What would you do if Life cast you in the role of the ugly stepsister? If your stepsister was a sweet, beautiful, delicate blonde who happens to be nice and universally adored? And to add insult to injury, she’s dating the boy you’ve been in love with since you were five years old?
The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back tells the story of Matilda (Mattie), whose stepsister Ella is all of the above and more. It reminds me of a charming cross between Clueless (rich kids with First World Problems) and The Duff (the ugly one in a group of friends finds out she’s a swan after all). Honestly, it was adorable, and I could totally see it as a movie, probably with Jamie Chung as Mattie. If you like those sort of movies, you’ll probably adore this book.
Bonus; while the book is told in first person from Mattie’s point of view, there are a couple of bonus chapters at the end from the PoV of Jake (her love interest) which were really good, because Jake did behave pretty badly at a couple of points in the story and it was nice to read about his remorse for it and his resolve to do better.
All in all, a charming and light-hearted teenage romantic comedy. Five stars.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review through NetGalley.