Friday, October 16, 2009

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

This is the second Gregory Maguire book I have read, the other being Wicked. This book is not as deep and dark as Wicked, and although it was mildly vulgar in parts, it was not nearly as vulgar as Wicked either.

As made obvious by the title, this book tells the story of Cinderella from the perspective of one of the Ugly Stepsisters. While I did enjoy this book, it was not exactly what I had hoped for. I guess I expected it to be more like the Disney version (silly, I know). The story lacks fairy godmothers and enchanted talking animals and spells that break at midnight. It is not so much fairy tale as real life that has been elevated to fairy tale status over the years. It tells the story of a woman and her two daughters (one painfully plain-looking and one who seems to be mentally handicapped) and how they flee England after the death of their husband and father and try to make a new life in Holland. All of the female characters are very strong and willing to do whatever it takes, even though they live in a culture where women are not truly valued and even repressed. I also liked the little twist at the end that I really did not see coming. 

Overall, a good read. I recommend it if you like fairy tales, especially ones where things are not always what they seem. I enjoyed it enough that I do plan on reading another of Maguire's books, but I'm not yet sure which...

2 comments:

  1. so i totally just saw on google reader that you won another giveaway?! i wish i had your luck girl! i enterd into two giveaways for ipod touchs this week- heres for hoping!

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  2. i know!! i can't believe my luck either! i won one of the FIR giveaways. it really, really has been my lucky week! so excited!!

    i will try and send some luck your way for the ipods, but you don't have any room to complain mrs. blogspotlight at 4hatandfrugal : ) that was very well deserved though!

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