Reviews for Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

The average rating for Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-09-24 00:00:00 Johan Bernat I love books based on fairy tales, but it's taken me forever to really read any of Maguire's stuff. I still haven't read "Wicked." Years ago, I tried reading this book and just couldn't get into it. But with so many people telling me how great this guy is, I decided to give it another shot. This book follows the story of Iris and Ruth, two little girls who, with their mother, flee from England after their father is murdered. Poor and begging, they have no choice but to first take a job as the housekeeper to an artist, then to a merchant of the city (I believe it's Amsterdam but not entirely sure). Ruth, the oldest, is dumb and mute and taken care of by Iris, the younger, smarter sister, who shows artistic promise but is considered plain at best and will never be a beauty. The merchant's daughter, Clara, befriends the two young girls amidst her fear of leaving her home and her belief that she is a changeling. When her mother dies during pregnancy and Iris' and Ruth's mother steps in as matron of the household, Clara is held as nothing more than the beauty in which her stepmother will buy back her fortune. Having no interest in the outside world, especially a ball thrown by the prince's godmother, Clara makes the kitchen her domain, preferring to live with the ashes and do the housework than to travel into the regular world. Told from the viewpoint of one of the stepsister's this tale follows the Cinderella story in a completely different way. While the stepmother could still be considered "evil", "Cinderella" and her stepsisters are actually as true sisters...even through their disagreements they love each other. Even during the hard times, the plain Iris must deal with the dumb Ruth and the neurotic Clara, yet she does with patience and care. The writing is fairly descriptive and florid and made it hard to get going with. But once the story found it's pace, I found it to be a good read. Though I can't say it's one of my favorites, the ending touched me and I am curious to read more of this author's work.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-04-13 00:00:00 Will Jackson "In the lives of children, pumpkins turn into coaches, mice and rats turn into men. When we grow up, we realize it is far more common for men to turn into rats." I enjoy Maguire's work. He combines lively characters with literary writing. Unlike Maguire's other, wildly successful novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, this retelling leaves behind magic, instead relying on a genuine historical period and uncanny characters to imbue the novel with an unworldly tone. Although there is no magic in the story, it manages to feel magical for the reader. Maguire is not a newcomer to telling stories that deconstruct old narratives, and in my opinion this attempt was more successful then Wicked for several reasons. One of my major criticisms of Wicked was the inconsistencies and underdeveloped plot arcs. This was so problematic that they changed the ending of the stage production to improve the narratives cohesiveness. He has a much more basic plot to work with here. The benefits of a tighter narrative result in a much more satisfying novel. He is able to focus attention on his strength as a writer- complex, multifaceted exploration of character. I never particularly liked the story of Cinderella as a child and as an adult some of the more troubling aspects of the tale became apparent. So it's no surprise that this novel is primarily occupied with female solidarity, self- preservation and conformity. Iris is a compelling and sympathetic main character. Her relationships with her mother, sister, step- sister Clara (Cinderella), and the painter's apprentice, Casper, form the loci around which each of these issues is explored. "No, my girl, you know nothing of how we women are imprisoned in our lives, but there are ways to determine the sentence we must serve." Iris' relationship with her mother is fascinating. Her mother is spiritually suffocated by her obsession with appearances and survival and it was heart rendering at times to see how this fear crippled her daughters. "To consider what other people might say is hardly a good reason to take action or to defer it. You have your own life to live, Iris, and at its end, the only opinion that amounts to anything is that which God bestows" Iris struggles with accepting and understanding herself and the people around her. This is not the sort of book you can passively absorb. I thought a lot about what various characters did and said and what I felt about that. The setting and writing was a lush and richly formed tapestry. If you enjoy literary writing, you will likely appreciate it, even if the metaphors are occasionally too heavy handed. However, one of the problems with the novel is that the characters are too difficult to love. To truly love a book I think you need to fall in love a little with at least one of the characters. There are exceptions of course, but even Silence of the Lambs has a weirdly aspirational element to our fascination with Hannibal Lecter. The characters here felt too strange, too flawed to really admire. In addition, the climax felt abrupt and at times elements were introduced that were a little too esoteric. The belief the girls had that Clara was a changeling was never really developed, and at times it was hard to see why certain things were included. Despite this I would recommend it to people who enjoy more adult or literary retellings, especially if they enjoyed Wicked. For me, it was a satisfying read.