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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183660.Fairest?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Fairest" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1172520011m/183660.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183660.Fairest?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Fairest</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13677.Gail_Carson_Levine">Gail Carson Levine</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3763399?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 4 of 5 stars 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!!
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/175268?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Bonnie Gayle's review
rating:
bookshelves: fantasy-sf, library-books, reviewed
recommended for: fans of Ella Enchanted in specific, and fairy tales in general

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 decid...more 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!!...less

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