Lady Tremaine Review

Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser

I gave Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser 5 stars, and honestly from the very beginning, I knew this was going to be a 5-star read.

Going into this, I fully expected to hate the stepmother—because that’s what we’ve all been conditioned to do. But I’ll be darned if she wasn’t completely the opposite. Inspirational. A national treasure. This book flips everything you think you know about that story on its head in the best possible way.

Lady Tremaine is sharp, complex, and incredibly compelling. You understand her, you root for her, and at times you even admire her. The same goes for the stepsisters. I didn’t hate them either—in fact, they just made sense. Their actions, their personalities, their place in the story all felt grounded and realistic in a way that made this retelling stand out.

“We are all made villains in someone else’s story.”

Ella’s character was also interesting in that she wasn’t unlikable, but you could absolutely see why Lady Tremaine and the girls struggled with her. It added a layer of nuance that made the entire story feel more balanced and less black-and-white than the version we’ve all grown up with.

The storytelling itself was an absolute delight. The pacing, the tone, the way everything unfolded—it all worked so seamlessly. And then… the plot twist.

I did not see it coming.

At all.

“The truth does not always arrive gently. Sometimes it shatters everything first.”

It was perfectly timed, perfectly executed, and completely unraveled me in the best way. It took everything I thought I knew about the story and turned it inside out.

“Power isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s quiet, patient… and waiting.”

This book was clever, emotional, and so well written. It’s one of those retellings that doesn’t just revisit a familiar story—it redefines it.

I absolutely loved it.