A Tale of Beauty and Madness - 2
Ellie's life is horrible since her father died. Her mother makes her wrong non-stop at home charming shoes to be sold in her business. The littlest thing will set her stepmother off leading to severe beatings. Things only get worse when her stepmother's sister comes to live with them, a local boy returns home from boarding school, and her friends try to save her. But not one can save Ellie . . . except maybe Auntie, the nice old lady who lives near school and teaches Ellie about charming.
This is the second fairy tale retelling by Lili St. Crow after Nameless, her retelling of Sleeping Beauty. This book retells Cinderella. I also got a few hints of Hansel and Gretel in the mix. Overall I enjoyed this book. The one thing that bothered me was the "wimpyness" of the main character Ellie. I know it was realistic in the portrayal of abused children being too afraid to get help, but it got very annoying after a while.
