Monday, June 20, 2011

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

*** and a 1/2 out of ****

        Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine, proudly displays a Newbery Honor medal on the cover. The book has been pretty successful, considering there's a movie based on it starring Anne Hathaway! (Who doesn't love Anne Hathaway?) Ella Enchanted takes place in the typical Medieval setting, with kingdoms and princes and princesses. But like most of Gail Carson Levine's books, there's magic involved, so your typical ogres, fairies, giants, and so on. 


        The plot centres around Ella, a girl who had been cursed with a fairy's gift of obedience. The curse forces her to obey every command given to her. No one but her mother and her fairy godmother/cook Mandy knows of the curse. When she is almost 15, her mother dies, and Ella is left heartbroken.  To pay for his mounting debts, her father marries a rich dame. She and her two nasty daughters, jealous of the special friendship she shares with Prince Charmont, move in with Ella and her father. Ella's curse is soon discovered by her step mother and step sisters and used against her. Ella is determined to break the curse, and goes through twists and turns to get to the fairy who put the curse on her.


        The unique and intricately weaved plot earned Ella Enchanted its well deserved *** and a 1/2. The reason it lost is 1/2* was because of the predictability. It's pretty obvious that Ella Enchanted was based on Cinderella. Maybe not for some people, but I think for a majority of us, we know what happens in Cinderella. So there wasn't as much suspense as I had hoped for, but recommended nonetheless because of the additional details and the intricate writing style of Gail Carson Levine. 

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