Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today it's my turn to host a lovely little stop on the tour for this delightful fairy-tale spin-off! Wooot! If you love fairy-tales make sure you read on through! I've got a little info about this book and then I've got some

by Sariah Wilson
Published: 8. 5. 12
Pages: 194

Everyone knows how all those fairy tales go. The princess gets beautiful, nabs her prince, falls instantly in love, lives happily ever after and leaves her evil stepsisters in the dust.

But 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. Ella can keep her Prince Annoying. Mattie’s going to rule the school. And no one, not even a cute and suddenly flirty Jake, is going to stop her.

About the Author
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Sariah Wilson has never jumped out of an airplane, never climbed Mt. Everest, and is not a former CIA operative. She has, however, been madly, passionately in love with her soulmate and is a fervent believer in happily ever afters—which is why she writes romance. The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back is her fourth happily ever after novel. She grew up in southern California, graduated from Brigham Young University (go Cougars!) with a semi-useless degree in history, and is the oldest of nine (yes, nine) children. She currently lives with the aforementioned soulmate and their four children in Utah, along with three tiger barb fish, a cat named Tiger, and a recently departed hamster that is buried in the backyard (and has nothing at all to do with tigers).
Don't Sariah and her book sound awesome? Here's a little more of Sarah's Fairy-Tale insight, in these three guest posts! Enjoy!

They’re not just magical fluff.  They’re important.  They matter. 

We look at fairy tales as not being politically correct.  As demeaning to women.  But these are stories that have survived hundreds (thousands?) of years.  They’ve been told and retold for centuries.  They’re worlds full of magic – witches, ogres, trolls, giants, fairies, elves, talking animals – a truly fantastic place that unleashes the imagination.  A child raised on fairy tales is a child who can dream big.

The world is full of good and it is full of evil.  Fairy tales are a safe way of introducing this world to our children.  Fairy tales are a place where goodness always triumphs, and evil is always defeated.  It is full of heroes and heroines who through their own moxie are able to triumph in a scary place full of giants and evil grown-ups. 

It allows us to imagine a romantic love so great and fantastic that we would scale any wall, slay any dragon, make any sacrifice.  And shouldn’t we want to love that way?

I also think it’s important that our children learn to dream, and have a little bit of magic in their lives.  This is the only time in their lives they’ll believe with such purity and intensity.  Why would anyone want to deny them that chance?

And as our culture evolves and changes, so do our fairy tales.  They’re told in new and exciting ways, allowing us to keep that sense of wonder and excitement with our new versions. 

I guess it depends on who is telling the story.  You can certainly understand how the two original ugly women would have been extremely envious of their gorgeous stepsister.  But I wonder if the ugliness was not just what was on the outside, but what was inside.  I love in the movie “Ever After” that the two stepsisters are quite beautiful, probably even more so that Drew Barrymore’s Cinderella.  But the oldest is truly ugly inside – hateful, spiteful, vindictive, selfish and mean. 

My ugly stepsister knows she isn’t anywhere near as pretty as Cinderella. But what she fails to realize is that she has her own beauty, one that isn’t necessarily skin-deep.  And my hero is attracted to her long before her Cinderella-esque transformation. 

Beauty is so subjective and comes in so many different forms that maybe those girls did deserve a second look.

Original fairy godmothers were important in tales – the comfort that existed by reading about a child alone in the world who had a godparent looking out for them, and how much better that they were magical and could grant wishes!  Wouldn’t that be every child’s dream?  (See also:  Nickelodeon’s “The Fairly Oddparents.”)  They were kindly and good-hearted – even if their magic did have limits (Cinderella’s carriage turns back into a pumpkin, her dress back into rags).  I love the idea that while the Fairy Godmother is providing the transportation and the dress, the rest would be up to Cinderella.  She would have to win the prince over with her own merits, not with magic.

But for every Cinderella Fairy Godmother we get, there are a long line of vindictive fairies out to punish those who have forgotten them or overlooked them, such as cursing a boy to be “too clever” or saying that Briar Rose would die by touching a spindle or refuse to help because they weren’t consulted about a possible marriage.  Or they give advice instead of wishes, which the heroines can’t find any use for.

I love the fairy godmother in “Ella Enchanted” who thinks she is giving this fantastic gift in making Ella obedient, but it is something that is actively ruining her life.  The magic is given without any thought to the consequences.

So they tell you to never look a gift horse in the mouth, but maybe you should take a second look when someone comes along offering you a magical solution.  It may not turn out the way you want!

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AND, not only do you get those awesome posts from Sariah, but there is a FANTASTIC tour giveaway as well! So go ENTER way!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Tuesday! May all your dreams come true! XOXO,


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