Customer Reviews

If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince?

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I probobly never would have known this book existed if i hadn't been wondering through a book store in my downtown area. Just looking at book after book is hard, trying to find something cute, but sassy...a good read for a 13 year old girl. I picked up this book and it may have been the sparkly cover that intreged me, but somehow I knew I had to have it. I started reading this book and it seemed pretty good and really funny. As it when on, it got a little boring and predictable. Also, their is some teen drinking in it and some suggestive content probobly a little old for young children. It's an all around good book with a picture perfect ending and a cute novel any pre-teen girl could relate to.

Lucy Norton might actually have a wicked stepmother, or so she seems to believe. While her bratty stepsister practically get away with murder, she gets in trouble for the smallest things. Her father is hardly ever home to know the difference, and merely takes what she says as over reacting. Lucy believes that her life has seriously gone down the drain, until the day she sees Connor Pearson. Every Cinderella gets a prince, right?

If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? is a cute, quirky, short read. It caps out at 283 pages, and I flew through them in a matter of mere hours. I've always had a love for modern day fairy tales, and this one is no exception. At first I thought this book was going to be a lot about how Lucy was just a drama queen, and for awhile, it really was. I had to read on to get the full picture.

As far as I'm concerned, the way Lucy's stepmother treated her in this novel was quite wrong. I personally would have labeled her as a wicked stepmother myself, and it wouldn't have hurt to throw a bucket of water of her head to see if she melted. Her bratty daughters were no exception, as they were only nice when it benefited them. And for Lucy's father?, her blood related father?, he rarely listened to his daughter. I understood why Lucy was as dramatic as she was, and I probably would have acted the same way had I been in her shoes.

Melissa Kantor easily gave the impression of a modern day Cinderella story, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A few other great things about this story are the life lessons that Lucy learns along the way. It's not only a modern fairy tale, but a coming of age novel about a girl growing into herself, and understanding her place in the world. I'd highly recommend this title to those of you who enjoy a good modern day retelling of one of your favorite fairy tales, as well as fans of other works by Melissa Kantor.

For some teens, high school life isn't exactly easy --- especially when you're "the new kid." Staying silent in class is customary, not making eye contact in the halls is well-advised, and eating alone at the lunch table is a given. For many of these less outgoing newcomers, blending into the background is the safest route to take in order to avoid calling attention to any differences that might stick out or invite judgment from the hipper, trendier, cool crowd. Feeling invisible or lonely is hard to handle in your teenage years, but being the brunt of the in-crowd's ridicule is significantly worse --- it's torture.

When sixteen-year-old Lucy Norton and her newly-remarried father relocate from San Francisco to a posh suburb of Long Island to live with the new stepfamily, Lucy's life is turned upside down. She is friendless, virtually homeless (her new "room" consists of an air-mattress on the floor in an unfurnished basement), and is faced with the difficult challenge of getting along with her two spoiled, teeny-bopper younger stepsisters and her impossibly shallow, constantly redecorating stepmother. On top of that, her once attentive father has no time for her between his weekly trip back to the West Coast for work and his newly acquired "perfect" family. The more time she spends in her new environment, the more Lucy begins to feel like poor, pathetic Cinderella --- overworked, under-appreciated, and hopelessly alone.

As in every quintessential fairy tale, however, Lucy's life suddenly changes for the better. With just one haphazard comment in the lunchroom about sports, she captures the attention of the hottest guy in school (the star of the varsity basketball team, of course), and manages to make two best girlfriends in the process. From that moment on, her life consists of shopping and gabbing with the girls; going to "it" upperclassmen parties; making out with Connor Pearson, her Prom King boyfriend; and working on her self-portrait in the art room while simultaneously chatting up her mysterious and talented, but seriously off-putting classmate, Sam Wolff. Despite constant aggravation from her wicked stepsisters and evil stepmother, Lucy has transformed herself into the most popular chick at school in just a few short weeks, and has packed a social calendar worthy of any classmate's envy. What more could Cinderella ask for?

But, as Prom approaches and Lucy starts to feel like the time spent with Connor consists solely of wandering hands and sports talk, the fairy tale romance that she once believed was possible seems cracked. Could it be that the connection she had hoped to feel with Connor might be better suited with someone thoughtful, intelligent and quirky --- like Sam Wolff? What would everyone say if she broke up with the jock to date the art freak? Would her much sought-after and cool reputation survive if disconnected from the popular group's influence?

With plenty of trendy lingo, girlie gossip, and prom talk to go around, Melissa Kantor's second novel is a lighthearted and humorous read, perfect for fans of The Princess Diaries series. Although a bit predictable at times and maybe a smidgeon too fluffy to satiate some early teens' tastes, IF I HAVE A WICKED STEPMOTHER, WHERE'S MY PRINCE? nonetheless delivers enough fun and charm to make the reading experience a purely enjoyable one.

--- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

I didn't have high hopes upon starting the book, but I was still disappointed. Lucy, the heroine, is rude to the people around her, and openly hostile to her family. The "wicked stepmother" situation is bad, but the heroine is unsympathetic in her responses. When her father steps in to try to help, she just makes it worse and shows no remorse. I have no idea how the author managed to put in a happy ending. She also spends the book balancing two boys, but gains the first too easily. As for the second, I'm unclear as to when she became interested in him. I've read poor romantic fiction before, but this is pretty bad. Perhaps, if the book focused on how Lucy grew up and started learning to be civil to the people around her, it would've been a better book; the author never suggests that Lucy is in the wrong, and the happy ending doesn't even seem deserved. Typical high school angst, not fitting in, school hero skyrockets shy girl to popularity, but one of the weakest books of the genre.

i think this book is exelent and a great book. my daughter read it, she's 13, and she loves it....

I started this book last night and stayed up until almost 2 in the morning reading it. Yes, it's that good.

I love how Lucy starts out as mega uncool and then goes straight to the top in what seems like overnight. With just one comment about basketball, she has the attention of the hottest, most sought after guy in the school who just happens to be big on basketball and the star player. At the same time, she makes two best friend. After that, though her life at home stays horrible, she spends her time gabbing with her friends, going to the A-list parties, shopping for dresses, and kissing her new boyfriend.

But then, on one date, Lucy realizes something isn't right. It seems their relationship is just about touching and basketball. Soon after, she begins having feelings for another guy, but she can't dumb her guy or she'll lose everything she gained, won't she?

This story is fun, unpredictable, and sweet. It really tells the life of the new girl and it's an amazing read. I definitely recommend reading it!

As you can probably tell from the title, "If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince?" is a Cinderella story- with a twist. Lucy Norton hasn't been having the best year since her dad got remarried and she had to move from California to New York. She has given up on making friends at her new High School, Glen Lake, and her home life isn't any better. With her dad in California finishing up a big case,her evil stepmother Mara, and her two annoying stepsisters,Emma and Amy (a.k.a. the princesses) are in charge. Lucy is forced to live in the unfurnished basement and is often ordered around and ignored even when her dad is home.Things start looking up for Lucy when an inadvertent slip of the tongue catches the attention of the most popular guy in school, Connor Pearson. Soon she is adopted into his crowd and busy with prom details. Meanwhile, she has to deal with her parents and Sam Wolff. Sam is a seemingly cocky and amazingly talented senior in her art class. She tries to befriend him but her first attempts seem useless. Eventually, the problems with her parents are resolved and she realizes Prince Charming isn't all he's cracked up to be. Luckily, she gets a happy ending with an unexpected prince. Although the plot line is predictable,Melissa Kantor, a teacher in New York and author of The Breakup Bible, did a wonderful job. This book makes you believe in fairytales and happily ever afters.

I started this book with not too many hopes, I was just passing the time really. I was enjoying the book up until about the last two chapters. The story switched paces far too abruptly for my taste. It didn't develop the relationships between Lucy and her two 'beaus' well enough. Suddenly she realized that she actually didn't like her boyfriend when in fact one chapter ago she was perturbed that he would be looking at another girl. Then in the last chapter she just goes off with the actual guy she likes. It never concludes anything, I have a pit in my stomach from reading this book. I feel like it is not complete and there should be some finality to the story, the author gave the impression of a conclusion, but nothing concrete. Overall I found this book entirely disappointing.

This was a satisfactory book with funny dialogue. What I really enjoyed was how I could relate to the character being the new girl in school and the author articulated the awkwardness of not having any friends in a class or not knowing how to join in on a converation well.

The book was a fairy tale. It's one of the things that I didn't really like. Lucy's instant rise from friendless to being best friends with the most popular girls in school and being the girlfriend of the hottest guy is really unrealistic. It just doesn't happen like that in real life. Also the cruelty of her stepmother and her father's refusal to listen to her when they were supposedly very close was a bit strange. When you then add the ending where everything suddenly seems dandy and Lucy goes from toying with the idea of asking her boyfriend to kill her stepmother to hugging her stepmother lovingly, well it's a bit much. Dare I say it was almost too corny for me.
But hey it's supposed to be a kind of a modern day cinderella fairy tale so I shouldn't have have expected realism and it ended happily ever after.
This book was an easy read, it probably took me about 2-3 hours in one sitting to read it. I wouldn't buy it. I got it from the library and enjoyed it to a certain degree but would never want to read it twice.

"If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's my prince", a current day Cinderella story, is filled with humor and today's problems that teenagers face. This book is so unpredictable you won't believe it! Lucy starts off as the average new kid, in a big school, with no friends but a secret crush. Her mother died but her new stepmother and sisters are there. He dad is always gone to work. Does this remind you of Cinderella? When I was reading this book I was laughing so hard when she told her corny jokes that no one understood, such as: Who is going to win the basket ball game? I think the bears are Lucy answers. Really Lucy is a sports fanatic. I also laughed at how her quantity time with her step mom and dad was furniture shopping.

Some of the problems deal with drugs and drinking at her thirteen year old little sister's party. Other problems are girl problems like what am wearing to prom, and does he really like me? Lucy thinks she loves Conner, but will he be her prince in the end? Let's just say that this is the most unpredictable book I've ever read and love it. The way Melissa Kantor writes pondering thoughts like "Conner Pearson knows who I am, I found myself thinking. He knows my name. Of course, my name was just about the only thing he did know about he, but it was something. After all, what did Prince Charming know about Cinderella besides her shoe size?" Makes you want to keep reading forever.

I hope you enjoy helping Lucy go through all the problems, and laughs in her real life Cinderella story. I know I did.