Rating: 
Summary: pleasing read, evocative but slight
Review: The author spins a good tale, although sometimes too slowly. He does a neat job of showing the real life events that might be transformed into magic in a fairy tale. Real enough to be believable but just enough magic to make it seem fantastical. A somewhat slight read, it won't make you question life, but it was enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: A Real Surprise
Review: This book took me by surprise. When I started to read it, I had to force myself to continue. It did not make sense in the beginning. The author uses some old fairy-tale style language. As I continnued to read, my interest continued to build. Before long, I could not put the book down and now I want to get his previous book "Wicked". I have a lot of admiration for the author. He had a very fresh and original style. He added quite a lot of twists to the story which really kept the reader guessing. It was quite a stimulating plot. This book reminded me of the stage I went through in elementary school when I read a lot of fairy tales. It was a very enjoyable stage.
Rating:
Summary: Another cool one from Maguire
Review: What an interesting take on the Cinderella story. You can tell Maguire must have done his research as to the origins of the story and the time period it was first told. The point of view was great! As always, Maguire writes a rich, full novel that gives a compelling backstory to one of our favorite tales. Can't wait for another one!
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Summary: CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER--GREGORY MAGUIRE
Review: This novel is the story of Iris, a young woman who runs away from England with her mother, Margerethe, and her retarded sister, Ruth, to Holland. Margerethe becomes the housekeeper of a tulip salesman, Mr. Van den Meer. When his wife dies and he marries Margerethe, Van den Meer's daughter turns to the warmth of the kitchen for solace. Iris befriends the young girl, Clara, and helps her get back out into the world by sending her to a ball. But the prince hosting it falls in love with Clara... A sad but well-written tale, Maguire once again shows us he loves doing fractured faery tales. Don't read this if you expect the old story of 'The Ashgirl'.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, disturbing, heartbreaking.
Review: A convincing, sobering reinterpretation of the story of Cinderella. Who exactly was Cinderella? How did she come to live with two ugly stepsisters and a domineering stepmother? Was her beauty a blessing or a curse? And what exactly did transpire the night of that fateful ball, when she was suddenly "freed" from her bondage? And what of the morning after?
This book is not for children; it's for adults. Its portrayal of human nature approaches that found in "Peyton Place." To quote from the text: "In the lives of children, pumpkins can turn into coaches, mice and rats into human beings. When we grow up, we learn that it's far more common for human beings to turn into rats."
The import of this story, and the lives of its characters, will stay with you long after you turn the last page. And if you should happen upon a brave little tulip on a blustery Spring day, you will remember Clara, Iris, and Ruth . . . and perhaps shed a tear.
Rating:
Summary: The truth behind the tale!
Review: Cinderella was an avid spinster who didn't really want to marry the Prince, the magic that contributed to her appearance at a ball was a conspiracy of common happenings, the stepsisters weren't as greedy and selfish as the fairy tale makes them out to be, etc. I like this story because it reminds us that there is a great difference between reality and what becomes public knowledge. There are parallels between fairy tales and today's events that occur and become the grist of tabloids. There are layers upon layers in the retelling of this common fairy tale. And that is as it should be. As we grow up and become more mature, reality becomes more and more complex. This truth is reflected in Maguires' retelling of a story that today still has female adherents waiting for their prince to come by and have them try on a slipper after a dance in a crowded disco with music too loud to do more than exchange written telephone numbers. I liked the imaginative setting for the story and the realistic reflection of realities that can come to pass in families. The story is familiar, now read what really happened! Spend your money and your reading time on this novel - it's worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Beauty and survival
Review: This, Maguire's second retelling of a "fairy tale" (the first is "Wicked"), is fairy tale only on the surface. Maguire takes this as an opportunity to write a well-turned, compelling rumination on beauty and ugliness, sacrifice and survival, generosity and selfishness. Maguire does not expand on a fantastical world, as he did with Baum's Oz in "Wicked;" instead, he places the fairy tale in pedestrian 17th-century Holland, most notable for its emerging bourgeios merchant-class and its accumulation of truly great painters. The story gets told mostly from the point of view of one of the "ugly" stepsisters, Iris, a girl brought to Holland from England by her mother, who can only think of survival and schemes herself into murder and bankruptcy. Cinderella herself is a girl of such surpassing physical beauty that she perceives it as a curse, and of her own volition becomes the cinder-girl when her mother dies in childbirth. The details are filled in from a completely human point of view, and there are ample opportunities for Maguire to explore the subjective nature of beauty, both physical and spiritual, perimarily in conversations between Iris, her mother, and a minor Dutch painter who becomes her mentor. Maguire pays attention to the relationships of the sisters and step-sisters, the (step)mother and daughters and step-daughter, without resorting to stereotypes. The two "ugly" sisters, Iris and Ruth, in particular form their own bonds with Clara, the Cinderella, and in the end Clara redeems the "curse" of her physical beauty through generosity. The only sour note in the book is the epilogue, written from Ruth's perspective and presenting her at odds with her portrayal in the rest of the book. Barbara Kingsolver used this device to much greater effect in "Poisonwood Bible", and that because she integrated the narrative of the "retarded" family member into the narrative as a whole. In general, however, this is a provocative book and an enjoyable one.
Rating:
Summary: Good Beginning & End
Review: Though CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER is overall well-written and fascinating, I can't say I enjoyed reading every minute of it. It was kinda slow in the middle, so I did my speed reading thing just so I could finish it and find out what happens in the end. Good ending! If the ending wasn't as great as author Gregory Maguire wrote it, the novel might've failed. But hey. Don't go reading the end without reading the rest of the book. You have to know everything that happens so you can appreciate the ending. Lovers of retold fairy tales (like I am) might enjoy checking this book out.
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Summary: Not your childhood Cinderella
Review: What an enjoyable and intelligent read!! There were so many things at so many levels about this book to recommend it, that I don't feel adequate to capture them. Yes, this is a "remake" of the Cinderella fairy tale, but that doesn't really do it justice. One concept that is interesting is the idea that the fairy tale evolved out of real circumstances. The book is written as a memoir after hearing children telling the tale of Cinderella. The person then goes on to tell what really happened and is amazed that their life has become the stuff of fairy tales. It does make you wonder if, in fact, many fairy tales are based in fact. Another concept is the changing of the characters personalities. In the traditional tale, Cinderella and of course the prince is good, the step-mother and two step-sisters are bad. In the remake, Cinderella is not perfect; in fact, we find that her banishment to the kitchen is of her own volition. The step-sisters are more complex. One is probably just an average girl, with feelings, emotions, and the normal stuff of early adulthood. She loves, she hates, and those emotions may be directed at the same person at different times. The other step-sister could be described in today's terminology as challenged. She's a mute, large, unattractive, and apparently a bit "slow". The step-sister is a little more evil than the one in the traditional telling. She not only persecutes Cinderella, we find that she commits murder. But, even that is tempered by the fact that she does what she does to try and protect her children. Well, and she is greedy and a social climber. The book is also populated with other characters that are just as rich and complex. There is the Master, who is one of the lesser known Dutch master painters of that era. There's Casper, the Master's apprentice. And there is Van den Meers. He is the man that Margarethe (evil step-mother) marries to become the step-mother. He is a man that is driven by his need to be accepted and driven by Margarethe to "keep up with the Joneses". Besides that fact that the characters are changed from one-dimensional characters into truly complex multi-dimensional beings, the author explores philosophical issues like, what is true beauty? What does motivate people? Just a fascinating read.
Rating:
Summary: More wonderful than I could possibly imagine.
Review: Confessions was a brilliant piece of work, even I being only twelve years old, I was able to understand it. The feelings and emotions equipped into this was the work of only a true genius. Gregory Maguire is now my favorite author, and it's amazing that someone could take an old fairy tale such as Cinderella, and make of it, a masterpiece sure to become an instant family classic.
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