Rating: 
Summary: Unique entertainment puzzling at times
Review: I read all of this author's books and I saw the musical version of "Wicked" in San Francisco when it had its trial run. I enjoy his sly, witty and clever retellings of classic tales. This male author writes women quite well - he has a lot of female characters to deal with because woman are usually the ones having something done to them in fairy tales. I thought this book was very good; I looked forward to returning to it each day. I loved how he made "the wicked stepmother" Lucrezia Borgia (and not the stepmother at all). She doesn't just have things done to her but she DOES.That being said, I was puzzled by the inclusion of the mysterious holy relic, the Apples of Eden. I understand he included this because in that period of history certain people were very interested in obtaining these types of relics, but what these Apples were doing to the dwarves and others who ate of them, and what exactly they did to Bianca (Snow White) - I didn't quite follow. I didn't quite follow what the dwarves were supposed to be like, either. At first they seem to be little more than stones; later they become more like humans. It's just a little puzzling that the author is making it a point to cast classic tales in a historical, believable light for adult readers, obviously researching the time period in detail and including real historical characters - then he puts in elements that aren't believable anyway. You're not sure how you're supposed to take what you're reading. At one point one of the dwarves is described as a headless stone dog and even Lucrezia Borgia doesn't blink an eye at his/its appearance. A bit puzzling. Still, better than the average read. I'll be back for the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Unique entertainment puzzling at times
Review: I read all of this author's books and I saw the musical version of "Wicked" in San Francisco when it had its trial run. I enjoy his sly, witty and clever retellings of classic tales. This male author writes women quite well - he has a lot of female characters to deal with because woman are usually the ones having something done to them in fairy tales. I thought this book was very good; I looked forward to returning to it each day. I loved how he made "the wicked stepmother" Lucrezia Borgia (and not the stepmother at all). She doesn't just have things done to her but she DOES. That being said, I was puzzled by the inclusion of the mysterious holy relic, the Apples of Eden. I understand he included this because in that period of history certain people were very interested in obtaining these types of relics, but what these Apples were doing to the dwarves and others who ate of them, and what exactly they did to Bianca (Snow White) - I didn't quite follow. I didn't quite follow what the dwarves were supposed to be like, either. At first they seem to be little more than stones; later they become more like humans. It's just a little puzzling that the author is making it a point to cast classic tales in a historical, believable light for adult readers, obviously researching the time period in detail and including real historical characters - then he puts in elements that aren't believable anyway. You're not sure how you're supposed to take what you're reading. At one point one of the dwarves is described as a headless stone dog and even Lucrezia Borgia doesn't blink an eye at his/its appearance. A bit puzzling. Still, better than the average read. I'll be back for the next one.
Rating: 
Summary: Out of place
Review: I read Gregory Maguire's Wicked and absolutely loved it. I adore the idea of taking a common story and putting a twist on it. I was excited about this new book, so I reserved it at the library before it had even been published. I was sorely disappointed and that is being kind. I felt like I missed something important in the story telling process that would explain what was happening. The basic plot of the story is easy enough to follow. Bianca de Nevada's name literally translates into White from Snow (Nevada being a snowy region). Bianca is the daughter of a landowner, Vicente, who's mother died during childbirth. She lives with the cook, Primavera who acts as her nanny and Fra Ludovico, a priest. While draining a lake for irrigation purposes, they find a mirror laying at the bottom and put it up on a wall in their home. One day a campaign comes through and the Borgia siblings, Cesare and Lucrezia pay Bianca and her father a visit. The Borgia's are historical people, known for their wicked ways. Cesare sends Vicente out on a quest to find the lost limb of the Tree of Knowledge. The quest spans a decade and while Vicente is gone, Lucrezia drops in from time to time under the pretense of making sure Bianca is safe. She doesn't like the girl, but is never malicious toward her until her brother, Cesare comes along and is aroused by Bianca's beauty. Lucrezia is jealous of the attention Cesare gives to her and is bent on killing her. She employs Primavera's grandson, a hunter, to take her out into the forest and kill her, bringing back her heart. The hunter takes her out to the forest and tells her to run away, which she does. This is the part where I get a little sketchy because somehow Bianca falls into a deep sleep that spans several years. While she is sleeping, dwarves look after her. The dwarves are not those that appear in the Disney cartoon, they are completely separate and odd creatures. They are not really aware of themselves as unique individuals until Bianca comes to them. They are stone shape-shifters, obviously not human. There's nothing really interesting or endearing about the dwarves. When Bianca wakes up, there is an odd scene where her menstrual fluid comes out in one big spurt, as if it was being held back all those years. I'm still not exactly sure what that is supposed to symbolize. Bianca is quick to "befriend" the dwarves, although that isn't really the correct terminology because they are not her friends. They name themselves for her with names like Heartless, Gimpy and MuteMuteMute. They speak of an eighth, their brother. He has followed Vicente on his journey. The goal was to get their mirror back. Yes, of course, the mirror that was found at the bottom of the lake belongs to the dwarves. They created it in order to study humans so that they, themselves, might become more human. Vicente comes back from his journey with the limb. The limb contained three apples. One was left in another place for safe keeping. When he comes back, he learns his daughter is dead and Primavera has lost her tongue. Although it never states why, it is evident that Lucrezia had it cut out so Primavera wouldn't speak the truth she knew about Bianca. Lucrezia takes one of the apples and offers a slice to the stone dwarf that is following Vicente. The creature eats the slice and then takes the rest of the apple when it is offered to him by Lucrezia. The dwarf then leaves and returns to his brothers. They all eat from the apple. It seems to make them more human. It makes them age and change like a human would. Lucrezia learns that Bianca is still alive from the gooseboy who saw her in the forest. The gooseboy is supposedly Lucrezia's son, but that is another detail I missed the explanation for. Lucrezia becomes mad and tries several different ways to kill Bianca. She finally takes the last of the apples she was given and puts poison on one side of it. She gets Bianca to eat the apple by tasting from the non-poisoned side first. Bianca goes into another deep sleep lasting for years. The dwarves recapture their mirror and take the glass out to place over her coffin. Vicente stumbles upon her and just sits there for years before wandering off and dying. The gooseboy stumbles upon her and takes the glass off her coffin and asks to kiss her. The hunger, Primavera's grandson, comes back and stops the gooseboy and takes the pleasure for himself, awaking Bianca. Meanwhile Lucrezia wants to be happy and will stop at nothing for it. She is obsessed with the apple and feels that if she could have only had more of it, she would be happy. She remembers the third apple Vicente spoke of and sets off to find it. When she gets there, she finds a man who is using the apple himself. He has it in place of his heart. The end - that's it. The whole sordid tale doesn't make much sense to me. The story is too hard to follow and no one seems to be motivated to act the way they're acting. Things just happen for no good reason. Nothing is really explained very well. As mentioned before, this is a disappointment compared with Wicked. No magical world was created for me filled with wonder and emotion, friendships and excitement. Just a hard-to-follow story that is trying desperately to be exactly like, yet hardly familiar to the story of Snow White.
Rating: 
Summary: good start, bad finish
Review: i read wicked and stepsister and fell in love with this author. i read lost, and got a disappointing wake up call -- i bought this one hoping for a return to form... the first half is full of wonderful descriptions and well formed characters. i loved it. i couldn't wait for the fairy tale to begin once all the subplots were in place: then it happened. the second half of this book. wow. it's almost like someone else wrote the last portion. i think i missed the point of the dwarves altogether, which is upsetting, because i genuinely wanted to like them. i did appreciate the mix of history with fairy magic; however, the narrative was right on the point of taking off when it simply didn't. i can still hope for a return to form, can't i?
Rating:
Summary: A poor reflection
Review: I was quite disappointed with Gregory Maguire's latest novel. After thoroughly enjoying Wicked and Confessions..., I had expected at the very least to be drawn into the story, to have a sense of wonder, to care about what was happening. Instead, I found myself finishing the book out of a sense of duty rather than desire. To me, Maguire knocked this one off. Yes, I respect that he tied in the Snow White tale to real historical characters. But I thought that he did a far better job transporting a fairy tale into a point in history with Confessions than he did here. Mirror Mirror seemed forced: the changes in points of view were jarring, the poetry (yes, poetry) felt like filler, and I did not care about any of the characters. That being said, he prose is still strong, powerful. It's not the telling of the tale that I have issues with (well, except the abrupt changes in POV and first/third person narrative) but rather the plot itself. At the very least, I would recommend that readers wait for a paperback version rather than plunk down the cash for a hard cover.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the fairest of them all
Review: I've been looking forward to the newest Gregory Maguire novel for quite some time. I loved Wicked and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister but this one left me wanting something more from this story. I never felt any connection with any of the charaters and I didn't find amusement at a clever turn to a familiar story. This had all the elements to tell the old tale of Snow White from a different view point but there was never a firm grasp of one person as the main story teller; the story was too fragmented. I thought it was a great idea to put Lucrezia Borgia in the wicked stepmother role but there wasn't enough done with it. The view point of the dwarves also had great potential that was never fully developed too. All in all I was disappointed in this novel but it was still an interesting take on the story. If you haven't read any of Maguire's work I would suggest reading Wicked instead.
Rating:
Summary: A Brisk and Lively Reading Experience
Review: Just for a second, forget everything you know about the well-known story of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves." Forget the animated movie with the singable songs, forget the familiar story line with its happy ending. Instead, imagine a darker tale, filled with political intrigue, doomed quests and dark family secrets. Now you can taste a little of the flavor of Gregory Maguire's new novel MIRROR MIRROR. As he did with his previous novels WICKED (based on THE WIZARD OF OZ and now a Broadway musical) and CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER (based on "Cinderella"), Maguire takes the bones of these old, well-known stories and completely reinvents them into well-developed novels that can stand on their own. Maguire has been writing children's fantasy novels for a long time, so it is no surprise that he can skillfully play with elements of classic fantasy and make them into something totally new and often surprising. But don't think that MIRROR MIRROR and its predecessors are novels for children --- no, these are definitely fairy tales for grown-ups. In MIRROR MIRROR, history and fantasy are intertwined, and two of the main characters are the decadent (and incestuous) Borgia siblings, Cesare and Lucrezia. Near the beginning of the novel, the two pay a visit to the widower Vicente de Nevada and his strikingly lovely daughter Bianca at their villa, Montefiore, tucked in the hills of Tuscany and Umbria. Cesare sends Vicente off on a seemingly hopeless quest for the last remaining branch from the apple tree in the Garden of Eden. The beautiful but vain Lucrezia, her eye always on opportunities for personal advancement, offers to set up residence at Montefiore and keep an eye on Bianca. Vicente's quest takes years, and eventually he is assumed dead. Soon enough, though, Lucrezia's jealousy of Bianca's looks --- and specifically her resentment of Cesare's attraction to the girl's youthful beauty --- drives her to plot the girl's demise. As you might guess, however, the lovely Bianca survives, and the increasingly desperate Lucrezia is driven to more and more extreme lengths to destroy the girl who is "the fairest one of all." Maguire's skill in MIRROR MIRROR, as in his previous works, is with playfully reinventing familiar plots with darker themes and characters. Here the dwarves, for example, are not silly slapstick characters but shapeless, nameless stone-like creatures who gradually gain elements of humanity through their interactions with Bianca and their own quest to retrieve the mirror that causes so many problems: "The dwarves had hobbled out of their stony natures partly by accident and somewhat by design. . . . But now they couldn't empty their pockets of memory, of irritation, of regret or conundrum, of paradox or paradise. They were trapped by the laws of their own devising." The transformation of the dwarves is just one of the thought-provoking themes running through the novel. Character development, however, is not particularly strong in this book or in Maguire's previous fairy tale adaptations. In his earlier novels, Maguire played with characterization by making the reader care about traditionally unsympathetic characters such as the wicked witch or the ugly stepsister. In MIRROR MIRROR, though, the "evil stepmother" figure portrayed by Lucrezia Borgia remains unlikable from start to finish, and her motivations are never adequately explored. Even the character of Bianca is not particularly engaging --- she remains a passive, somewhat lifeless character throughout the novel. Part of the problem is the rate at which Maguire changes narrators --- each brief chapter is told from a different point of view, and just as we settle into one character's voice and vision, we're whisked away to the next. This narrative technique does make for a brisk and lively reading experience, though, which provides a nice contrast to the sensuous, luxurious descriptions of the Italian countryside. Readers looking for an imaginative, playful reworking of classic tales can't do better than Gregory Maguire's fractured fairy tales, and MIRROR MIRROR continues his strong tradition. --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl
Rating:
Summary: A Brisk and Lively Reading Experience
Review: Just for a second, forget everything you know about the well-known story of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves." Forget the animated movie with the singable songs, forget the familiar story line with its happy ending. Instead, imagine a darker tale, filled with political intrigue, doomed quests and dark family secrets. Now you can taste a little of the flavor of Gregory Maguire's new novel MIRROR MIRROR. As he did with his previous novels WICKED (based on THE WIZARD OF OZ and now a Broadway musical) and CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER (based on "Cinderella"), Maguire takes the bones of these old, well-known stories and completely reinvents them into well-developed novels that can stand on their own. Maguire has been writing children's fantasy novels for a long time, so it is no surprise that he can skillfully play with elements of classic fantasy and make them into something totally new and often surprising. But don't think that MIRROR MIRROR and its predecessors are novels for children --- no, these are definitely fairy tales for grown-ups. In MIRROR MIRROR, history and fantasy are intertwined, and two of the main characters are the decadent (and incestuous) Borgia siblings, Cesare and Lucrezia. Near the beginning of the novel, the two pay a visit to the widower Vicente de Nevada and his strikingly lovely daughter Bianca at their villa, Montefiore, tucked in the hills of Tuscany and Umbria. Cesare sends Vicente off on a seemingly hopeless quest for the last remaining branch from the apple tree in the Garden of Eden. The beautiful but vain Lucrezia, her eye always on opportunities for personal advancement, offers to set up residence at Montefiore and keep an eye on Bianca. Vicente's quest takes years, and eventually he is assumed dead. Soon enough, though, Lucrezia's jealousy of Bianca's looks --- and specifically her resentment of Cesare's attraction to the girl's youthful beauty --- drives her to plot the girl's demise. As you might guess, however, the lovely Bianca survives, and the increasingly desperate Lucrezia is driven to more and more extreme lengths to destroy the girl who is "the fairest one of all." Maguire's skill in MIRROR MIRROR, as in his previous works, is with playfully reinventing familiar plots with darker themes and characters. Here the dwarves, for example, are not silly slapstick characters but shapeless, nameless stone-like creatures who gradually gain elements of humanity through their interactions with Bianca and their own quest to retrieve the mirror that causes so many problems: "The dwarves had hobbled out of their stony natures partly by accident and somewhat by design. . . . But now they couldn't empty their pockets of memory, of irritation, of regret or conundrum, of paradox or paradise. They were trapped by the laws of their own devising." The transformation of the dwarves is just one of the thought-provoking themes running through the novel. Character development, however, is not particularly strong in this book or in Maguire's previous fairy tale adaptations. In his earlier novels, Maguire played with characterization by making the reader care about traditionally unsympathetic characters such as the wicked witch or the ugly stepsister. In MIRROR MIRROR, though, the "evil stepmother" figure portrayed by Lucrezia Borgia remains unlikable from start to finish, and her motivations are never adequately explored. Even the character of Bianca is not particularly engaging --- she remains a passive, somewhat lifeless character throughout the novel. Part of the problem is the rate at which Maguire changes narrators --- each brief chapter is told from a different point of view, and just as we settle into one character's voice and vision, we're whisked away to the next. This narrative technique does make for a brisk and lively reading experience, though, which provides a nice contrast to the sensuous, luxurious descriptions of the Italian countryside. Readers looking for an imaginative, playful reworking of classic tales can't do better than Gregory Maguire's fractured fairy tales, and MIRROR MIRROR continues his strong tradition. --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl
Rating:
Summary: The fairest of the fair.
Review: Mirror, Mirror is a twist on the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. As with Maguire's previous works, reading Mirror, Mirror is easier when you leave your pre-conceived notions of the story behind you. The only familiarity to Snow White, for the first half of the book, is Bianca de Nevada's name being translated, her appearance and the treasure of a mirror found at the bottom of a lake. This can be frustrating at first and the smallest similarity seems like a blessing, a familiarity. You look for them even when you know they are not there.
Bianca (Snow White) is merely a child at the birth of the story. She spends her days at her father's homestead of Montefiore with Primavera, the cook, Fra Ludivico, the priest and the Gooseboy. Not knowing or wanting a bigger world than this, it is an obvious shock when Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia arrive late one afternoon. Cesare and Lucrezia are the children of the late Roman Pope. Their relationship with Vicente de Nevada (Bianca's father) is unveiled later in the story. Cesare is both a religious and villainous man. He relates a tale to Vicente about the lost branch of the original Tree of Knowledge that Adam and Eve feasted from at the beginning of time. He has heard that the branch still exists and is hidden far away. He requires Vicente to retrieve it for him while he goes on to fight in one of his many wars. Vicente does not want to go, does not want to leave Montefiores nor Bianca. However, Cesare is not one to ask a favour, he demands Vicente partake on this journey or lose everything. Reluctantly, Vicente departs in the knowledge that the untrustworthy Lucrezia will be taking care of his beloved daughter.
The real story of Snow White, of course doesn't begin until Vicente has left and Lucrezia pays Ranccio (Primavera's son) to get rid of Bianca. It is here that we can flash back to our Disney-drawn memories of the hunter dragging the doe-eyed Snow White into the woods.
As I don't wish to give anymore of the plot away, I cannot tell you who, what, why or how the Seven Dwarves come about. Mostly because in this story there are Eight. Yes, they do take care of Bianca as she takes care of them, but the feel and actual idea of "care" are twisted and ultimately a surprise. The dwarves, of course, were my favourite characters in the story as they are nothing but contradictions. Simple yet complex. Old yet ageless. Empathetic yet uncaring. Human yet stone! They bring the story to life in a number of ways and the world of Montefiore would not be the same without them.
If you love fairy tales, and have read Maguire's previous works, you will warm to this story (eventually). If you haven't a care for fairy tales, it is still worth giving the book a try as it could ultimately be captivating for history aficionados, thrill seekers or terror lovers alike.
Rating:
Summary: Certainly not Maguire's best
Review: Overall, Mirror Mirror is a great book, but I just didn't think it was as good as Maguire's previous works. Unlike Wicked and Confessions, Mirror Mirror just didn't seem to bring anyting new to the table. It didn't have the new and fresh point of view from a well known character like Wicked and Confessions had.
I must admit that when I started reading Mirror Mirror, I didn't know anything about the history of Lucrezia Borgia. Before finishing the book, I read up on Lucrezia Borgia a little bit and that did help me to enjoy the book more but I still didn't think it lived up the the expectations that other novels of Maguire's set.
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