Reviews

Confessions Of An Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

labunnywtf's review against another edition

4.0

I really, really enjoyed this book. If you allow yourself to forget that it's a take on Cinderella, it is still a fabulous book. Once you get to the parts where you sort of snap to remembering, "Oh, right...wicked stepmother...", you're already entrapped in the world of Iris.

This is a truly wonderful take on the story. Margarethe, the wicked stepmother, is an evil evil cow. I was more than a little horrified when she told the clothier that she could offer him something in the future as payment, then called Clara forward. That was very shocking, though I should've seen it coming. I loved how Iris did take the role of "evil" stepsister, in the slightest ways possible, but it was still there.

The twist at the end was truly lovely. I really didn't see it coming, which I should've. That's been happening a lot lately.

Did I mention Margarethe is an evil, evil cow?

noella_t's review against another edition

4.0

Interesting to read the step-sister's side of the story. Gives more depth to the original Cinderella story.

mrsbrewcrew's review against another edition

4.0

I liked the retelling of the Cinderella story from a different perspective. It was a good reminder that what we accept as "truth" in life has alternative interpretations, it depends on what we are open to hearing.

The ending suprised me, even when I knew how it would end. However, I did feel like I wanted a fuller epilogue and more info on Iris's life. But somethings are meant to remain mysterious...

bekapod's review against another edition

dark inspiring sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

kirsty's review against another edition

2.0

I love reselling a of fairy tales, but this was slow and relatively predictable. It lacks the inventiveness of Angela Carter, Roald Dahl or Philip Pullman and their retellings. The tulip bubble was rather obvious and laboured. What was more interesting was the paintings and Haarlem - I only kept reading because of these.

afaber's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

sparklethenpop's review against another edition

1.0

I really liked Wicked and Son of A Witch a lot but I just couldn't get into this one.

zvermilya11's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

Lovely. A great take on an old tale. And filled with some of the sassiest insults I have ever read. 

mmurph04's review against another edition

3.75

I don't remember most of this book, I just read it because my mom read it in a bookclub 

kfrickle's review against another edition

It had themes in this book that were problematic for me. The writing style was not my favorite. Also, I realized that this author wrote 'Wicked', and that was a book that I too had DNF'd.