Ugly

The Stepsister's Story

By: Mary Mecham

Narrated by: Tawnya Rollingson

You probably know me as the younger ugly stepsister. The foolish, cruel stepsister...the girl who was so jealous of Cinderella’s charm and beauty that I forced her to dress in rags and do all the chores while my mother and sister and I did nothing, sitting in our rooms all day while Cinderella slaved away to serve us. That is not the way it happened at all. I wish I could jump right to the ball and Cinderella, but I feel like to really understand my side of the story, we need to back up a few years. Everyone always feels so bad for Cinderella because her father died, but no one remembers that mine did too. No one ever asks about what happened to my father. No one asks why I am considered ugly. No one wonders what my family was doing while Cinderella cooked and cleaned, or why the crown prince needed to hold a ball to find a wife.

But I'm here to tell you. I am the ugly stepsister, and this is my story.

©2020, 2025 Mary Mecham (P)2025 Mary Mecham

A unique twist on the classic fairytale

I really enjoyed the narration and the story. It was such a different twist on what happened to lead up to the Cinderella story and I enjoyed it.

Enjoyed this retelling!

I thoroughly enjoyed this creative retelling! The premise is refreshing. It is rare to see the "wicked" stepsisters given their own story. Seeing "Cinderella" as the villain satisfied a part of my heart that has a soft spot for the villains. The world-building and lore were expertly handled, and the narrator did a fantastic job of capturing the tone of the story. Most importantly, the closure for each character felt earned and thorough. The HEA was incredibly satisfying, leaving me feeling like no stone was left unturned. Highly recommended!

Loved this

This was such a fun book. It really plays on the fact that each story has two different sides. We are all familiar with Cinderella’s side of her story. But honestly we don’t always learn why the stepmother and stepsisters are so mean to her. (With the exception of Ever After where 2 of them are just bad eggs). I loved this new take on a classic through one of the stepsisters' views. Mary does a wonderful job making me really dislike Cinderella, as she is cruel, rude, and selfish and that only gets worse when her father dies.
The Narration done by Tawany is well done, she does a wonderful job bringing Mary’s story to life.

Unique Cinderella retelling

This Cinderella retelling is very unique. Occasionally, you’ll see a retelling from one of the stepsister’s POV, but it’s vanishingly rare for said retelling to actually make Cinderella the antagonist; it’s usually just that one of the stepsisters is actually a decent person.

In Ugly, we are introduced to the classic stepsisters and stepmother well before. Truly, the protagonist, is the exact sort of person I’d love to be friends with in real life- she’s kind, loyal, and intelligent. Her family is loving and supportive, and her life as an apprentice translator in the kingdom’s palace is privileged, yes, but she uses that privilege to lift others and improve the world where she can. Eventually, as happens when one is the protagonist of a novel, tragedy strikes, and we arrive at the point where Truly becomes “ugly” due to scarring from an awful attack. Her father also dies in the same attack. From there, Truly and her mother and sister wade through grief as they move to the countryside, where they meet Cynthia (the Cinderella character) and her father. The Cinderella character, Cynthia, is rather a mean girl; not an evil person, necessarily, but an unkind and thoughtless one. It was so interesting to have this flip of the usual script for the story.

The inclusion of a friends-to-lovers storyline for Truly and the youngest prince, Curtis, was lovely as well. Their relationship was so loving and solid and well written!

Definitely an interesting Cinderella retelling! Thank you to the author for the gifted copy; all opinions are my own.