All the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Stepmother
Author: Danielle Teller
Publisher: William Morrow
Released: May 22^nd, 2018
Received: Goodreads Giveaways
Rating:

I received a copy of All the Ever Afters through the Goodreads Giveaways program.

All the Ever Afters is a retelling of the classic story of Cinderella, but with a twist. This story takes the focus off of Cinderella, and instead puts it directly onto Agnes, also usually known as the wicked stepmother.

Agnes is not a woman who had a wonderful life, before her stepdaughter’s marriage to a prince. And even that didn’t magically change her world or her life for the better, for the people in politics can be the cruelest of them all.

Agnes was born into the life of being a serf, she had to work hard to get anything good in her life, from a decent job to a house. And she did earn a lot of change in her life, when you think about it. But it was a series of constant struggles for her.

“Being strong does not disqualify you from being beautiful.”

All the Ever Afters was a fascinating, heartbreaking, and beautiful story to read. As I mentioned above, it followed the life of Agnes, the wicked stepmother. The tale started off well before Cinderella ever came into the mix, and I loved that about this book.

I think what really struck me about All the Ever Afters was just how believable it was. Yes, Agnes had a pretty awful life. But it also made sense for somebody of her station during that time. Likewise, the treatment she (and her daughters) would get upon their arrival to the palace also made an alarming amount of sense.

That added to the heartbreak and rise of emotions in this novel, but Danielle Teller put all of that to good use, weaving all of those feelings into the story itself and turning it into something more. For that reason, this may very well be my favorite retelling so far. Or, at least one on my top ten list. Regardless, I really enjoyed reading All the Ever Afters, even if it did completely shock me with its intensity at times.