Review: The Ugly Duckling

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The Ugly Duckling The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Ugly Duckling is my favourite Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale. I grew up with lots of tolerance for no matter who, so when my parents read this book to me I felt angry for how the duck was treated. That was the first time I noticed how tolerant I am and how this story has such a strong meaning behind it. I felt sad for the duck, but no pity as I believed for the duck to find true happiness soon enough and I am still glad that this is also the way the story turns out to be.

Nowadays the story also reminds me of mental health issues related to physical appearance. Many people seem to categorise themselves as 'ugly' and some people who didn't see an issue with their appearance were made fun of, making them feel the same way. This reminds me a lot about the ugly duckling as well, as I'm sure that the duck only started to see itself as ugly and miserable when it was told so by its environment. Ones own environment can influence one a lot and this book was one of the few where I started to realise that.

(Also the worst betrayal in this book was the mother duck, literally saying that she likes her child nevertheless of the appearance and then avoiding it as best as possible. Mother duck I trusted you and I will never again, shame on you!)

StoryGraph review

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Hi I'm Mika! Reviewer of ARC's but I also review unknown and small presses. My favourite genres are horror, thriller and graphic novels. I tend to be a strict reviewer but my average rating for small presses is 3.7

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