Book Review: The Ugly Stepsister by Aya Ling

TITLE: The Ugly Stepsister (Unfinished Fairy Tales Book 1) 

Author: Aya Ling

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Publication Date: June 10, 2015

Length: 453 Pages



This book review was written by guest blogger Cindy Phelps Thomas.


About The Author
Aya Ling is from Taiwan, where she struggles daily to contain her obsession with mouthwatering and unhealthy foods. Often she will devour a good book instead. Her favorite books include martial arts romances, fairy tale retellings, high fantasy, cozy mysteries, and manga.

A Cinderella Story
Kat is a shy, clumsy, nervous-around-cute-boys type of girl. She lives with her mom and her sister Paige.  On a day as normal as any, she roams up to the attic to sort through an old box of books for her mom. Inside the box is a book of Cinderella, which falls apart as she picks it up. Kat trips and falls down the stairs as she takes the book to show her mother.

The next thing Kat knows, she has been transformed to another place in time and has become Katriona Bradshaw, daughter of the late Earl Bradshaw. A goblin named Krev appears and informs her that the book was cursed by his King. The only way she will be able to return to her family is to complete the fairy tale from the page she tore to the “Happily Ever After”. 

The problem is she tore the FIRST page! Kat has no idea how or where to start. She only knows that she lives with her mother and beautiful sister, who both seem to dislike her and her ordinary looks, but shouldn’t there be a third sister? Where is Cinderella? And for that matter, who and where is the Fairy Godmother? And how on earth is she going to convince a prince to hold a ball to find a wife, when he is publicly known to dislike social events?

Kat has a lot to do, but she knows that if she ever wants to see her mom and all of the modern day luxuries she has come to love, she has to find a way!

My Thoughts
This book was a great retelling of an old fairy tale! I love the different twist that the author gave it by telling it from the viewpoint of the ugly stepsister. Her writing and descriptions took me back in time. Her characters are well developed, and the descriptions are wonderful. I highly recommend this book for anyone from tweens through adult.  

My Rating: 5 Stars Out Of 5

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

Handmade Cinderella Birthday Card

"Cinderella" is my very favorite fairy tale. I made this handmade birthday card for my daughter who is named "Cindy"....so this is actually a "Cindy"rella card.

I used the "Cinderella" digital stamp from Mo's Digital Pencil shop and colored it with Copic Sketch markers. I distressed the edges with Versa-Magic chalk ink (Sea Breeze).

I added some loops with a Martha Stewart punch and embellished the card with washi tape and vintage white Pebble Braid.

Here are some of my favorite quotations from the Cinderella story:


"For with each dawn, she found new hope that someday, her dreams of happiness would come true".

"A dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep. In dreams you will lose your heartaches. Whatever you wish for, you keep. Have faith in your dreams, and someday, your rainbow will come smiling through. No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true".

Thank you for taking a look at my handmade greeting card. Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

Fractured Fairy Tales ~ The Three LIttle Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

I have had a propensity for fairy tales and fractured fairy tales for many years. A "fractured fairy tale" is a fairy tale that has been modified in such a way as to make us laugh at an unexpected characterization, plot development or contrary point of view.

Many fractured fairy tales have been written based on the classic story of "The Three Little Pigs." I recently wrote about "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" by Jon Scieszka.

Today I am going to tell you about another version of "The Three Little Pigs".  "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig", by Eugene Trivizas, tells about three cuddly little wolves and a big bad pig. This book was published in 1993 and is still considered one of the most popular "fractured" versions of "The Three Little Pigs".

About The Author

 Eugene Trivizas is a Greek sociologist and author of children's books.

Three Cuddly Little Wolves

Once upon a time, there were three cuddly little wolves who lived with their mother. One day their mother told them it was time for them to go out into the world and live on their own.

The first wolf built a house of bricks, the second built a house of concrete and the third little wolf built his house with concrete, barbed wire, iron bars, armor plates and heavy metal padlocks.  Wow! What kind of pig could break down these houses?

This pig was very, very bad. He knocked down the brick house with a sledge hammer. He smashed down the concrete house with a pneumatic drill. He BLEW UP the concrete compound with DYNAMITE!

The wolves did not know what to do. They were seriously afraid for their lives. A friendly flamingo just happened to be passing by with a wheelbarrow full of flowers. The wolves decided to build a house with the flowers!

When the big bad pig came to destroy the house of flowers, something very unexpected happened. When he smelled the fragrant scent of the flowers, his heart grew tender and he realized how bad he had been. The wolves invited the pig to live with them, and they lived happily ever after.

My Thoughts

At the end of the story, we can draw the conclusion that the pig was mean because he didn't have any friends. The wolves were worried at first because they thought it might be a trick. They soon realized that the pig had truly changed, so they played with him and invited him into their house.

I have read this book aloud to children dozens of times. It never fails to hold their attention to the very end. The pig needed friendship and acceptance. This is a wonderful lesson for children of all ages.

Click HERE to see "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig" on YouTube.

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

Book Review: The Clever Detective

My Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Today I am going to share a funny tale for adults. "The Clever Detective", by Linsey Lanier, is a humorous short story about modern female Private Investigator Stacey Alexander and the strangest case that she has ever accepted. This book is a FREE download at Amazon.

About The Author

Linsey Lanier is a writer of romantic mystery-suspense, romantic fantasy, and romance - with a dash of sass. She is the author of a second book in this series, Clever Is As Clever Does (The Clever Detective).

A Forlorn King

Detective Stacey Alexander knew it was going to be a weirder-than-usual day when her new client's address happened to be a hollow tree with a door carved in the side. She stepped inside the door and fell down a dark tunnel landing in a huge underground room. ( No, she did not meet Alice in Wonderland!)

King Thrugood was sobbing because a dragon had abducted his son. Detective Alexander suspected The Dragons street gang, but King Thrugood assured her that this had nothing to do with gangs. He said a real dragon (as in huge lizard) was holding his son captive.

Detective Alexander ventures out into the kingdom to get to the bottom of this mystery. She meets some strange characters that resemble The Three Little Pigs, the Golden Goose and Little Bo Peep.

Never fear. The dragon is no problem for PI Stacy Alexander. This story has a happy ending with Stacy and the Prince exchanging a kiss...and maybe more than that???

My Thoughts

This story is really funny stuff. It could almost be material for a stand-up comedy routine. The comedy stems from the encounters that PI Alexander has with the characters and situations from the imaginary world of dragons and fairies.

The entire book can be read in ten minutes or less and I promise you will find yourself grinning and shaking you head at the silliness of this story. It is an entertaining tale for the young at heart.

This book is not recommended for young children because of references to adult topics (street gangs, drinking alcohol, smoking weed, etc.) and salty language.