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slr242's review against another edition
3.0
It was OK. Better than Mirror Mirror but not as good as Wicked. I liked his ideas- but I just didn't like how he wrote them.
mikimeiko's review against another edition
4.0
I found it very difficult to read in the beginning, and slow. But when I got into the story, it was beautiful. I love fairy tales retellings, especially the ones that transform the story in a realistic one.
bunnies2500's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
situationnormal's review against another edition
3.0
I'll save a review for after Iah finishes it but I liked this one well enough
stacyschuttler's review against another edition
5.0
This was my favorite book ever. I actually read it twice! There was a great twist in this book. I found some of Gregory Maguire's other book to be a bit darker and stranger than this one.
baileyjane1's review against another edition
2.0
This novel was NOTHING like Wicked! It was extremely slow and it barely seemed like there was a point at all. I was so excited to read this after loving Wicked so much. After reading Confessions I'm afraid I am unsure whether I want to risk wasting the time reading Mirror, Mirror. I learned more about the history regarding the rise and fall of the tulip industry in 17th century Holland, alonside their passion and competitiveness for beauty in art. I felt that the actual story of Cinderella wasn't a part of the novel at all, whereas in Wicked you felt like you were still in a land of enchantment and surprises. It took me forever to finish this novel because it seemed more like a chore than a pasttime to read it!
lizaroo71's review against another edition
3.0
A reworking of Cinderella told from the step-sister's point of view. Iris and her sister Ruth find themselves in their mother's native Holland after the death of their father. There is mystery shrouding the events of the father's death, but there are not clues to what might have happened until near the end of the book (and then it is only suggestion).
Iris' family finds refuge with a painter trying to make a name for himself. We know him as The Master. The Master is hired to paint a picture of a wealthy merchant's beautiful young daughter Clara. This painting is to seal his fame in the world of art. Clara is a sheltered girl and kept indoors to protect her from any harm. When Clara's mother dies, Iris' mother swoops in to claim the father for herself. But the family's wealth is not what it would seem, and things begin to fall apart fast as Iris tries to reconcile her loyalty to her mother and to that of her step-sister Clara - who just might be the key to securing the family's fortune with the arrival of a young prince seeking a wife.
This moves at a quick pace and I found it an interesting perspective. I would have liked to know Clara a bit better and to understand the mother's viewpoint better.
Iris' family finds refuge with a painter trying to make a name for himself. We know him as The Master. The Master is hired to paint a picture of a wealthy merchant's beautiful young daughter Clara. This painting is to seal his fame in the world of art. Clara is a sheltered girl and kept indoors to protect her from any harm. When Clara's mother dies, Iris' mother swoops in to claim the father for herself. But the family's wealth is not what it would seem, and things begin to fall apart fast as Iris tries to reconcile her loyalty to her mother and to that of her step-sister Clara - who just might be the key to securing the family's fortune with the arrival of a young prince seeking a wife.
This moves at a quick pace and I found it an interesting perspective. I would have liked to know Clara a bit better and to understand the mother's viewpoint better.
ewg109's review against another edition
2.0
Well that’s 367 pages worth of my time I’m never getting back.
carlylottsofbookz's review against another edition
3.0
Once again, I wish Goodreads had a "1/2" option, this book is 3.5 stars, but not quite 4. :)
This isn't the book that I expected it to be, and it is very different from the Disney version.
Cinderella isn't the nice girl she is always portrayed to be. The stepmom IS just as terrible, though, the sisters aren't really.
A fun read. I like MacGuire.
This isn't the book that I expected it to be, and it is very different from the Disney version.
Cinderella isn't the nice girl she is always portrayed to be. The stepmom IS just as terrible, though, the sisters aren't really.
A fun read. I like MacGuire.
rbreade's review against another edition
The epigraph is from Howard Nemerov's poem, "Vermeer." The frame consists of the titular sister, Iris's, recollection as an old woman of her life, and of Clara's, the cinder-girl of fairytale. The frame is is told in the past tense and first person, and the story itself in the present tense and with some use of omniscience, though for much of the novel Maguire keeps the point of view in third person, close to Iris.