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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
Don’t go in expecting Ella Enchanted.
We are in the same world, but Lucinda the fairy is the link to the series and if you expect Ella 2.0, You will be disappointed.
I thought this story had charm along with a strong, independent female lead character who has to face life on her own while thrust into a situation she was not prepared for. She is kind, Compassionate, a leader, and a good friend.
We are in the same world, but Lucinda the fairy is the link to the series and if you expect Ella 2.0, You will be disappointed.
I thought this story had charm along with a strong, independent female lead character who has to face life on her own while thrust into a situation she was not prepared for. She is kind, Compassionate, a leader, and a good friend.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Not as good as her original work with Ella Enchanted, but I did enjoy joy all the backstories of some of the characters that later appear in Ella's story.
I definitely enjoyed this! It was a fun, nostalgic romp through an old favorite land. Read it without expecting it to replicate the feelings you had when you first read Ella Enchanted as a kid, and you'll enjoy it too.
3.5 Stars
Ella Enchanted is one of my favorite books, so when I heard about a prequel I was so excited to enter that world again. Ogre Enchanted didn’t quite live up to my high expectation. There was so little of the character Evie before the enchantment that I didn’t feel invested in her. It was hard to know if I didn’t like Evie, or if I didn’t like the Ogre. I did enjoy the ending, and I also enjoyed getting a glimpse into the stories of some of the characters I knew from Ella.
Ella Enchanted is one of my favorite books, so when I heard about a prequel I was so excited to enter that world again. Ogre Enchanted didn’t quite live up to my high expectation. There was so little of the character Evie before the enchantment that I didn’t feel invested in her. It was hard to know if I didn’t like Evie, or if I didn’t like the Ogre. I did enjoy the ending, and I also enjoyed getting a glimpse into the stories of some of the characters I knew from Ella.
I liked this better than I thought I would. This is a fun read with an unexpected ending!
Oh sweet sweet Gail Carson Levine. Few other authors are as completely comfortable to me as she is. This book was precisely what I hoped for, in the EECU (Ella Enchanted Cinematic Universe), following the ever comfy formula, with enough callbacks and character drops to keep me interested. Is it wildly different and thrilling? Nah. Did it make me go "mmm that's nice"? Yep.
I have mixed feelings about this book, or the ending rather, but gave it 4 stars because the writing is really good.
Spoiler alert, Evie ends up with Wormy. This is fine, in fact it was what I wanted to happen when his character was introduced. I liked him and liked them together.
The problem is Evie goes from not loving him in that way to realizing that she does love him in that way after just a few encounters during her stint as an ogre. There isn't a lot of development. I guess he gets a little more confident and she notices him more in a romantic way, plus she learns a little about love and attraction, but it didn't feel satisfying when they get together.
When Evie turns him down, it's kind of sad (since Wormy is likeable), but it's empowering. Why should a girl go out with a boy just because he asks? The memory of my teenage self, who was pressured to date by "friends", loved that Evie felt she could say no and that Wormy respected that.
Getting the two together undid all of that. It felt that the moral of the story wasn't "girls should have agency over who they love and when" but instead "give that nice boy a second chance because you'll learn to love him". Barf!
I hate saying all that because I really did enjoy the characters and the rest of the story. Sure, I wish Evie had been aged up and that her time as an ogre had been stretched to a year or more (just so her maturity and growth would have made more sense), but the story and the writing is good. It's just that it doesn't deliver on it's promises.
I wish this had been a love story between Evie and Eleanor. Having just read Ella Enchanted for the first time last month, I knew Eleanor and knew what would happen, but I still felt the connection between Evie and Eleanor and felt their pairing (or pairing Evie with a woman) would have made more sense. Evie's girl crush was sweet and genuine.
But, alas, the story isn't so courageous and Evie ends up where she began and it doesn't feel genuine.
All that said, I felt the story really did capture puberty and teenage hormones. As an adult it was fun to read and cringe at memories of my past self. If I had read this as a teenager, I feel it may have helped me gain perspective on the constant waves of infatuation I experienced. Teenage me really needed to read the line "Was the love I sensed SELF LOVE?"
Spoiler alert, Evie ends up with Wormy. This is fine, in fact it was what I wanted to happen when his character was introduced. I liked him and liked them together.
The problem is Evie goes from not loving him in that way to realizing that she does love him in that way after just a few encounters during her stint as an ogre. There isn't a lot of development. I guess he gets a little more confident and she notices him more in a romantic way, plus she learns a little about love and attraction, but it didn't feel satisfying when they get together.
When Evie turns him down, it's kind of sad (since Wormy is likeable), but it's empowering. Why should a girl go out with a boy just because he asks? The memory of my teenage self, who was pressured to date by "friends", loved that Evie felt she could say no and that Wormy respected that.
Getting the two together undid all of that. It felt that the moral of the story wasn't "girls should have agency over who they love and when" but instead "give that nice boy a second chance because you'll learn to love him". Barf!
I hate saying all that because I really did enjoy the characters and the rest of the story. Sure, I wish Evie had been aged up and that her time as an ogre had been stretched to a year or more (just so her maturity and growth would have made more sense), but the story and the writing is good. It's just that it doesn't deliver on it's promises.
I wish this had been a love story between Evie and Eleanor. Having just read Ella Enchanted for the first time last month, I knew Eleanor and knew what would happen, but I still felt the connection between Evie and Eleanor and felt their pairing (or pairing Evie with a woman) would have made more sense. Evie's girl crush was sweet and genuine.
But, alas, the story isn't so courageous and Evie ends up where she began and it doesn't feel genuine.
All that said, I felt the story really did capture puberty and teenage hormones. As an adult it was fun to read and cringe at memories of my past self. If I had read this as a teenager, I feel it may have helped me gain perspective on the constant waves of infatuation I experienced. Teenage me really needed to read the line "Was the love I sensed SELF LOVE?"