Rating: 
Summary: A disappointing novel for Gregory Maguire
Review: "Mirror, Mirror" turned out to be a disappointment after tackling two of Maguire's other novels, "Wicked" and "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister".
"Mirror, Mirror" is a novel that illustrates Maguire's interpretation of the story of Snow White. A young girl named Bianca De Nevada fills the role of Snow White. The setting of Maguire's tale is in Italy in the year 1502, when Bianca is seven-years old, and covers events in her life through the year 1519. The role of the wicked stepmother is filled not by a stepmother, but by a woman named Lucrezia Borgia. Lucrezia fills the wicked stepmother position because she looks in on Bianca through out the novel. Lucrezia volunteers to take care of Bianca while her father, Don Vicente, is on a quest that is assigned to him by Cesare Borgia, Lucrezia's brother. The addition of two members of the Borgia family, two historical figures, into a fictional novel gives the novel more historical background and reference.
Maguire's tale proves to be not as magical as Wicked, a novel about the wicked witch of the west from "The Wizard of Oz", or "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister", a version of Cinderella from the point of view of an ugly-stepsister. Although Maguire's re-telling of fairy tales are absent of magic, there is no absence of enchanting or magical aspects. In the versions of tales Maguire writes he explains the events occur without the aid of magic and puts a new spin on tales well known around the world. In Maguire's tale of Cinderella there is no fairy godmother and the wicked witch is neither wicked or a witch and at the end of the novel possesses no magical properties.
The story line in "Mirror, Mirror" leaves something to be desired. In other novels by Maguire he gives a new spin to a well-known story. Maguire uses Iris, soon to become the stepsister of Cinderella, as a narrator in Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. The wicked witch of the north, instead of being portrayed as an evil woman who wants to get rid of Dorothy, is given a kind-hearted and well-meaning image in Maguire's story. Maguire's version of Snow White is too much like the original fairy tale to be called unique, but the addition of the Borgia siblings gives uniqueness the story line lacks.
A fan of Maguire's writing and story-telling ability should read "Wicked" or "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister", for better storylines and for more entertainment and should pass on "Mirror, Mirror."
Rating: 
Summary: What you didn't learn growing up...
Review: "The eye is always caught by light, but shadows have more to say."
Gregory Maguire is brilliant. By taking a simple fairytale, puting a real spin on it, and captivating adult audiences everywhere he has taken bedtime stories to a new level.
"What child does not feel itself perched at the center of creation?... Small children know the truth that their own existence has caused the worlds to bloom into being."
He follows a young girl through adolescense without faltering on how she feels. And he nails it.
"Speaking uses us up, speeds us up. Without prayer, that act of confession for merely existing, one might live forever and not know it."
"Faith is a floor. If you don't work at making it for yourself, you have nothing to walk on."
"Silence can be tactical. Even God uses silence as a strategy."
With profound religious insights, but not preachy sermon, he delivers magnificent neutrality in his words.
"The way a man slakes his thirst and a woman slakes her thirst are not identical, for they thirst for different things."
With gender being a profound prescence among the pages, you are keenly aware of the battle that rages inside women for equality and power.
"She sat amidst us, more or less naked as a human baby, looking, but it was we older brothers - older than trees, older than wind, older than choice - who were born in her presence."
He makes dwarves feasible creatures that we may only recognize as tree stumps or rocks.
"Out of our need we patronize our artists, we flirt with our poets, we petition our architects: give us your lusty colorful world. Signal to us a state of being more richly steeped in purpose and satisfaction than our own.
...Thanks to our artists, we pretend well, living under canopies of painted clouds and painted gods, in halls of marble floors across which the sung masses paint hope in deep ampasti of echo. We make of the hollow world a fuller, messier, prettier place, but all our inventions can't create the one thing we require: to deserve any fond attention we might accidentally receive, to receive any fond attention we don't in the course of things deserve. We are never enough to ourselves becuase we can never be enough to another. Any one of us walks into any room and reminds its occupant that we are not the one they most want to see. We are never the one. We are never enough."
Maguire poetically confronts basic human nature and the things we all do. He delivers things raw, but with the most flowery scent that you hardly feel the sting.
"...puzzled curiosity. A raging patience. An articulate simplicity. A womanliness. Or perhaps it was that she seemed like one who didn't worry about what it meant never to be enough. The absence of such a care on her brow filled her with an unearthly beauty that I could neither achieve nor abide."
Lust, envy, and greed (among other things) all lie wihin the carefully calculated words of Gregory Maguire in what turns out to be another masterpiece for adults who like to live in Happily Ever After.
"[He] put his mouth to hers and apologized."
Rating:
Summary: Neither "Wicked" nor "Ugly", just disappointing
Review: After "Wicked" and "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister", I was anxious to read "Mirror Mirror," Maguire's retelling of the Snow White myth. Imagine my shock when I set down the book after finishing the last chapter and realized that I was actually *disappointed*.
This book is just too vague to be any fun. For starters, Maguire's narrative shifts from third to first person at a dizzying pace; worse, it's not even the same first person from chapter to chapter. There are no clues at the start of each chapter to tell us who we're listening to, so it generally takes two or three paragraphs to figure out who's speaking each time the narrative changes, which is horrendously frustrating and completely interrupts the book's flow.
Also troubling are the questions Maguire raises and then never addresses, for instance the nature of the dwarves and their home. The dwarves are easily the most interesting characters in the book, yet whenever Maguire starts to get too close to them, he invariably shies away. Bianca herself is a complete blank slate: no personality, few memories, and zero passion. You'd think she could have shown a spark of *something* - anger, terror, even love for the man who rescues her. Instead she's as calm and placid as the deer the hunter kills in her place, and about as boring.
Instead of an interesting Snow White, Maguire instead gives us a wickedly diabolical yet fascinatingly sympathetic Queen instead, in the person of Lucrezia Borgia. Casting a historical figure in a central role appears to be a first for Maguire (although it could be argued that the Lucrezia Borgia he portrays is as much a fictional creation as is Bianca de Nevada; however Maguire didn't create the nasty rumors about her, he just borrowed them). It's unfortunate that he didn't go all the way and just make Lucrezia his protagonist instead. At times it seems even Maguire isn't sure whether she's wicked or just misunderstood.
Much as I hate to admit it, this version of Snow White falls short even of (and believe me, I never thought I'd say this) Sheri Tepper, who made it a subplot in her Sleeping Beauty retelling "Beauty". I haven't given up on Maguire yet, but I'm very disappointed that the brilliance of "Wicked" wasn't repeated here.
Rating: 
Summary: not up to par
Review: As he did with his earlier books, Wicked and Confessions Of An Ugly Stepsister, Maguire once again takes a classic fairy-tale and adds his own unique perspective. This time, he tackles the story of Snow White. In it, he intertwines the history of the infamous Borgia family to create a story that, at times, seems to be based on some historical facts even though it's still a work of fiction.
The story takes place in 16th Century Italy where turmoil and mystery surrounds the land. Bianca De Nevada (Snow White) is a motherless child being raised by her father on their farm of Montefiore. While still young, Cesare Borgia along with his sister, Lucrezia, pay a visit to Monetfiore to blackmail Bianca's father into setting out on a sacred quest for them. While he is to be away on the quest, Lucrezia promises to look after the girl. Grudgingly, Bianca's father leaves for it is the only way to keep his child safe (or so he thinks at the time).
After a few years pass, Lucrezia develops an extreme jealousy of Bianca and sets out to have her murdered. Just like in the classic fairy-tale, Bianca escapes and is taken in by the dwarfs. However, these are not the cute dwarfs from Disney's classic film. They may or may not even be human. They soon, begrudgingly, attach themselves to Bianca and she to them. Once Lucrezia finds out that Bianca is still alive (thanks to a certain mirror), she tries numerous times to kill her again. However, this fairy-tale doesn't end with the handsome prince awakening Snow White to they live happily ever after. "Happily ever after" is generally not a phrase one should give to the end of Maguire's books.
I loved Wicked and Confessions, but I found this book to be rather "flat." It was very drawn out and boring at times. The premise behind the story is interesting, but it had a hard time holding my attention. There were numerous times when I thought about not finishing the book. It was definitely a disappointment considering how much I liked Maguire's earlier books.
Rating:
Summary: Off the beaten path
Review: Gregory Maguire captivated me with 'Wicked' and 'Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister'. I even enjoyed 'Lost' for the puzzles and suspense, however 'Mirror Mirror' has left me confused and disappointed. In previous stories Maguire has told us the story around the story - things that we weren't told about in the original fairy tale - but left the original fairy tale intact. Mirror just smashes fairy tale out of Snow White and leaves a disorganized, confusing mess. There was little of the original tale left - and I'm not talking about the pretty, bluebird infested Disney version, even the Grimm Bros. would be disappointed in this one. The character choices were intriguing but the actual story telling lacks quite a bit. Other reviews get into more depth on this, and I agree with quite a few of them. I look forward to more stories from Maguire in the hopes that this is a learning experience. Before buying this book, read all the reviews, the good and the bad, then make your choice. I don't regret the buying or reading of this book - but I've read better.
Rating:
Summary: Maguire at his less than best...
Review: Gregory Maguire has always had a wonderful writing style, even in this novel there is no doubt that he his able to produce amazing works of art with his talent. This novel has his writing going for it... but when all is said and done it is a dissapointment considering what he has proven he can write, "Wicked" being the jewel in his crown. The biggest problem with this book is a problem (I hear because I haven't read it yet) that he has in "Lost". He gets bogged down trying to figure out what story he wants to tell. It's almost as if there is a bump of another story in the middle of the novel and then he returns to Snow White for the end. It should be read by all Maguire fans because it is an interesting take that he always is known for. If this is your first Maguire novel I would suggest starting out with "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" or (as you may know) "Wicked". Then read this. The good thing is it is a quick read by comparison to the other novels and it adds to the impact he has already made on literature. I still can't wait to see what's next
Rating: 
Summary: A bit of history
Review: I am reading this book for a book discussion group and I really enjoyed the book. I am planning on reading the book twice before the group meets. I love the way Macguire writes. i find that I have to give the prose a lot of thought- especially his poems. I really liked how he tied the book into a bit of history. I like his contrast between good and evil. I have also read "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" and "Wicked". I did not enjoy "Wicked" after half way through the book. It seemed to drag on and on. I did not like how the story kept changing settings. If you like fractured fairytales, this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Bleak
Review: I can't decide whether I like this book or not.
On the one hand, Maguire's prose is always a treat, and Lucrezia Borgia makes a perfect "wicked stepmother" with all her poisons. I love the mythical, biblical twist on the magical apple. And I always love fairy tales dropped into historical settings, especially if they're done well, as this is.
Yet on the other hand, this novel left me feeling horribly depressed. All is bleak. The scene near the end of Bianca's father and the dwarves was heartbreaking. The scene of Bianca's awakening was also troubling, as I came away feeling that the best man had not necessarily won. I don't have a problem with sad endings. My problem is with books where almost *nothing* happy or pleasant or uplifting happens at any point in the story. A tragedy can be uplifting and numinous--but this book isn't so much a tragedy as it is a 300-page cloud of gloom. The semi-happy ending doesn't really dispel it, for whatever reason.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as his other works
Review: I have previously enjoyed Wicked and Confessions of an Ugly stepsister but Maguire's last two novels, Lost and now Mirror Mirror have been hugely disappointing.
First off the 'dwarves' confused me. They developed as inanimate blocks of stone to somewhat dwarf-like as a result of Bianca's (Snow White) humanity, thoughts, projected imagery and expectations rubbing off on them. I'm not sure what their real 'purpose' was in the story and kept waiting for some big revelation as to why they were even in there (besides the fact that they are in the original Snow White) Maybe there's more symbology to these "stones" but I didn't get it.
Then the father gets sent off on a life-long journey to fetch a branch from the tree that resulted in the banishment of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. MUCH more could have been written to develop this plot-line but it didn't happen.
And the "evil witch" - this plot line didn't make sense to me why the daughter of the pope, from a family of royalty, ended up on this lone farm away from the glitz of the court and high society that she craved.
In summary I agree with one of the other reviewers that Maguire wasn't sure which story-line to fully develop. I was very disappointed but not as disappointed as Lost which I wouldn't recommend to anyone.
However, I still look forward to this author's next works as he is a skilled writer who just hasn't been able to recapture the success and originality of his previous two novels.
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?
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