Glass Slippers by Leah Cypess
MG Fairytale. 272 Pages. 3 Stars
Synopsis:
The second book in the Sisters Ever After series of fairy tale retellings from the point of view of the siblings in the background, this is the story of Cinderella’s never-before-mentioned third evil step-sister, Tirza.
Meet Cinderella’s third “wicked” stepsister, Tirza. For years, Tirza has lived with the shame of what her family did to Cinderella. Against everyone’s advice, Cinderella–now Queen Ella–took a chance on young Tirza. She gave Tirza a home in the castle instead of banishing her. The queen told everyone Tirza was good and kind, not cruel like her older sisters.
But now Queen Ella’s famous glass slippers are missing, and there’s only one suspect. . . .
Tirza may have tried them on . . . but she didn’t steal them. Now she must find the true thief before she loses her royal home. But as Tirza gets closer to the truth, she finds herself getting closer to something else: her sisters, who might not be quite as evil as Cinderella claims.
My Review:
So, I have to start by saying I didn’t read book one. I got this little MG as an ARC from NetGalley, so I’d not even heard of the series before that. But they appear to be standalones, I believe.
Y’all know how I feel about my fairy tales XD I also happen to love Middle Grade, so I was totally up for this. And it turned out cute. I may be even interested in going back and reading the first one.
It was a quick read. It felt like an older chapter book (like Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys level). It wasn’t as epic as like KOTLC and it didn’t even feel as MG to me as something like The False Prince. It felt more like a Junie B. Jones or Boxcar Children or Bailey School Kids, but a little bit older. The chapters were fairly quick and it had some compelling chapter endings that made me want to keep reading.
Honestly, the whole premise was a mystery I wanted to unravel. The mystery felt like the strongest component to the story. I really wanted to know what exactly was going on and who had stolen the slippers and why.
The characters didn’t particularly stand out to me, but they were mildly interesting and they weren’t awful by any means. Cinderella’s dual nature made me want to dig more into her and find out what the truth behind the mask was. I spent the entire book questioning if she was good or not. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t feel like we quite got to the bottom of her haughty looks. The princes were adorable and I loved every moment of them! I kind of wanted more, but they were sprinkled appropriately throughout–even if they were very articulate for their ages XD The entire concept of Tirza was interesting. The third stepsister who was only a baby when all the Cinderella stuff went down. I liked Aden a lot, but again, wish we’d gone a little deeper with him. The stepsisters had me guessing for a minute as I was trying to figure out the plot, but then they turned out to be about what I expected. I did really like the dynamic between them, though. The layers in the character dynamics and the manipulation vs. truth bits were fun.
Mostly there were some interesting pieces–in the plot, with the characters, etc.–but I felt like the ending was kind of…strange? It’s like we had a bumpy landing or something. Things just didn’t quite resolve in a super satisfying way. For me. Now, for a kid, this may be totally fine. (I don’t usually pull that line since I read a lot of MG and enjoy quite a bit of it, but in this case, it may genuinely be something that doesn’t bother a kid, but my analytical brain just wanted something a little…well, more.) The twist was a little disappointing and the resolution with all the characters just fell a little flat for me. I was happy Tirza made the choices she did and I loved how things turned out with her and the queen. The stepsisters resolution kind of surprised me a little, but for the most part I was okay with it for one of them. The other, I had thought would have a different ending, but I won’t say what. Aden’s resolution was neat and I did mostly like what they did with the nanny. (Would have loved to see more depth there to set that up, but it was still a neat way to end her thread.)
The slippers were super cool. I loved the way Cypess made them her own and the plot really hung on them. Also, though it was a little dark, I liked how they changed colors. Speaking of, the story took a bit of a surprising dark turn. The first half of the book felt like a normal MG, light and fun with a little mystery. But the second half (especially the ending scenes) got a little more violent than I anticipated. I mean, I’m here for the fairy tales. I know they can get dark. But as an early MG, it just surprised me. Plus, the author didn’t really set that expectation and possibility up early enough that I was prepared for it. So, for the parents out there, this one does deal with a little blood.
Overall, a cute story. An interesting twist and premise, and not a terrible read. Not my favorite MG or even fairy tale retelling out there. But for those littles who are learning to read more complex stories, this could be a good starter for them and a good intro into the MG world.
More:
The first book in Sisters Ever After is Thornwood
I haven’t read the first book yet, but I’d be interested in doing so. It’s my understanding that the books don’t have to be read in order, but click on the link to learn more!