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: Poetry, Passion, and Power
Review: A marvelous book, a 300-page temptation, an invocation to the reader to plunge headlong and feetfirst into a tarantella of political intrigue, old magics, subtle loves, and unsubtle appetites...Maguire does not simply take the age-old tale of Snow White and set in in early Renaissance Italy, as others have done in their retellings of the classics. Intriguingly, he finds the place where it fits best, where it lodges, and roots, and grows...and so the story of the beautiful young Bianca becomes tangled with the history of Lucrezia Borgia, her poisons and her passions, and the resulting tapestry is rich, subtle, frightening, and revelational...and no one has EVER explained the dwarves as Maguire has done here, as strange, earthy entities caught somewhere between timeless torpor and true humanity. Lovely, and strange, and highly-recommended.
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: Disappointing
Review: After racing to the store to pick up the new Maguire book, I was very disappointed in Mirror, Mirror. Have read all his books and seems like they are getting less and less interesting after Wicked. Wondering if Wicked will be Gregory's peak novel. Would not recommend this book, actually I took mine back for a refund.
Rating: 
Summary: A Bold Stroke
Review: Although not as complexly compelling as Wicked, 'Mirror, Mirror' works as a bold take on classic tale. Rather than the sympathetic Elphaba of 'Wicked'- whose wickedness is the product of her circumstances- or the fairly neutral stepsisters in 'Confession'- who were more caught up in the story and weren't the locus of evil- Maguire gives us Lucrecia Borgia as Snow White's nemesis, and dares to draw her as irredeemably evil, but written in a way that betrays the author's almost giddy love for her. As with his other works, this book takes a while to engage and can feel over-written at times. It is worth the effort though, as you get a rarely told perspective- an incestual, conniving, insecure, poisonous, ruthless and evil protagonist- one who is not misunderstood, a victim of her circumstances or alibied in any way. Some readers will have a hard time with a totally unsympathetic, and at times creepy protagonist- but those who don't need a rooting interest will be amply rewarded with a lush, original take on the sanitized, desexualized 'Snow White' we all know.
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: Fascinating take on an old fairy tale
Review: First off let me say that I devoured this book. . . took me all of two days! He took the story of Snow White and tied it in with the Borgias. I love history interwoven with fiction/fantasy, no matter how improbable. Knowing some of the Borgia family history, it wasn't all that unbelievable! It might not have been the best written book I've ever read, but the plot was good and held my attention. Held it to the point that I desired to read it! I always like a retelling of a myth or fairy tale and this was one of the best I've ever read. The telling voice changes back and forth between A LOT of characters, which was a bit confusing to me at times. This was mainly because I was still in the previous character's mode and I don't switch quite that fast. Some of it plot was a little unclear, which could again be put down to me and not the actual book. On the whole I liked it and I'll definitely try at least one of his other books. Matter of a fact--I'm planning a trip to the library for just that purpose!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Gregory is back and it is wonderful!!! It had to be after that awful dribble LOST came out 2 years ago. I bought this book yesterday (I still had faith in GM) and I could put it down until I finished it. It held me in thrall and I just couldn't read it fast enough.The only complaint..it wasn't long enough!!! I don't want to give any of it away but this Snow White is no Disney cartoon. And man oh man these dwarfs are very strange and there's one extra one that we never knew about(?!). Get this book and have a wonderful time reading it. Gregory is back and its so good to have him back writing something great once again!!!!
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.
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