Reviews

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

minabix's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

wollstonecrafty's review against another edition

♥♥♥♥♥♥
"'I agree. Love shouldn't be dictated.'


'Nothing should be dictated!' An idiotic remark to a future king, but I was thinking of Lucinda.


He answered seriously. 'As little as possible'"

macknz_p's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

forestidylls's review against another edition

5.0

This book is just as good every time I read it. For those who have watched the movie, this is nothing like the movie. While I enjoy the movie for its own rights, the book is filled with wit, charm, and love. It does not need a murder plot to keep it interesting.

faeriesparks's review against another edition

4.0

Such a wonderful story. I really, really enjoyed it!

ravenslanding's review against another edition

5.0

The first time I read Ella Enchanted I was a high schooler and I was babysitting a middleschooler and a kindergartener. After the kids went to bed I found Ella Enchanted in the middleschooler's library books and read almost the whole thing before the parents got home and I had to leave the book behind. It was probably 4 or 5 years later that I finally got my hands on another copy and found out how the last couple chapters shook out.

I like the book SO MUCH MORE than the movie. The movie is inches from being based on the book In Name Only.

It's a good retelling with some interesting thoughts about free will.

amyingomar's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

kivt's review against another edition

2.0

I loved this book as a kid. On re-reading it, it’s kind of nasty. The evil stepsisters are coded as evil because they’re cruel to Ella and classist, sure. But they’re also very ugly, eat too much, Olive in particular wants to be loved too much, the book really drags them for being illiterate. For as feminist as the book wants to be, it never sheds some of the original story’s baggage about (Disney Princess-style) beauty equaling goodness. It just adds “intelligence equals goodness” to the mix. Why not make them equally beautiful and smart, and just let their snobbery and obvious delight in abusing the power they have over people code them as evil? That’s more than enough & more like what readers of the book’s target age range are going to come across in their lives.

The end is kinda gross too.

Spoiler

Ella is only able to break the curse because of her love of Char and her nation. She can’t break it to save her life or to save the life of a child, she breaks it over a potential, unrealized threat to the man she loves. Which is like, fine, sure, love is powerful. But we don’t see that love really develop, we’re just told the two characters fall in love. And they’re 16. The curse breaking scene isn’t super compelling. It’s explicitly nationalist and still pretty sexist and I don’t like it.

cth123's review against another edition

funny

5.0

dandelionbear's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0