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3.12 AVERAGE
3.12 AVERAGE
Decent book. A little bouncy in some spots. The ending felt unfinished and that bothered me.
This book had such potential but went off the rails at the end. I liked most of the characters - I just felt like she could have done more development with the modern side of the story. I was more interested in Veronica and George's story than what had "supposedly" happened to Lil hundreds of years before. It was an odd balance for the two stories and it left me disappointed in the end.
I gave this book a four, I really love the idea of this one. It was at times a little hard to follow, and the ending got very dark, and left me very confused? I don't really understand what happened to Lil?
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
Hmmm. I wanted to like this one, and there were some things I did like, but the ending was dark and there were some other disturbing elements that didn't make it worth reading.
What This Book Is Being Marketed As: Fluffy retelling of the Cinderella story from the godmother’s point of view! She was kicked out of fairyland for falling in love with Cinderella’s prince; now, as an elderly bookstore clerk in present day New York, she has the chance to redeem herself by doing some matchmaking for a free-spirited hair stylist and her wealthy, recently-divorced bookstore owning boss! There’s a wealthy bookstore owner in this book, so you know it’ll be an optimistic fairytale!
What This Book Actually Is, Based On One Interpretation of Its Ambiguous Ending: Cinderella’s godmother grew up in a fairyland that seems as realistic and well-realized as one of those mid-’90s plastic fairy kingdom toys that unfolded from a Pepto-Bismol-pink clamshell case that looked like it maybe in a previous life held somebody’s diaphragm. She fell in love with Cinderella’s prince after seeing him one time, which makes her kind of want to off Miss Cinders rather than get her and Charming together. Luckily, Cinderella is suicidally depressed and tells the godmother to just go to the ball in her place. Godmother does, comes back to find Cinderella has slashed her wrists with her broken glass slipper. But if the godmother can manage that hair stylist/wealthy bookstore owner hookup, then everything’s still cool!
What This Book Actually Is, Based On the Other Interpretation of Its Ambiguous Ending: The “godmother” is actually a crazy old lady who’s escaped into a fantasy world after her younger sister’s rape and suicide (?) when they were girls. At the end, she thinks she’s getting to return to fairyland, but actually, she just kills herself.
In Conclusion: It’s so nice to know that whichever way you slice it, someone’s veins are getting sliced too! Also good to know: if this author offers you a nice, refreshing glass of Kool-Aid, it’s probably best to pass.
What This Book Actually Is, Based On One Interpretation of Its Ambiguous Ending: Cinderella’s godmother grew up in a fairyland that seems as realistic and well-realized as one of those mid-’90s plastic fairy kingdom toys that unfolded from a Pepto-Bismol-pink clamshell case that looked like it maybe in a previous life held somebody’s diaphragm. She fell in love with Cinderella’s prince after seeing him one time, which makes her kind of want to off Miss Cinders rather than get her and Charming together. Luckily, Cinderella is suicidally depressed and tells the godmother to just go to the ball in her place. Godmother does, comes back to find Cinderella has slashed her wrists with her broken glass slipper. But if the godmother can manage that hair stylist/wealthy bookstore owner hookup, then everything’s still cool!
What This Book Actually Is, Based On the Other Interpretation of Its Ambiguous Ending: The “godmother” is actually a crazy old lady who’s escaped into a fantasy world after her younger sister’s rape and suicide (?) when they were girls. At the end, she thinks she’s getting to return to fairyland, but actually, she just kills herself.
In Conclusion: It’s so nice to know that whichever way you slice it, someone’s veins are getting sliced too! Also good to know: if this author offers you a nice, refreshing glass of Kool-Aid, it’s probably best to pass.
The moment I put the previous Turgeon book down, I already knew that I truly and totally wanted to read her other work too. So, when my grandparents gave me vouchers for St. Nicholas I already knew that I was gonna get this book. Cinderella is one of my favorite fairytales, so I was really excited to read this one.
And it did not disappoint. Once again Turgeon managed to make a very well known story hers. Her take on Cinderella is original, very original. There was a moment I was getting slightly frustrated, thinking Turgeon had chosen an interpretation I totally hated and then she flipped it and all of a sudden I loved what she did immensely.
What I love most is the focus on Lillian, the good fairy we all know from Cinderella's tale. It's a point of view we rarely get, while there's a lot to tell about her. Turgeon used this opportunity to build an amazing fairy world with rules and a government and huge differences from the human world. The contrast between the two worlds made Lillian's choices understandable.
What I also loved is the fact that the story stays a little vague on one thing: Which story is the absolute truth? Are you going with magic? Or are you going with an interesting coping mechanism from a woman who has endured something no one should ever have endured? I think I eventually go with the first option, although the latter is a possible and totally interesting interpretation too.
I can't wait to dive into Turgeon's other work, because she has more magical stories and I'm really curious to see what she does with those.
And it did not disappoint. Once again Turgeon managed to make a very well known story hers. Her take on Cinderella is original, very original. There was a moment I was getting slightly frustrated, thinking Turgeon had chosen an interpretation I totally hated and then she flipped it and all of a sudden I loved what she did immensely.
What I love most is the focus on Lillian, the good fairy we all know from Cinderella's tale. It's a point of view we rarely get, while there's a lot to tell about her. Turgeon used this opportunity to build an amazing fairy world with rules and a government and huge differences from the human world. The contrast between the two worlds made Lillian's choices understandable.
What I also loved is the fact that the story stays a little vague on one thing: Which story is the absolute truth? Are you going with magic? Or are you going with an interesting coping mechanism from a woman who has endured something no one should ever have endured? I think I eventually go with the first option, although the latter is a possible and totally interesting interpretation too.
I can't wait to dive into Turgeon's other work, because she has more magical stories and I'm really curious to see what she does with those.
a lovely fairy tale type of book. But I'm confused with the ending. Was she truly what she said or was it just something she made up to cope with life?
So, so wonderful. Much sadder than expected, but great and so creative.