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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
An interesting take on Cinderella after the Prince finds her. It takes the fairytale out of... well, out of the fairytale, and puts it in the real world. An interesting counterpart to [book:Ella Enchanted], which upped the fairytale quotient.
This was actually really fucked up! I do not recommend it for anyone, honestly.
I'm really annoyed with re-tellings that only want to contradict specific moments everyone remembers from popular culture, obviously Disney's animated version being the most well-known. Just Ella is actually the total opposite, ironically, ofThe Lady's Guide to Piracy and Petticoats. By which I mean, there is girl-on-girl hate galore, slut-shaming, anti-fatness, rape threats. Ella isn't like the other girls because the other girls are stupid because caring about fashion is dumb! Doesn't matter that it is supposedly how they have survived an oppressive monarchy that only values beauty through the lens of cishet white dues.
But why examine the nuggets of interesting ideas that could evolve into larger thematic commentary on gender when you can just make fun of other women for their choices. Another something I wondered was what difference does it make if Ella marries a prince or a tutor? If people complain about Prince Charming marrying Cinderella, it's not necessarily his royal status, but the pressure or expectation of women relying on men to resolve their problems. Tangent: Cinderella is a victim of abuse and it's real shitty to judge her for getting swept of her feet by an all right guy who was nice to her. Why is that so awful?
Anyway. Thanks for coming to my lecture on fairy tales and lazy attempts to "fix" them.
I'm really annoyed with re-tellings that only want to contradict specific moments everyone remembers from popular culture, obviously Disney's animated version being the most well-known. Just Ella is actually the total opposite, ironically, ofThe Lady's Guide to Piracy and Petticoats. By which I mean, there is girl-on-girl hate galore, slut-shaming, anti-fatness, rape threats. Ella isn't like the other girls because the other girls are stupid because caring about fashion is dumb! Doesn't matter that it is supposedly how they have survived an oppressive monarchy that only values beauty through the lens of cishet white dues.
But why examine the nuggets of interesting ideas that could evolve into larger thematic commentary on gender when you can just make fun of other women for their choices. Another something I wondered was what difference does it make if Ella marries a prince or a tutor? If people complain about Prince Charming marrying Cinderella, it's not necessarily his royal status, but the pressure or expectation of women relying on men to resolve their problems. Tangent: Cinderella is a victim of abuse and it's real shitty to judge her for getting swept of her feet by an all right guy who was nice to her. Why is that so awful?
Anyway. Thanks for coming to my lecture on fairy tales and lazy attempts to "fix" them.
Just Ella is a sassy, fun, quick middle grade read. It takes all of the eye-rolling ridiculousness of the Disneyfied version of Cinderella and doses it with some slightly cynical, very entertaining snark.
This was a super-quick read (it's only 218 pages) with a refreshing heroine, and a lot of "save yourself" messages. I recommend it for young girls, but also for fans of fairytale retellings, sassy YA, and anyone tired of the Happily Ever After trope.
This was a super-quick read (it's only 218 pages) with a refreshing heroine, and a lot of "save yourself" messages. I recommend it for young girls, but also for fans of fairytale retellings, sassy YA, and anyone tired of the Happily Ever After trope.
"I'd done something everybody had told me I couldn't. I'd changed my life all by myself. Having a fairy godmother would have ruined everything." - Ella Brown
Everyone knows the story about Cinderella. She was a beautiful orphan in the care of her wicked stepmother and stepsisters, and her fairy godmother helped her get ready for the Prince's ball. There she winds up meeting the Prince, they fall in love after dancing the night away, only to have her run back home when the clock strikes midnight. He eventually finds her by having every single single girl in his kingdom try on the glass slipper his mystery girl lost the night of the ball, and then they live "happily ever after." That's the way the story ends, or so we thought.
Unfortunately for our main girl Ella, she did not live happily ever after at all, and her Prince Charming was anything but. The story takes place months before the wedding, and Ella is forced to learn how to become more of a lady. Of course it's going to be a challenge, especially growing up having to become a slave to her stepmother after her father died. In this world, there is war, refugees, and the only happily ever after is in the outlandish rumors going around the castle about Ella's background. No, she did not have a fairy godmother to help her get to the ball and woo the Prince, but the entire palace sure believes that story. She made her own dress, used her cleverness to obtain glass slippers, and got to the ball by walking part most of the way to the castle. She changed her own fate, and the fact that everyone didn't know the truth about what happened, and chose to believe a fairy tale rather than find out the reality of the situation stung even more.
Ella is a very strong feminist, and in this book it shows why that concept is important. We see Ella getting everything about being a princess wrong, and that's not because she isn't trying. It's really because, in this kingdom, being a princess involves not being able to have an original thought, or even know the truth about what's happening around the little bubble they forced her into. The Prince turns out to be extremely boring and one dimensional, unable to hold an actual conversation with Ella during their chaperoned meetings. She finds him dull, and realizes that she fell in love with the idea of him on the night of the ball, so long ago to her. She didn't fall in love with the prince himself, and she had to figure out a way to get out of such a loveless and destructive marriage.
In the end she figures out a way to escape, even though she was forced into the castle's dungeon for a period of time. Speaking out against the marriage, and showing that she was not the dainty little girl the palace wanted her to be was what got her into trouble, but that didn't stop her from removing herself from a dangerous situation, one that made her feel threatened and uncomfortable. She ran, all the way to the edge of the kingdom where the refugees of the war were staying, and she made herself into a woman of knowledge and skill. It was hard work, maybe even harder than what she had to go through growing up, but she loved it. She excelled at it, and it fulfilled her life in ways that she didn't even dream of. She made her own destiny into one that she could have never had if she went through with her marriage to the prince, and even though she could probably never go back to that part of the kingdom, she was better off for it.
I felt like this book was pretty interesting, even though it was short to me and ended somewhat abruptly. It really changes the preconception of the Cinderella story, the one that little girls are used to seeing from Disney. There is so much more to this book than what Disney showed us, and in its own little way, they flip the well known story on its head and change the way we see Cinderella. She changes from this girl who had a fairy godmother and talking mice helping her to become a princess to an assertive, no-nonsense teenager that would rather watch a jousting tournament than be inside stitching a new dress. This is a good introduction into the world of female protagonists who just don't like being told what to do, and I feel she has the potential to join the ranks of my favorites, like Rose Hathaway and Hermione Granger. Not bad company to keep.
Everyone knows the story about Cinderella. She was a beautiful orphan in the care of her wicked stepmother and stepsisters, and her fairy godmother helped her get ready for the Prince's ball. There she winds up meeting the Prince, they fall in love after dancing the night away, only to have her run back home when the clock strikes midnight. He eventually finds her by having every single single girl in his kingdom try on the glass slipper his mystery girl lost the night of the ball, and then they live "happily ever after." That's the way the story ends, or so we thought.
Unfortunately for our main girl Ella, she did not live happily ever after at all, and her Prince Charming was anything but. The story takes place months before the wedding, and Ella is forced to learn how to become more of a lady. Of course it's going to be a challenge, especially growing up having to become a slave to her stepmother after her father died. In this world, there is war, refugees, and the only happily ever after is in the outlandish rumors going around the castle about Ella's background. No, she did not have a fairy godmother to help her get to the ball and woo the Prince, but the entire palace sure believes that story. She made her own dress, used her cleverness to obtain glass slippers, and got to the ball by walking part most of the way to the castle. She changed her own fate, and the fact that everyone didn't know the truth about what happened, and chose to believe a fairy tale rather than find out the reality of the situation stung even more.
Ella is a very strong feminist, and in this book it shows why that concept is important. We see Ella getting everything about being a princess wrong, and that's not because she isn't trying. It's really because, in this kingdom, being a princess involves not being able to have an original thought, or even know the truth about what's happening around the little bubble they forced her into. The Prince turns out to be extremely boring and one dimensional, unable to hold an actual conversation with Ella during their chaperoned meetings. She finds him dull, and realizes that she fell in love with the idea of him on the night of the ball, so long ago to her. She didn't fall in love with the prince himself, and she had to figure out a way to get out of such a loveless and destructive marriage.
In the end she figures out a way to escape, even though she was forced into the castle's dungeon for a period of time. Speaking out against the marriage, and showing that she was not the dainty little girl the palace wanted her to be was what got her into trouble, but that didn't stop her from removing herself from a dangerous situation, one that made her feel threatened and uncomfortable. She ran, all the way to the edge of the kingdom where the refugees of the war were staying, and she made herself into a woman of knowledge and skill. It was hard work, maybe even harder than what she had to go through growing up, but she loved it. She excelled at it, and it fulfilled her life in ways that she didn't even dream of. She made her own destiny into one that she could have never had if she went through with her marriage to the prince, and even though she could probably never go back to that part of the kingdom, she was better off for it.
I felt like this book was pretty interesting, even though it was short to me and ended somewhat abruptly. It really changes the preconception of the Cinderella story, the one that little girls are used to seeing from Disney. There is so much more to this book than what Disney showed us, and in its own little way, they flip the well known story on its head and change the way we see Cinderella. She changes from this girl who had a fairy godmother and talking mice helping her to become a princess to an assertive, no-nonsense teenager that would rather watch a jousting tournament than be inside stitching a new dress. This is a good introduction into the world of female protagonists who just don't like being told what to do, and I feel she has the potential to join the ranks of my favorites, like Rose Hathaway and Hermione Granger. Not bad company to keep.
A very clever and fun twist on a classic fairy tale. It's been a few years since I've read this book, but I remember loving it and lending it to a few friends. (It had a more interesting cover than the version here...)
Link: https://holedupinabook.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-palace-chronicles-series-by.html
I’m actually quite shocked that this series took 16 years to write. You see some series where the author practically vomits out books and publishes like 20 books in 5 years and then you see authors who take their sweet ass time writing and publishes 3 books in 16 years. It’s crazy, really. Anyways, that’s all for my little tidbit for the day.
Moving along with the actual review, I thought these books were quite fun. It seemed as if the author originally wanted the books to be a fairytale retelling with obviously Cinderella as the main theme but then she kind of went astray with this whole other kingdom in books two and three that can also be seen as a spinoff for the dancing twelve princess story. But I’m not even sure if the last two books are actually spinoffs for the twelve princess story because it wasn’t as if there were 12, there were actually 13 and there was no dancing involved but that’s the closest similarity I can think of. So, at the end, the only thing I can say for certain is that book one is definitely a Cinderella retelling.
Book one was fun – I enjoyed reading about Ella but she didn’t really seem to know what she wanted for most of the book. Even though she didn’t really like being told what to do, she still went along with it for the most part until the really end when she finally decided to break out and escape. It was interesting though because she was portrayed as a girl who was a little confused at times but still semi-headstrong but since she was still an important character in the rest of the series, she was later portrayed as the mature one. Personally I didn’t really see any major growth in her character in the first book so it was a little surprising to find that people regarded her highly and whatnot as the books continued.
Book two and three mainly followed along Desmia and Cecilia as well as the other eleven princesses. It was obvious that something crazy was happening and to be honest, the ending was a bit obvious. I don’t think there were really any other way for it to end. It was more of the journey to the ending as opposed to the ending itself that was fun to read. In the last book, the conclusion felt very rushed because it seemed that the author just wanted to squeeze everything into the epilogue even though it could have clearly been drawn out a little longer with a more comprehensive ending.
Overall, the books were entertaining and a quick read. I thought they were fun so if you’re looking for a light, summer read with a fairytale element to it, then definitely check these out.
I’m actually quite shocked that this series took 16 years to write. You see some series where the author practically vomits out books and publishes like 20 books in 5 years and then you see authors who take their sweet ass time writing and publishes 3 books in 16 years. It’s crazy, really. Anyways, that’s all for my little tidbit for the day.
Moving along with the actual review, I thought these books were quite fun. It seemed as if the author originally wanted the books to be a fairytale retelling with obviously Cinderella as the main theme but then she kind of went astray with this whole other kingdom in books two and three that can also be seen as a spinoff for the dancing twelve princess story. But I’m not even sure if the last two books are actually spinoffs for the twelve princess story because it wasn’t as if there were 12, there were actually 13 and there was no dancing involved but that’s the closest similarity I can think of. So, at the end, the only thing I can say for certain is that book one is definitely a Cinderella retelling.
Book one was fun – I enjoyed reading about Ella but she didn’t really seem to know what she wanted for most of the book. Even though she didn’t really like being told what to do, she still went along with it for the most part until the really end when she finally decided to break out and escape. It was interesting though because she was portrayed as a girl who was a little confused at times but still semi-headstrong but since she was still an important character in the rest of the series, she was later portrayed as the mature one. Personally I didn’t really see any major growth in her character in the first book so it was a little surprising to find that people regarded her highly and whatnot as the books continued.
Book two and three mainly followed along Desmia and Cecilia as well as the other eleven princesses. It was obvious that something crazy was happening and to be honest, the ending was a bit obvious. I don’t think there were really any other way for it to end. It was more of the journey to the ending as opposed to the ending itself that was fun to read. In the last book, the conclusion felt very rushed because it seemed that the author just wanted to squeeze everything into the epilogue even though it could have clearly been drawn out a little longer with a more comprehensive ending.
Overall, the books were entertaining and a quick read. I thought they were fun so if you’re looking for a light, summer read with a fairytale element to it, then definitely check these out.
Still easily one of my favorite books. I read it on high school and just re read it for the first time since and it was just as good. Perfection ♡
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Minor: Physical abuse, Death of parent, War
I had been convinced that I read this when I was younger, though after reading it now I don't remember it at all. But I'm a sucker for any Cinderella story and this was at my library's book sale for just a quarter so of course I had to pick it up.
It keeps itself separated from the rest of the Cinderella retellings, as all the good ones do, yet still manages to be the story of Cinderella. In this case, however, it's telling the story of her "ever after", which is far from happy. I just wish that the story went the extra bit to make it more "young adult", which it is listed as, instead of childrens book. Not that I don't mind either way, but there were points where it felt like it could have used the extra bump to make it more satisfying.
It keeps itself separated from the rest of the Cinderella retellings, as all the good ones do, yet still manages to be the story of Cinderella. In this case, however, it's telling the story of her "ever after", which is far from happy. I just wish that the story went the extra bit to make it more "young adult", which it is listed as, instead of childrens book. Not that I don't mind either way, but there were points where it felt like it could have used the extra bump to make it more satisfying.