The Wicked Ones

Drizella and Anastasia share one certainty: they will not turn into their mother, Lady Tremaine. Their father abandoned the family when they were girls, taking the last of the fortune and their mother's dignity with him. After a stepfather's death, the only Lady Tremaine they have known is bitter, cruel and in charge of the house.

The sisters have promised each other they will be different. They want to find love, see the world and keep their hearts warm. Their mother, however, plays them against each other, and each knows the cost of falling out of her favor. Their bond is a tense, uneasy one, like a dance neither can leave.

The royal debut party is approaching, and with it their one chance to impress the Prince and meet their mother's expectations. In the meantime, a glimpse of a life beyond her wishes opens up for each of them. Drizella discovers a love of science. Anastasia begins a secret romance.

Lady Tremaine's real talent is manipulation, and she is not easily outmaneuvered. This is a young adult retelling that treats the two stepsisters from Cinderella as people, and looks at the rivalry that shaped them into the characters readers know. It is the first book in the Disney Villains Dark Ascension series, written by Robin Benway, and its mood turns darker as the sisters' hopes meet their mother's control.