Scan barcode
mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
Beauty, abuse, friendship, a queen who is obsessed with being young, and that gorgeous cover.
Re-read 2020! This was an amazing re-read. Corona and staying home is useful for something I guess, I am reading more re-reads now I have to ration my books. This book has been high on my Ohhh, I need to re-read this for some time, so yay.
A gorgeously written book about a girl who, when she moves away from home to a boarding school, learns to defy her mom and accept that she is pretty. Yes, her mom wants to be the fairest of them all and will do anything and everything to get that. Even abusing her daughter by making sure her daughter feels like a total crapfest if she so much as looks pretty or prettier than her. I felt sorry for the girl that she felt like she had to be ugly and had to fatten herself just to get attention and love from her mom. At times I wanted to shake her, especially later when things go wrong and she still thinks her mom cannot do anything wrong. What the actual hell, girl how damaged are you? Answer: too damaged. Poor thing.
So I was glad that at the boarding school she learned to appreciate herself more and that thanks to all the food she is learning to eat healthy again. Because eating cakes as only food is a big no no despite how lovely it sounds.
I loved the school-setting part aka boarding school it is one of my favourite settings. And while not much happens in this one because it is not a real school (not a spoiler this is pretty much known from the beginning as we get a POV from the boss of the school) I still loved reading about the lessons they had and what else they did at this place.
I loved seeing how things went from OK to worse slowly and I loved that our MC did everything she could to figure things out and to help out her friends/peers. Reading books about herbs, asking people, making sure her peers and friend were comfortable. The change in the girls was also an interesting one.
There are also POVs featuring the mom and the boss of the school. I definitely wasn’t a fan of the mom’s POV as the mom is just a psychotic woman who needs to accept she is getting older. Plus, with that POV we also get that creepy Beauty Consultant who I never liked as he was just wayyyy too much NOPE. While the other POV give some insight in the characters, sorry, if I don’t like a character (and I didn’t like either of them) then I don’t want them.
I flew through this book, just like I did when I read it first. Before I knew it the book was over. I would definitely recommend it to all and I can’t wait to re-read this one again in a few years.
Re-read 2020! This was an amazing re-read. Corona and staying home is useful for something I guess, I am reading more re-reads now I have to ration my books. This book has been high on my Ohhh, I need to re-read this for some time, so yay.
A gorgeously written book about a girl who, when she moves away from home to a boarding school, learns to defy her mom and accept that she is pretty. Yes, her mom wants to be the fairest of them all and will do anything and everything to get that. Even abusing her daughter by making sure her daughter feels like a total crapfest if she so much as looks pretty or prettier than her. I felt sorry for the girl that she felt like she had to be ugly and had to fatten herself just to get attention and love from her mom. At times I wanted to shake her, especially later when things go wrong and she still thinks her mom cannot do anything wrong. What the actual hell, girl how damaged are you? Answer: too damaged. Poor thing.
So I was glad that at the boarding school she learned to appreciate herself more and that thanks to all the food she is learning to eat healthy again. Because eating cakes as only food is a big no no despite how lovely it sounds.
I loved the school-setting part aka boarding school it is one of my favourite settings. And while not much happens in this one because it is not a real school (not a spoiler this is pretty much known from the beginning as we get a POV from the boss of the school) I still loved reading about the lessons they had and what else they did at this place.
I loved seeing how things went from OK to worse slowly and I loved that our MC did everything she could to figure things out and to help out her friends/peers. Reading books about herbs, asking people, making sure her peers and friend were comfortable. The change in the girls was also an interesting one.
There are also POVs featuring the mom and the boss of the school. I definitely wasn’t a fan of the mom’s POV as the mom is just a psychotic woman who needs to accept she is getting older. Plus, with that POV we also get that creepy Beauty Consultant who I never liked as he was just wayyyy too much NOPE. While the other POV give some insight in the characters, sorry, if I don’t like a character (and I didn’t like either of them) then I don’t want them.
I flew through this book, just like I did when I read it first. Before I knew it the book was over. I would definitely recommend it to all and I can’t wait to re-read this one again in a few years.
bookishnicole's review against another edition
1.0
I feel like there was supposed to be a lesson about how there are more important things than beauty, but all the characters are just so vapid and dull that the message just never gets there.
lrauert's review against another edition
3.0
Story: 1/2 - too many unanswered questions (who was the beauty consultant? What was he?)
Characters: 1
Writing: 1
World: 1/2 - where was it? There were hardly any descriptions of the world except for the academy and its gardens and even then it was limited.
Originality: 1/2 - i didn't feel as if a lot of new things were brought to the table. It's a Snow White retelling and yet the only new things were that the mirror was the beauty consultant - whatever he was - and that she tried to kill all of the beautiful girls in the kingdom with pills. Which makes me wonder if this was supposed to be semi-modern or if this was a fantasy world completely.
Actual Rating: 3.5
Characters: 1
Writing: 1
World: 1/2 - where was it? There were hardly any descriptions of the world except for the academy and its gardens and even then it was limited.
Originality: 1/2 - i didn't feel as if a lot of new things were brought to the table. It's a Snow White retelling and yet the only new things were that the mirror was the beauty consultant - whatever he was - and that she tried to kill all of the beautiful girls in the kingdom with pills. Which makes me wonder if this was supposed to be semi-modern or if this was a fantasy world completely.
Actual Rating: 3.5
liralen's review against another edition
2.0
Beauty (also published as Mirror, Mirror) is a Snow White retelling: Ana, a young princess, hides her beauty for years in order to avoid angering her beautiful mother; only when Ana is sent away does she believe she can work to be anything other than ugly.
I find fairytale retellings appealing, but I think this one didn't have enough layers for me. Ana is at boarding school for much of the book, but I don't think we ever see her in a class, and almost none of her classmates are developed beyond being pretty girls obsessed with fashion and makeup and the like. Nor are the headmaster's motivations developed, or even Ana's. What does she want, beyond her mother's approval?
Ana does develop, a tiny bit, at the end of the story: she finally sees that her mother will go to any lengths to be the 'fairest of them all'. But beyond that, what? The story just sort of...ends. I want to know why beauty was the be-all and end-all for the queen (and why she felt the need to kill off anyone else who might be attractive...and why this had never come up before...), what the other students want beyond beauty, etc. What was the role of the beauty consultant? What was the end game? The story gets away with ignoring some of this because of its suspend-your-disbelief style, but at the end too many questions remain for me.
I find fairytale retellings appealing, but I think this one didn't have enough layers for me. Ana is at boarding school for much of the book, but I don't think we ever see her in a class, and almost none of her classmates are developed beyond being pretty girls obsessed with fashion and makeup and the like. Nor are the headmaster's motivations developed, or even Ana's. What does she want, beyond her mother's approval?
Ana does develop, a tiny bit, at the end of the story: she finally sees that her mother will go to any lengths to be the 'fairest of them all'. But beyond that, what? The story just sort of...ends. I want to know why beauty was the be-all and end-all for the queen (and why she felt the need to kill off anyone else who might be attractive...and why this had never come up before...), what the other students want beyond beauty, etc. What was the role of the beauty consultant? What was the end game? The story gets away with ignoring some of this because of its suspend-your-disbelief style, but at the end too many questions remain for me.
goldiefan's review against another edition
1.0
I was forced to read this back in year 7 and can still remember that I really didn't enjoy it. Just boring and annoying, not my type of book at all.
jaymeshaw's review against another edition
3.0
I kind of felt like this was over before it even started. The climax was almost non-existent and then it was done! Although I did enjoy the story despite its short length, I definitely think the author could have gone a little farther/deeper with the story.
elevetha's review against another edition
2.0
This was some messed-up shite. That's mostly what I remember.
The one aspect that got me excited at first was that I thought Ana was smart and making her skin mottled and eating too much and not washing her hair as self-preservation. I thought she was smart. Nope. She was only doing those things to make her mom like her. Like, Ana legitimately believes that her mom loves her, but that she needs to make herself ugly to receive her mother's love. Ugh.
A really odd and slightly pathetic retelling of Snow White.
The one aspect that got me excited at first was that I thought Ana was smart and making her skin mottled and eating too much and not washing her hair as self-preservation. I thought she was smart. Nope. She was only doing those things to make her mom like her. Like, Ana legitimately believes that her mom loves her, but that she needs to make herself ugly to receive her mother's love. Ugh.
A really odd and slightly pathetic retelling of Snow White.
roxanebayer's review against another edition
1.0
The plot description is interesting and something I would want to read, but, the book is just...not the best. Ana seemed like a 10 year old, that I don't want to get to know, and this is not how it should be when it comes to the protagonist. Some of the things that happen also seem really silly. I did not like the book at all, nothing about it was pleasant except for the synopsis at the back. So much more could have been done with the concept. The book also tried to be too dark sometimes, which never worked and it always seemed forced.
annaxreads's review against another edition
4.0
I have a confession to make.
This is… not my first time reading this book. *pause for effect* It’s shocking, I know. The first time I read this book must have been when I was in middle school, I think. And rereading this retelling of Snow White was just Nostalgia City for me. Before sitting down to write this review, I did a little snooping and read some reviews (not to influence my opinion, mind you, my mind was made up years ago). From what I found, the overall consensus was merely “… ehh.” Okay, maybe I’m a little biased–as people tend to be when recalling a fond memory from their childhood–but this book deserves more than that!
Since this is a retelling of a popular fairy tale, I feel comfortable talking a bit more about certain events that would normally seem spoiler-ish, but I feel fairly confident you are familiar with Snow White’s story, so let us begin.
*clears throat* Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful queen and her–almost– equally beautiful daughter. (She’s not the stepmother in this adaptation! Fun, right?) Days, months, years pass and the daughter blossoms before the queen’s very eyes. The princess’s beauty grows daily. Though it isn’t until the day of the princess’s twelfth birthday that the queen’s worst fears are confirmed. And so our story begins.
“Your daughter, your little Tatiana, is going to be the greatest beauty in Ran someday. Take my word for it.”
From then on, the queen’s treatment of her daughter grows colder. Cruel. If your mother resented your beauty, what would you do? For Tatiana, or Ana, as she prefers to be called, the answer was simple: she would make herself ugly. And, I’m sorry to say, it worked. For every pound Ana gained, so, too, did she gain more of her mother’s love. For every blemish on her previously flawless skin, her mother openly doted upon her. Luckily, in tales such as this, the only way to go from here is up.
Around Ana’s sixteenth birthday, her mother sends her away to an academy for the brightest young girls in the kingdom. Now, as you might imagine, Ana is less than eager to be parted from her beloved mother (sadly, that wasn’t sarcastic), so her only comfort is that her best friend, Pell, will also be attending said new prestigious academy. But as time passed, Ana’s suspicions about the school started to grow. With the exception of herself, every student at the school was stunning. The school’s tagline was basically, “Smart girls go here!” while in reality, the student body (and, consequently, the headmaster) was less concerned about book learnin’ and more concerned with ooh-isn’t-our-headmaster-so-dreamy-and-do-you-think-this-dress-washes-me-out?
At this time, you might be thinking, Ana’s mother is far away and Ana is surrounded by pretty girls, so can’t she un-uglify herself now? Yes! She can and she did! This was my proud mama hen moment, honestly.
“She admired the way her skin glowed, her hair glowed, her eyes glowed. It was as though she had come to life after a seemingly endless hibernation and shed her dark, dirty winter coat.”
Honestly, there were a lot of quotable lines in this chapter alone, so it was hard to choose just one. But, like… this was so satisfying to read. The majority of the book has a dark, somber mood, but this one chapter was filled with so much light. And hope. Gone was the oppressive shadow of the–evil–queen. Princess Ana had come into her own and I *clap* am *clap* here *clap* for *clap* it *clap* *clap*.
The events after this are, in fact, spoilers, so I can’t really go any deeper than this. But just… trust me. If you’re worried about wasting time on reading a book that has less-than-stellar reviews *sigh*, then I’m pretty sure you’ll like what I have to say.
It’s less than 200 pages.
Pretty enticing, right? I can’t address all the complaints in the reviews I read, but I will address a couple. One, I agree with. The other? Not so much. I’ll address the latter first. To sum up: boring, dark, disliked the interpretation of the story. Okay, the last part is entirely subjective, so I can’t argue that, but I will give my own opinion. I liked it. Beauty is a bit dark, as I’d said, but isn’t that sort of fitting? I mean, a story about a girl’s (step)mother sending an assassin after her because she’s threatened by her beauty? It’s not exactly a light-hearted, feel-good tale. So, for me, the mood is suitable. As for the overall story itself, I think Ohlin did a great job, and, this may just be the nostalgia talking, but I think I will read this again someday.
The other complaint I will–briefly–address: the pacing, particularly at the end. I agree that the ending felt a bit rushed and could have been fleshed out some more. Did I like the ending? Mmm… it was satisfying, in a way, I suppose, but after seeing the world through Ana’s eyes for the majority of the book, the ending was bittersweet. I’ll leave the ultimate decision up to you, though. If my rambling convinced you to pick up this book and give it a chance, please let me know your thoughts! Do you like this retelling of Snow White? Is there another version you like better? I’m always eager to hear your thoughts!
And so, the stats:
Feels: no tears, but I definitely got a case of the feels a few times.
The Funnies: 1/10
Romance: [spoiler: no]
Bad Parenting: 100/10
Ana: 9/10 Anas
[There is some sensitive content; references to self-harm have been made a couple times in the book]
This is… not my first time reading this book. *pause for effect* It’s shocking, I know. The first time I read this book must have been when I was in middle school, I think. And rereading this retelling of Snow White was just Nostalgia City for me. Before sitting down to write this review, I did a little snooping and read some reviews (not to influence my opinion, mind you, my mind was made up years ago). From what I found, the overall consensus was merely “… ehh.” Okay, maybe I’m a little biased–as people tend to be when recalling a fond memory from their childhood–but this book deserves more than that!
Since this is a retelling of a popular fairy tale, I feel comfortable talking a bit more about certain events that would normally seem spoiler-ish, but I feel fairly confident you are familiar with Snow White’s story, so let us begin.
*clears throat* Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful queen and her–almost– equally beautiful daughter. (She’s not the stepmother in this adaptation! Fun, right?) Days, months, years pass and the daughter blossoms before the queen’s very eyes. The princess’s beauty grows daily. Though it isn’t until the day of the princess’s twelfth birthday that the queen’s worst fears are confirmed. And so our story begins.
“Your daughter, your little Tatiana, is going to be the greatest beauty in Ran someday. Take my word for it.”
From then on, the queen’s treatment of her daughter grows colder. Cruel. If your mother resented your beauty, what would you do? For Tatiana, or Ana, as she prefers to be called, the answer was simple: she would make herself ugly. And, I’m sorry to say, it worked. For every pound Ana gained, so, too, did she gain more of her mother’s love. For every blemish on her previously flawless skin, her mother openly doted upon her. Luckily, in tales such as this, the only way to go from here is up.
Around Ana’s sixteenth birthday, her mother sends her away to an academy for the brightest young girls in the kingdom. Now, as you might imagine, Ana is less than eager to be parted from her beloved mother (sadly, that wasn’t sarcastic), so her only comfort is that her best friend, Pell, will also be attending said new prestigious academy. But as time passed, Ana’s suspicions about the school started to grow. With the exception of herself, every student at the school was stunning. The school’s tagline was basically, “Smart girls go here!” while in reality, the student body (and, consequently, the headmaster) was less concerned about book learnin’ and more concerned with ooh-isn’t-our-headmaster-so-dreamy-and-do-you-think-this-dress-washes-me-out?
At this time, you might be thinking, Ana’s mother is far away and Ana is surrounded by pretty girls, so can’t she un-uglify herself now? Yes! She can and she did! This was my proud mama hen moment, honestly.
“She admired the way her skin glowed, her hair glowed, her eyes glowed. It was as though she had come to life after a seemingly endless hibernation and shed her dark, dirty winter coat.”
Honestly, there were a lot of quotable lines in this chapter alone, so it was hard to choose just one. But, like… this was so satisfying to read. The majority of the book has a dark, somber mood, but this one chapter was filled with so much light. And hope. Gone was the oppressive shadow of the–evil–queen. Princess Ana had come into her own and I *clap* am *clap* here *clap* for *clap* it *clap* *clap*.
The events after this are, in fact, spoilers, so I can’t really go any deeper than this. But just… trust me. If you’re worried about wasting time on reading a book that has less-than-stellar reviews *sigh*, then I’m pretty sure you’ll like what I have to say.
It’s less than 200 pages.
Pretty enticing, right? I can’t address all the complaints in the reviews I read, but I will address a couple. One, I agree with. The other? Not so much. I’ll address the latter first. To sum up: boring, dark, disliked the interpretation of the story. Okay, the last part is entirely subjective, so I can’t argue that, but I will give my own opinion. I liked it. Beauty is a bit dark, as I’d said, but isn’t that sort of fitting? I mean, a story about a girl’s (step)mother sending an assassin after her because she’s threatened by her beauty? It’s not exactly a light-hearted, feel-good tale. So, for me, the mood is suitable. As for the overall story itself, I think Ohlin did a great job, and, this may just be the nostalgia talking, but I think I will read this again someday.
The other complaint I will–briefly–address: the pacing, particularly at the end. I agree that the ending felt a bit rushed and could have been fleshed out some more. Did I like the ending? Mmm… it was satisfying, in a way, I suppose, but after seeing the world through Ana’s eyes for the majority of the book, the ending was bittersweet. I’ll leave the ultimate decision up to you, though. If my rambling convinced you to pick up this book and give it a chance, please let me know your thoughts! Do you like this retelling of Snow White? Is there another version you like better? I’m always eager to hear your thoughts!
And so, the stats:
Feels: no tears, but I definitely got a case of the feels a few times.
The Funnies: 1/10
Romance: [spoiler: no]
Bad Parenting: 100/10
Ana: 9/10 Anas
[There is some sensitive content; references to self-harm have been made a couple times in the book]
julesgou's review against another edition
3.0
This is a very interesting take on Snow White.
Ana wants what she can't have. She becomes "ugly" so that her mother can love her. Ana thinks that their is nothing wrong with her mother.
Queen Veda wants to be the fairest one in the land and uses her beauty consultant to achieve her goal.
This is Snow White without the Prince Charming.
I didn't like Ana. A mother needs to love you for who you are. If you are "pretty", then she should love you. Yes, maybe she had some moments but that means diddle squat. Mothers love you for you, not because you are "ugly".
It was a unique twist on the Snow White tale, I do have to say. The fact that Ohlin made it potions and pills that were the downfall, it sorta connected with society today. Some people will do many things to make sure that people think they are beautiful. Here is the thing. Nobody can make you believe you're beautiful. If you don't believe, you will always think that you are ugly.
Nice, fast read and interesting take on Snow White, the evil Queen and the mirror.
Ana wants what she can't have. She becomes "ugly" so that her mother can love her. Ana thinks that their is nothing wrong with her mother.
Queen Veda wants to be the fairest one in the land and uses her beauty consultant to achieve her goal.
This is Snow White without the Prince Charming.
I didn't like Ana. A mother needs to love you for who you are. If you are "pretty", then she should love you. Yes, maybe she had some moments but that means diddle squat. Mothers love you for you, not because you are "ugly".
It was a unique twist on the Snow White tale, I do have to say. The fact that Ohlin made it potions and pills that were the downfall, it sorta connected with society today. Some people will do many things to make sure that people think they are beautiful. Here is the thing. Nobody can make you believe you're beautiful. If you don't believe, you will always think that you are ugly.
Nice, fast read and interesting take on Snow White, the evil Queen and the mirror.