Rae D. Magdon

This book requires a trigger warning for rape and incest.

"Queer Cinderella," I thought. "That'll be awesome." Unfortunately, this isn't the case. The Second Sister is compelling in a number of ways. Well, mainly I'm in favor of the talking animals. Jessith the cat is an A character. However, this book is also poorly edited, confusing, and filled with abuse. The antagonist is a sadistic rapist and the love interest, while theoretically an okay person, stands by and does nothing while the main character--and others--are subjected to horrific abuse. Does no one have any wherewithal?

There is no reason for the love shared between the main character, Ellie, and the love interest. Ellie finds a diary detailing how much love interest is infatuated with her and decides she is in love. Ellie is being abused and the love interest does nothing. Well, she does something (does not allow Ellie to be murdered, which seems rather bare minimum for a decent human), but the right thing to do would be to run in any direction which would take them far away. I will say that the sex is pretty steamy. That's honestly why I kept reading. It is difficult, in my experience, to find good queer romance. Even so, the relationship is unbalanced and, frankly, creeps me out a little. A paragraph or two--hell, even a few sentences?--about consent would have gone a long way.

This is supposed to be a fantasy. I want to know something about the world. Instead I am left to guess what the hell an Ariada is (magical, I guess??), or why they're hated. What is the kingdom like? I couldn't tell you. "Magic" is the vague answer I'm left with. The place is magic, the magic works in favor of the antagonist, and I'm just supposed to go with it. I'm confused and exhausted by this mess. Don't make me guess the entirety of this setting and culture based on vague references to something make-believe. The characters have little depth, and I don't understand their motivations. The writing leaves so much to be desired; I feel inadequate just trying to puzzle it out, and I'm frankly angry that a book with queer characters could so devastatingly disappoint me.

If you're looking for a good queer version of Cinderella which does not include bafflingly powerful sadistic rapists and poor writing, I recommend Ash by Malinda Lo.… (meer)