Rating: 
Summary: Nice lessons without being preachy. Lovely novel!
Review: Wow! Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is moving, poignant drama filled with magic, adventure, wit and subtlety. What a fantastic read!It begins with an old crone listening to children in the street reciting the fairy tale CINDERELLA, and realizing that they must be speaking of *her* family, but the story has been bastardized, butchered beyond recognition. This is how it "really" happened, from the point of view of the crone, one of the two so-called wicked step sisters. And what an absolute joy to read. Stripping the fairy-tale of it's magic mice and fairy godmothers allows for true issues of self-worth to be addressed, along with a good dose of romance and wit. The story is cleverly plotted, coming up with mundane explanations for the magic in the fairy-tale, while telling the unique tale of the compassionate step-sister who is instrumental in her two sisters' development. The tension within the story is palpable and utterly credible. Iris, an awkward teen, fears her looks and the scary magic she perceives lurking around her in her new home and her new country. Clara's confrontation with "Wicked Step Mother "Margarethe is the story's driving conflict, and all the reasons behind the Margarethe's behavior are rivetingly explained. Iris has a good, true heart, but must overcome her low esteem and fight her mother's tyranny to find love. Clara, too must come to terms with her looks, which she deems just as much a curse as Iris' ugliness. Her search for courage and competence after being raised as a porcelain doll is a valuable lesson to put across to readers without being preachy. Margarethe is a formidable villain to every character in the story, capable of taking them all on with cunning. The writing is quick, intelligent and humorous and filled with menace, at all the right moments. Yum yum yum. Can't wait to read Wicked. Bravo!
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely a different "Cinderella"
Review: First of all, "Confessions" is a very, very different version of the Cinderella story. For one, Clara, our Cinderella, is not the kind, gentle, hardworking girl the fairy tale has. She is spoiled, stubborn, and timid. The evil stepsisters are not evil; Iris, our main character, is plain, but smart and has an eye for art, and Ruth, the older stepsister, cannot take care of herself, cannot speak, but does have a good heart. Margarethe, the stepmother, is not nessecarily evil, but ambitious. She will do anything and everything to ensure that her family has enough food, but it is her own greed that brings the downfall of their family. That said, "Confessions" is good, but if you have a very strong version of the Cinderella tale, I wouldn't recommend it that much. This could have actually happened; and the book is vivid with detail; the poor souls the Master paints, the tulips, the day the river freezes over . . . everything. It has the same basic plot as Cinderella: a mother and her two daughters marry a wealthy man who has an unearthly beauty for a daughter. Only, Clara is not forced to work; she retreats to the kitchen and ashes to hide from Margarethe, and even gives herself the name Cinderella. Iris struggles to help Clara, and still be loyal to her mother and Ruth, but an offer to be the apprentice to the Master, a painter, is too good to resist. When the night of the ball does arrive, Clara is convinced to go, though she does so reluctantly. At first, Iris and the prince hit it off, and then enter Clara. Prince and Clara disappear into another room, where they remain for the remainder of the evening. Do the prince and Clara fall in love? Is there a glass slipper? Is Clara really a changling? Is there more to Ruth than what meets the eye? What secrets lie in the past. Read, and you'll receive answers, kind of. Like I said, the book is wonderful, and reminds me a bit of The Midwife's Apprentice, but it is an entirely different Cinderella. Not love at first sight, fairy godmothers, or perfect heroine. Real, flawed people, rich detail, and magic hiding in the smallest places. For a different, more fairy tale-ish version of Cinderella, try Ella Enchanted, or try Robin McKinley's Beauty for a different version of Beauty and the Beast.
Rating:
Summary: Assignment
Review: Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister has a captivating twist to a well-known and often recited tale. The family of misfits, known in other tales as the evil step-mother and ugly step-sisters, finds themselves in many different predicaments and Margerethe, the "evil" step-mother, always finds a creative, though vindictive and selfish, way out. The fairy tale turned realistic fiction, begins with such an event. The originally Dutch family has lost their English father/husband and must find a place to live and work. Returning to Holland gives them little hope but Margerethe is determined. Through chance, and what Iris sees as a house imp, the social status of these outcasts begins to grow, until soon they have become step-family to Clara.
Gregory Maguire is an excellent author whom excels at all attempts to create literary works of art, and this novel is no exception. With his words he paints a visible image of Holland, the sisters, the Van-den-Meer home, and other surroundings. He catches your attention with a combination of realism and suppositious fantasy that was common of that time. Gregory continues to pull you into the book with creative forms of foreshadowing, and explicit details. Over all, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is a must read for all.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely a different "Cinderella"
Review: First of all, "Confessions" is a very, very different version of the Cinderella story. For one, Clara, our Cinderella, is not the kind, gentle, hardworking girl the fairy tale has. She is spoiled, stubborn, and timid. The evil stepsisters are not evil; Iris, our main character, is plain, but smart and has an eye for art, and Ruth, the older stepsister, cannot take care of herself, cannot speak, but does have a good heart. Margarethe, the stepmother, is not nessecarily evil, but ambitious. She will do anything and everything to ensure that her family has enough food, but it is her own greed that brings the downfall of their family. That said, "Confessions" is good, but if you have a very strong version of the Cinderella tale, I wouldn't recommend it that much. This could have actually happened; and the book is vivid with detail; the poor souls the Master paints, the tulips, the day the river freezes over . . . everything. It has the same basic plot as Cinderella: a mother and her two daughters marry a wealthy man who has an unearthly beauty for a daughter. Only, Clara is not forced to work; she retreats to the kitchen and ashes to hide from Margarethe, and even gives herself the name Cinderella. Iris struggles to help Clara, and still be loyal to her mother and Ruth, but an offer to be the apprentice to the Master, a painter, is too good to resist. When the night of the ball does arrive, Clara is convinced to go, though she does so reluctantly. At first, Iris and the prince hit it off, and then enter Clara. Prince and Clara disappear into another room, where they remain for the remainder of the evening. Do the prince and Clara fall in love? Is there a glass slipper? Is Clara really a changling? Is there more to Ruth than what meets the eye? What secrets lie in the past. Read, and you'll receive answers, kind of. Like I said, the book is wonderful, and reminds me a bit of The Midwife's Apprentice, but it is an entirely different Cinderella. Not love at first sight, fairy godmothers, or perfect heroine. Real, flawed people, rich detail, and magic hiding in the smallest places. For a different, more fairy tale-ish version of Cinderella, try Ella Enchanted, or try Robin McKinley's Beauty for a different version of Beauty and the Beast.
Rating:
Summary: Cinderella deconstructed and rewoven
Review: Having grown up on and loved various versions of the classic Cinderella story, I was immediately drawn to this book because of the new perspective it offered on the tale -- the mysterious viewpoint of the "ugly stepsister." However, Maguire's excellent take on Cinderella does more than just reveal the heretofore unseen stepsisters and their complex histories and personalities. Framed by the familiar fairy-tale details, "Confessions" is a thoughtful, sometimes gruesome, very beautiful meditation on a host of timeless issues: social class, human psychology, artistic talent, the role of women, family love, and the nature of beauty. By setting his revised Cinderella tale in the context of seventeenth-century Dutch merchant-class society, Maguire gives his story foundations of history and art, lending rich flavor to his sparingly elegant prose, and giving additional depth to his unusual cast of characters. The stepsisters (smart but plain Iris and her simpleton sister Ruth) and Clara, the lovely and haunted "Cinderling," are especially well drawn, in all their various idiosyncrasies; and the extraordinary love and conflict between them is the most outstanding of the strong threads carrying the story. In short, Maguire has expertly boiled this classic fairy tale down to its essence, then rewoven it into something fantastic, strange, and unforgettable.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible
Review: I couldn't stand this book. I couldn't even make it through the first half without giving up and tossing the book aside. I absolutely loved Wicked and would put it on my list of favorite books so I can't understand how the same author came out with a book this bad.
Rating:
Summary: I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED THIS BOOK
Review: I picked this to read before i got on to read the much hyped Wicked. I can not impress on anyone how much I love this book. It is deeply and richly explains motivation and the feelings in any Cinderella story. Enjoy this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing...
Review: After all the hype that followed Wicked, I felt compelled to pick this one up. Mistake!
After getting through a fairly promising start to the book, it slogged on until the very end, where it got interesting again (if not wholly unrealistic).
Not worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: Very good!
Review: I admit it! I already knew what was going to happen after seeing the movie Disney made for ABC. But, the book was SO much better. There were some darker things going on in the book, and I love the moral on beauty. I only wish that everyone would read this and become wiser for it. I liked all the characters, even the ones I was supposed to dislike, and Mr. Maguire has a way with words, so that his tales seem simple, but still very complex. Whether your a teenager, or an adult, you'll find this book hard to put down, because you'll be engulfed in its richness and quality. Defintely worth reading.
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Summary: fairy tale ending?
Review: As he did in his excellent novel, "Wicked," Maguire once again takes a familiar fairy tale and rearranges our preconceived notions on a story that has been handed down from generation to generation. This time, Maguire uses the tale of Cinderella as a backdrop to the eternal question, "is beauty really in the eye of the beholder and who decides what is truly beautiful?" The story takes place in Holland and revolves mainly around one of Cinderella's stepsisters, Iris. Maguire develops a "back-story" that discloses the odd circumstances in which the young girls first become acquaintances and then family. The family is plagued with misfortune primarily due to the overbearing mentality of Iris' mother, Margarethe. She is driven to extremes to try and satisfy her own cravings for wealth and importance in the community. Iris, who has an eye for art, is portrayed as the only family member capable of of "keeping things together." Her maternal sister, Ruth, is awkward and has the mind of a child. As for Cinderella, she is a spoiled rich girl that has never learned how to care for herself and has much growing up to do. In Maguire's tale, the step sisters are not the evil villains they've been made out to be and Cinderella, or Clara as she is called, is not the perfect "catch" even though her bewitching beauty is unchallenged. The mother, on the other hand, does have an evil persona to her character. However, Maguire offers insights into her personality and experiences that have made her that way. This is an excellent book. My short description doesn't really do it any justice. Although I didn't like it as much as "Wicked," it was still a very worthwhile read.
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