It was really hard for me to decide between 4 and 5 stars. I wish I could give it 4 1/2!Fairest takes place in the same world as Ella Enchanted, and has one or 2 characters from that book, which is excellent, because that book is one of my most favorites. In fact, this world seemed instantly recognizable, after reading Ella Enchanted. It was like revisiting that book, in a way.It's a take on Snow White, but only in the loosest of ways, and only after 200 pages. That's the area that I wanted to give 4 stars...or even less. The story is about a girl named Aza who is found as a baby by owners of an inn. She is different looking than everyone else around her, and she finds herself very ugly. Think Snow White's appearance, but in a world that doesn't appreciate that asthetic. She also lives in a world that loves singing. Singing for any reason, and sometimes no reason. At this she excels, and in fact discovers she has a gift of throwing her singing voice. A dame visiting the inn decides to take Aza to the castle, to be her lady in waiting. She's going to the castle because the King is getting married to an out of towner, who can't sing. When the new Queen discovers Aza's gift of throwing her singing voice, she hires her as her lady in waiting, and binds them together with a secret...whether Aza likes it or not. As long as that took to describe, that's only about the first 50 or so pages. Sounds nothing like Snow White, right? Whereas Ella Enchanted was so brilliant because it answered a question that Cinderella left in a totally plausible way, i.e. why does Cinderella humble herself by working as a servant for her evil mother-in-law? Because she has to do what anyone commands her to. That just makes sense. But, in this story: ah! The story Snow White is the way it is because she can throw her singing voice??? It didn't fit in the traditional story, and didn't add anything to it. I would have prefered if Fairest had been an original story, rather than trying to be a retelling of Snow White. The connection to the classic story made this story worse, whereas the connection to Cinderella made Ella Enchanted better.Another reason that I wanted to give it less than 5 stars is because there are a lot of songs in the book. It's a world that loves singing, and the author made up songs for it...but most of them are just STRANGE. Due to my years of choir experience, I tried to figure out their melody as I read them, but the number of syllables changed constantly, so that was impossible. In addition to that the lyrics of most of the songs are very weird.As for why I wanted to give it more than 4 stars...it's just a great enjoyable read. It was great being in Ella Enchanted's world again. I didn't want to stop reading. It was a great romance, very adventurous, funny, a good sense of character, and after I finished, I wished there was more. All the signs of a good book... which is why I'm torn!!
I had high hopes when I broke this book open.I enjoyed the retelling of Snow White. For some reason I haven't ever loved Snow White... it could be the Disney movie I never enjoyed... but she was never a favorite princess.I felt that the writing was weak compared to the other YA novels I've been reading. It seemed the author spent more time telling us about people, thoughts, emotions, rather than showing us through the writing. It got to the point that I thought I should get a penny for every time Aza mentioned how "ugly" she thought she was. It felt tedious. Perhaps this is how my husband feels when I criticize my weight. Aha!I love the idea that people just burst into song. However, the lyrics in the book became something I just quickly skimmed since there wasn't any musical accompaniment to them. I yearned to hear the music in this world, but the book can't translate that well.Some of the gnome language was simply distracting. I didn't think the characters truly developed. They didn't feel real to me. Their changes of behavior happen so rapidly and are done in a "tell" vs "show" way, that it was hard for me to believe. I just wanted to know the history, the mystery, intrique behind Aza's birth parents. I just didn't feel there was much depth, where there were opportunities for it.What about more about the crazy fairy who bestows the magical mirror. Or more about the Skulni? Aza, Ivi and Ijori weren't interesting characters. They were pretty bland. I needed more spice. The ogres were more fascinating.I love the message, that true beauty is what's on the inside. Yet, we live in a world where we are judged, and mistreated by how we look, based on our ethnic backgrounds, etc... so while the inner beauty is important, the acceptance of oneself is also important.This is a very short book. I usually finish books like these in a few hours. This book dragged for me. It ended up taking 3-4 days for me to finish it. I wasn't very motivated, or excited by it. Which killed me, because I know this is a much-loved book of a sweet friend.
What do You think about Fairest (2006)?
This was a really pathetic book - a sad departure Levine's other fantastic novels. The idea was interesting (a take on the story of "Snow White" where her desirable trait isn't beauty, but instead is her singing voice), but the execution was horrible.The book staggered under one major inconsistency: the main character is horribly ugly, but the prince falls in love with her very quickly anyway. Hopelessly romantic? Perhaps. But I call it an inconsistency because Aza was not only unlovely, but almost unlovable. Many wonderful heroines are not particularly beautiful (Jane Eyre, Jo March, Anne Shirley, Princess Amy, etc.), but they have wit, strength, courage, charm, or passion that makes them remarkable. Aza had none of these - she was whiny, miserable, thoughtless, and full of self-loathing throughout the entire book.Also, the prince likes her almost immediately, before he has any chance to get to know her: this would suggest to me that either the prince has horrible taste in looks, or that Aza really isn't as ugly as she constantly tells us she is (which would only make her whining all the more exasperating). Her amazing voice and ability to compose music are impressive to him I suppose, and her "ability to make him laugh" was apparently important...but he lives in Ayortha, where almost everyone sings and composes well, and he was called "merry," "smiling," and "laughing" long before Aza captured his heart. Even knowing that she deceived him, he falls for the ugly wet blanket. She was never clever, except in her skill at singing. She didn't do anything smart, and certainly didn't act brave. Her sister says she is kind, but we never see her acting like it. What on earth is there to like about her? Her characterization, in my opinion, ruined the entire book.There were other problems as well: Couldn't Levine have come up with a more realistic antagonist than...Lucinda? Of course everyone who read "Ella Enchanted" dislikes her already - it was so much easier to use her, than to actually design a characterization for someone who would hand out such a dangerous gift at weddings. Unfortunately, it didn't fit her character at all (Lucinda loves attention and admiration - she would never visit the bride alone and give the gifts with absolutely no ceremony or a huge crowd of people around; and why would she give a potion of disguise to someone she was making beautiful?), and it even discredits her change of heart that comes at the end of "Ella." It was a total cop-out.Last of all, it was predictable. Not just in the way that all fairy tales are rather predictable, but in the way that makes the book really boring because the main character is being such a blind fool, predictable. Besides the fact that it was clean, there is nothing in this book to recommend.
—Angela
This book was somewhat charming in that typical YA way, except I couldn't help compare it to Ella Enchanted, and it didn't measure up. The main character (Aza) is very ugly and unlike most YA where ugly isn't ugly, she's described as actually not attractive. And then she spends the whole book obsessing about how ugly she is and wanting becoming pretty. I knew almost nothing about her character other than that she hated being ugly.One of the awesome things about Ella Enchanted was that GCL showed us Ella and the Prince falling in love. We saw what attracted them to each other, we saw how she made him laugh and how he tried to impress her. In Fairest, I had no idea what attracted Aza to the Prince. Was it because he was handsome? Was it because he was funny? We saw so few of their interactions that I had no idea of their chemistry.Essentially, they loved each other because GCL said that then they were in love, which was incredibly disappointing.Finally, the plot was random and kind of forced. I was annoyed because the plot of Ella Enchanted seems to flow naturally and everything makes sense. Here, there wasn't any payoff, the people who were mean to her never get punished and the resolution is a giant Deus Ex Machina. I'm curious to read another GCL book to see if it is more like Ella Enchanted or Fairest.
—Katie
Once I started to read this I couldn’t stop it took me two days to read it and it was good! Fairest by Gail Carson Levine is a Fiction book and is told in first person. Fairy Lucinda has done it again but instead of having a gift to obey like in Ella Enchanted this time it’s a magic mirror. Ever since Aza was left on her adoptive parents' doorstep as a baby, she's been a mystery. She is plain-looking, with large bones, pale white skin, ruby red lips, "a big sphere of a face and round button eye
—payasa213
