So excited to kick off 2023’s slate of book giveaways with the new one from National Book Award winner Robin Benway (who also recently published the wonderful YA novel A Year to the Day), which is part of a new series of YA books from Disney exploring villain origin stories — a rich vein to mine for sure. It’s such a good, juicy read!
“BLOOD IS BLOOD…AND ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, WE ALL BLEED.”
This first book in the new Disney Villains Dark Ascension series by National Book Award-winning author Robin Benway explores the complex sibling rivalry between the two wicked stepsisters from Cinderella that turned them into the characters we know today.
Drizella and Anastasia only know one thing for certain: they will never end up like their mother, Lady Tremaine. When their father left them as young girls, he took what was left of their family’s fortune and their mother’s dignity with him. A few years and one deceased stepfather later, the only version of Lady Tremaine that Drizella and Anastasia know is a bitter and cruel head of house. Anastasia and Drizella have promised themselves—and each other—that they’ll be different. They’ll find love, see the world, and never let their hearts go cold.
But both sisters are all too aware of what it can mean when cast into disfavor with their mother, and fueled by Lady Tremaine’s tendencies to pit the daughters against one another, Drizella and Anastasia are locked into a complicated waltz of tenuous sisterhood. On the cusp of the royal debut party—their one chance to impress the Prince and live up to their mother’s expectations—the sisters at last get a glimpse of what life could be like outside of Lady Tremaine’s intentions: Drizella discovering a love of science and Anastasia sparking a secret romance. But never underestimate the power a mother whose greatest talents lie in manipulation, and the sisters may learn that even the cruelest of hearts can spill blood.
THE TASK: As usual, I’ll be picking the winner at random. To enter, please share your favorite fictional villain! (It doesn’t have to be Disney. It can be any villain!)
THE RULES: All entries must be posted in the comments of this post by 9 p.m. Pacific time on Monday. FYI, if this is the first time you’ve commented here, the system will automatically kick you into comment moderation, but don’t worry, I will rescue you. (Open to US readers only; all prizing courtesy of me. We use affiliate links, like those above to Amazon.)
