From the Bookshelf of Study Buddies…

The Stepsister Scheme (Princess, #1)

Jim C. Hines

Start date: July 1, 2010

Finish date: July 31, 2010

Discussion: Monthly Book Group

Discussion leader: Donna

Why we're reading this: Donna nominated it, the Random Number Generator picked it!
[close] Donna nominated it, the Random Number Generator picked it!

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 29 topics — 528 comments total

Monthly Book Group

* Discuss Nominations
By A · 9 posts · 77 views

last updated Mar 04, 2010 11:02AM

* Master List for Nominations
By A · 5 posts · 139 views

last updated May 29, 2012 03:26AM

What Members Thought

Jul 31, 2010 Kimberly rated it really liked it

Shelves: fairy-tale-retellings, fantasy

I am a huge fan of fairy tale retellings, from the light and amusing to the dark and twisted. I especially like when the heroines of the tales lose their traditionally passive nature, so Jim C. Hines's tale of kickass princesses was right up my alley. The characters were engaging and easy to relate to, the plot was intriguing and fast-paced, and the novel seamlessly blended fairy tale elements both light and dark.

Danielle de Glas grew up a virtual slave in her stepmother's household, waiting on I am a huge fan of fairy tale retellings, from the light and amusing to the dark and twisted. I especially like when the heroines of the tales lose their traditionally passive nature, so Jim C. Hines's tale of kickass princesses was right up my alley. The characters were engaging and easy to relate to, the plot was intriguing and fast-paced, and the novel seamlessly blended fairy tale elements both light and dark.

Danielle de Glas grew up a virtual slave in her stepmother's household, waiting on her two stepsisters hand and foot until the night she met and fell in love with Prince Armand. Now Princess Whiteshore, Danielle lives a life of luxury, though she struggles to learn the necessary protocol, until her stepsister Charlotte attempts to kill her. Danielle is saved by one of the "servants," Talia, who turns out to be a member of the queen's secret service AND the Sleeping Beauty of fairy tale fame. But Charlotte had more in mind than simply attacking her stepsister; with newly learned magic she and her sister have also kidnapped Danielle's husband, Armand. Danielle and Talia are joined by the sorceress Snow, and to get Armand back, the three princesses will journey to the land of Fairy and beyond.

This was just such an enjoyable read. The three main characters are all strong, but not interchangeably so, each possessing her own distinct strengths and personality. Talia is the physically strongest, with a dark history and fairy gifts that make her a powerful and graceful fighter. Snow learned magic from her evil enchantress of a mother, and later used that same magic to take her mother's life. Danielle at first seems the most ordinary, but she learns to use the magical glass sword she's been gifted by her mother's spirit, and develops her ability to communicate with animals. It was such a welcome change to have the princesses do the rescuing, but I liked that they had personalities beyond their kickass abilities--Snow was calm and flirtatious, Talia sarcastic and tough, and Danielle really just trying to find her way in this unfamiliar new world.

Aside from the character development, one of the things I liked most about The Stepsister Scheme was its use of the source material. Now if you're not a fairy tale addict like me, and your only exposure to Cinderella is the Walt Disney version, you will definitely still appreciate this novel. However, if you have read multiple versions of the fairy tales, particularly the pre-Grimm versions of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, there are bonuses in here for you. Danielle, for instance, does not have a fairy godmother, but her mother's spirit lives inside a magical tree. And Talia's back story (and her name, as I recall) owes much to the early Italian version of Sleeping Beauty, which is sadder and less G-rated than the one you probably know. By bringing in elements from the darker, older tales, Hines adds to his characters' motivations, and keeps the novel from being pure Shrek-style satire (which is great on its own, just not what this novel is trying to be).

The Stepsister Scheme is a great fantasy adventure that is escapist without being mindless and filled with characters you'll root for. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next books in the series, The Mermaid's Madness, and Red Hood's Revenge! ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 04, 2009 Lexie rated it really liked it

Shelves: first-in-series, review-blog-pr, books-owned-read

I'm pretty sure I say this a lot, but Fairy Tales--and fairy tale reinventions--fascinate me. From the days of Happily Ever After on HBO to the wonderful, dark Vertigo title Fables--if its about a fairy tale I will give it a chance. This isn't to say I enjoyed them all (I'm not a fan of Shelly Duvall's Fairy Tale Theatre, wasn't even as a child), but I will give them a chance. I'm a late comer to The Stepsister Scheme, which came out earlier this year and until the upcoming sequel knew very litt I'm pretty sure I say this a lot, but Fairy Tales--and fairy tale reinventions--fascinate me. From the days of Happily Ever After on HBO to the wonderful, dark Vertigo title Fables--if its about a fairy tale I will give it a chance. This isn't to say I enjoyed them all (I'm not a fan of Shelly Duvall's Fairy Tale Theatre, wasn't even as a child), but I will give them a chance. I'm a late comer to The Stepsister Scheme, which came out earlier this year and until the upcoming sequel knew very little about it. I loved the cover, it had three 'classic' princesses done over and Happily Ever After existed--at a lifelong price.

I'm pleased to note that The Stepsister Scheme falls into the 'happy to have known' category. Danielle (Cinderella, and to note in Ever After 'Cinderella's' name was Danielle as well) doesn't take things laying down. She has her moments when she indulges in cliche'd princess behavior, but overall she comes across as a real person. Her reactions (such as to Talia) were believable and quite frankly she cracked me up. It was sometimes jarring when she'd go from Amazon to Princess, but by in large Hines straddles the line quite well.

Talia (aka Sleeping Beauty) is a pistol. She's cynical, tough and just shy of me thinking she's scary violent. Like the other two Princesses her backstory is comprised of the original tale and the watered down version a lot of people have learned it as. For those who've read the original tale, yes the Prince is still a right bastard for what he did to her and Talia isn't unhappy in saying so. She also decided to take a proactive stance against that happening every again and arms herself accordingly.

Snow (aka Snow White) took a little longer for me to cozen up to. Mostly because what I mistook for her being a tramp, was really her just being very confident in who she was and how she looked. By no means a lightweight in the fighting department, I think it thrilled her more to outwit the folks then anything else.

This isn't to say I loved it blindly, but its definitely been one of the better re-interpretations of the old tales (secret ninja Princesses is now my new favorite story device I think) I've read. Its definitely up there with Fables. And despite the fact it has an almost kid-like cover to it (at least to me) this is clearly an older teen to adult range book. Don't let the pretty princesses fool you folks--this isn't a Disney Princesses story at all.

Book 2, The Mermaid's Madness (with the Little Mermaid!) comes out October 6th with book 3 (Red Hood's Revenge) due out in 2010 and book 4 (Secret of the Snow Queen) due out in 2011. Titles and publish year are of course tentative and may change at any time. ...more

Like · see review

Jul 09, 2009 Penny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: love-the-author

Great "alternative" view of a well worn story(s). I believe it is a first book for Hines and am looking forward to more. ...more

Like · see review

Dec 05, 2009 Deborah Blake rated it it was amazing

A humorous and clever new take on the fairy tale. Highly recommended. These are not your mother's princesses... ...more

Like · see review

Oct 06, 2010 Liz H {Redd's Reads} rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2011, retold-tales, mine

I really enjoyed this re-imagining of what could have happened after Cinderella's marriage if not "Happily Ever After". The author did a good job keeping the basic points of the original story while adding his own originality and perception to the novel. As soon as I get ahold of book 2, I plan to read it just as quick as this one. ...more

Like · see review