This book spent a fair amount of time feeling a bit overcast to me; I got the impression that Mr. Maguire was visualizing a very grey city, with dark grey cloud cover daily, and exceedingly drab clothing. Our introduction to his Cinderella was wonderful, and her regression into the ashes was quite elegant. Iris (the younger Ugly Stepsister) was an incredible leading woman, as are all Mr. Maguire's leading women, and she told quite the tale. The plot twists were a bit surprising at times, a few were rather detectable. By the end, I found myself breathless and was sad that I had read the last of my collection of Gregory Maguire novels.