Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

I, personally, found this book overwhelmingly charming! It took one of the most attractive subjects, beauty, and turned it in all ways so as to be seen from every point of view! i loved all of the twists and turns too! Also, as a side note, anyone who has taken AP European History will be filled with butterflies every couple pages because it makes many references to the royal families of France...more

I, personally, found this book overwhelmingly charming! It took one of the most attractive subjects, beauty, and turned it in all ways so as to be seen from every point of view! i loved all of the twists and turns too! Also, as a side note, anyone who has taken AP European History will be filled with butterflies every couple pages because it makes many references to the royal families of France and the Prince of Orangem along with the Spanish conquest to kill the uprising and splitting of the Danes and Swedes :) But those are just the little things i appreciated in the book. Don't worry, anyone who's not a big history-buff, it's not loaded with that stuff, just sprinkled.   hide

Although I wasn't a huge fan of Maguire's Wicked, I was thoroughly pleased with Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. The idea of the Cinderella story told from the perspective of an ugly stepsister was intriguing. The story, and the way in which the author knocked around the notion of beauty was both entertaining and thoughtful. Good Read!

I love the tales that Gregory tells us from the flip side of things. The half a star was for the simple parts that become ho-hum. For the most part I did really enjoy this book, and getting pulled in the the world that only Gregory Maguire can paint for us with his words alone.

Okay so... I liked it, but it wasn't one of those books I couldn't put down or even would be interested in reading again. Clara was quite annoying, but I was very surprised by the character actually narrating the story at the beginning and end. The whole climax of the story had be completely confused as to what was going on.Typical of Gregory Maguire's work, this had me going...more

Okay so... I liked it, but it wasn't one of those books I couldn't put down or even would be interested in reading again. Clara was quite annoying, but I was very surprised by the character actually narrating the story at the beginning and end. The whole climax of the story had be completely confused as to what was going on.Typical of Gregory Maguire's work, this had me going "huh?" at certain moments. I loved how the story progressed and the characters were mostly okay. Clara is such a brat, though, very annoying. The twist at the end made me grin, but I'll leave that for you to discover. ^_^   hide

A good read for anyone interested in the less than fanciful, and instead wanting a realistic approach to a fairy tale. This story is surely told from the perspective of an ugly step sister, but the story does not try to get you to like the characters any better than you may have already. In fact, it might change whatever appreciation for any of the characters that you might have ever had. It...more

A good read for anyone interested in the less than fanciful, and instead wanting a realistic approach to a fairy tale. This story is surely told from the perspective of an ugly step sister, but the story does not try to get you to like the characters any better than you may have already. In fact, it might change whatever appreciation for any of the characters that you might have ever had. It makes the plight of the invading family understandable, and almost pitiable. But the story doesn't get going until the middle of the book. Instead the beginning is slow, and boring at times. But the middle to the end of the book feels a little rushed. It would have done better as a more adult themed book, with more lurid details that were only properly suggested at. But all in all, it is a good read that makes me wish for more at the end of the book... whether that is a good thing or not, is up to the reader to decide. I would have liked more details than the Epilogue provided. But I would definitely pick up this book again for another round of killing time, and immersing myself in the reality of a fairy tale.   hide

I enjoy the retelling of familiar stories.

I still enjoy Maguire's style of writing immensely. I enjoyed this book... his books don't seem to suck you in as quickly as some, but he draws you in by your curiosity. Still a very good read... :) This book contains a cool message, though...about the difficulty and the value in seeing--seeing paintings, seeing beauty, seeing the truth... seeing ourselves as we really...more

I still enjoy Maguire's style of writing immensely. I enjoyed this book... his books don't seem to suck you in as quickly as some, but he draws you in by your curiosity. Still a very good read... :) This book contains a cool message, though...about the difficulty and the value in seeing--seeing paintings, seeing beauty, seeing the truth... seeing ourselves as we really are... every character has blinders, in a way.. they overlook things about themselves and one another... blah... just read it... always a good jaunt with Maguire :)   hide

A brilliant twist on a classic children's story that gives a more adult perspective of the way things could have happened.

Everything isn't all fairy godmothers, imps and magic in this story. I like how the story of Cinderella was told in this book more than the fairy tale version that's widely known. I also really liked the Narrative in the last chapter, told by a character I least expected to tell it!