Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister Book Review

One beautiful girl, two ugly stepsisters, one bossy step mother, and one prince; sounds like the ingredients for a good Cinderella story huh? Well, in Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire, a twist is added to the story for a more appealing read. I truly enjoyed reading Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. The novel changed my view of the original Cinderella, and the new twist were exciting and different.

Many themes are shown within the novel, but the most precise would be "do not judge a book by its cover." Have you ever judged someone off of likes, or maybe even smell? The consequences of your actions could seriously hurt someone else. Within Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, other citizens tend to shy away from Iris and Ruth, "the ugly stepsisters." Though they repulse most, Iris and Ruth do not repulse Caspar, the Master's apprentice. Caspar takes the time to understand the girls and get to know them. Other citizens see Caspar, and get to know the girls better as well. Caspar starts liking the girls after he had a chance to get to know them. So, just because from the outside someone seems repulsive does not mean he or she is on the inside. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister teaches that a person needs to look within someone else before he or she begins to judge.

Gregory Maguire tells the story in a way that makes the reader feel as if he or she is a character within the story. The book is so hard to set aside because the author pulls the reader in through his style of writing. He uses many creative and realistic events to make the reader feel that the story is really happening.

In the traditional Cinderella story, Cinderella finds true her true love in the form of a prince, and her stepsisters get put in their places. Well, within Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, the stepsisters are not mean, and they get a happy ending as well. Within Cinderella, Cinderella does not get along with her sisters, and they make her do all of the housework. Within Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Clara, Cinderella, gets along with her sisters really well. She also volunteers to do housework, although not without the assistance of her stepsisters. Many other connections can be made between Cinderella and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and many other changes from the Cinderella are within Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.

I would recommend Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister to all most anyone, but mostly girls. For those who enjoy the classics though, I would not recommend Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. Gregory Maguire puts a strange, yet fascinating twist on the classic Cinderella story that is really appealing and hooking.


372 pages...2 books

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