And (if you can ignore the pigeon incident) their wedding is a dream-come-true.

But not long after the "happily ever after," Danielle is attacked by her stepsister Charlotte, who suddenly has all sorts of magic to call upon. And though Talia-otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty-comes to the rescue (she's a martial arts master, and all those fairy blessings make her almost unbeatable), Charlotte gets away.

That's when Danielle discovers a number of disturbing facts: Armand has been kidnapped and taken to the realm of the Fairies; Danielle is pregnant with his child; and the Queen has her own very Secret Service that consists of Talia and Snow (White, of course). Snow is an expert at mirror magic and heavy-duty flirting.

Can the three princesses track down Armand and extract both the prince and themselves from the clutches of some of fantasyland's most nefarious villains?"

My Thoughts:

Loved it! Loved it! Loved it! Mr. Hines, your books are amazing. There is a romantic interest of one of the three princesses that first caused me to gasp in surprise and then start hoping for much more (and I certainly hope for more of it in the next books). Do I really have to say here that I'm giving this book 5/5?

Okay, so I'll be completely honest: Danielle/Cinderella...not my favorite character, but I've felt that way about Cinderella for a number of years and I can't really describe why. In this book I definitely loved Talia and Snow (whose real name is Ermillina) so much more. Talia has a really dark past and I have to say when she finally told the true story of her past, I was shocked. It definitely wasn't a happy tale, but it does help you to understand her so much as a character.

A majority of the characters in this book are female and I thought that Jim Hines did a great job in handling them, and honestly, I was sort of glad that Armand wasn't in the book all that much. I liked seeing the bonds of companionship and then friendship building between the main three ladies. And they really are some strong female characters, who don't need men to fight their battles for them. They are real too. They have emotional depth and histories that make you empathize with them.

I definitely will be picking up the second book, The Mermaid's Madness, which brings in (obviously) the Little Mermaid, then the third book, Red Hood's Revenge, which has Red Riding Hood as an assassin, and then the series ends with The Snow Queen's Shadow. 

Jim Hines...after reading and loving two of your books now, I can say that I am a fan for life.

The Stepsister Scheme at Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stepsister-scheme-jim-c-hines/1100361105?ean=9780756405328

The Stepsister Scheme at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Stepsister-Scheme-PRINCESS-NOVELS/dp/0756405327/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353086819&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Stepsister+Scheme

Other Readings:

Next Friday I am going to a concert, but I will still have my From the Stacks post up for you guys. I have been reading the amazing Elemental series by Brigid Kemmerer (two novellas and two novels so far) so I'll probably be reviewing them in my end-of-year specials. I am in the middle of reading Alchemystic by Anton Strout and that will be next week's book. I've also just started Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas and I'm really enjoying it so far. And I have to tell you guys...I really need to focus so I can finally finish reading Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey. It's good but I typically only read a couple chapters at a time so it's slow going. 

Well, that's all for this week. I'll be back on Tuesday for another NaNoWriMo writing update. Speaking of...I should probably get back to writing.