On my bookshelf

Mirror Mirror :: Gregory Maguire

I've always loved fairy tales. Not the vanilla tales from childhood but tales written for a more adult audience, sometimes twisted and dark with a dash of the macabre. Discovering Gregory Maguire in 2007 at a B&N in Cordova, TN (only realizing later that HE wrote Wicked), made me want to buy every book in his oeuvre. Glad I didn't.

The tale is a retelling of Snow White, only Maguire sets his story in Italy at the time of the Borgias. Nearly all the elements of the original are here: magic mirror, dwarves, wicked stepmother, poison apple, a beautiful girl. And a father who has disappeared on a quest for a biblical treasure (no, not the ark or the grail). There are also the court intrigues and political machinations of princes and popes jockeying for power and wealth. All the right elements to make a great story.

I finished Mirror, Mirror, and felt... Not that uplifted feeling I get at the end of a really good book. Neither a sense of loss cause I've finished it. I just felt... flat.

While I loved the story, what I didn't like was its pacing and protracted scenes. I found myself rushing through the last 50 or so pages WANTING to finish it so I could start something else. Read this only if you're a Gregory Maguire fan.