The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back by Sariah WilsonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I toyed with the 3.5 stars but I'm going with 4 stars just because of the John Hughes references.
Apparently I read this book back in September 2013, but I requested an ARC on NetGalley and reread it in November 2017 not realising until I came to write a review.
The blurb What happens when you’re the ugly stepsister and your obnoxiously perfect—read pretty, smart, and, worst of all, sickeningly nice—stepsister is dating the charming, tall, devastatingly handsome guy you’ve had a thing for since you were nine years old?
Quirky, artistic and snarky Mattie Lowe does not lead a charmed life. Her mother is constantly belittling her on Skype. Mercedes, the school mean girl, has made it her personal mission to torment Mattie. But worst of all? Her stepsister Ella is the most beautiful, popular girl in school and is dating Mattie’s secret longtime crush, Jake Kingston.
Tired of being left out and done with waiting for her own stupid fairy godmother to show up, Mattie decides to change her life. She’ll start by running for senior class president against wildly popular Jake.
Mattie is a tall, athletic-looking, one-quarter-Japanese girl. Her famous artist father has been married (and divorced) six times and she has one step-sister, the unbelievably perfect-in-every-way, Ella. Mattie rebels against her Japanese mother by rejecting her Asian heritage (she even eats sushi with a fork) although she secretly draws Manga.
NA/YA authors please take note this is how to do it well. With more than just intertextual references to John Hughes' body of work and The Princess Bride (inconceivable) this book had me from the word go. OK, the villain kids were a bit too evil to live but then sometimes kids are mean just because they can be!
I loved Mattie, and Ella, and their Dad, I even loved Mattie's evil Japanese mother.
Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
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