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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
not as good as the OG but that'll do, donkey, that'll do
This was a good prequel to Ella Enchanted, but idk, something about it I didn’t like— I think it was how Lady Eleanor was portrayed. Parts of how she was written in this book didn’t match how she was written in Ella Enchanted. Other than that it was clever
One of my first thoughts upon seeing this existed: WHAT?!?! I was so obsessed with Ella Enchanted as a teen, how did I not know it had a sequel? I had to have read and reread it over and over again over the course of when it was written until I went to college, and I recently reread and loved it as an adult.
I realized when I logged it, that I missed it only because it came out in 2018, so of course I didn't know it existed back then, because it wasn't around yet!
This was cute and fun, though I loved Ella Enchanted a lot more, for someone who wants to stay in this world a little bit longer, this is a solid addition to the universe.
I realized when I logged it, that I missed it only because it came out in 2018, so of course I didn't know it existed back then, because it wasn't around yet!
This was cute and fun, though I loved Ella Enchanted a lot more, for someone who wants to stay in this world a little bit longer, this is a solid addition to the universe.
It’s no Ella enchanted, but I did love it and it reminded me of my childhood. It felt v cozy.
This one is hard to judge because I am so attached to Ella Enchanted that I kept constantly comparing it and trying to figure out who Evie was in relation to Ella. Which may be slightly unfair, but then again, there's no way GCL didn't think that's what we were all going to do! We grew up with Ella! We love her! (And if anyone dares mention the movie, I will gut you faster than an ogre.)
We DO get some more backstory on Ella's fam, but, without spoiling anything, I can definitely say that Evie is not any of the people I theorized she was going to be. So I have to give credit where credit is due-- the decoy hints, definitely intentional on Levine's part-- worked! That gave the reading some bits of excitement and tension that I really liked.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there were some low moments where I couldn't stop myself from making a face at how fast this girl (with, usually, a backbone of steel) falls in love. Thankfully, it's not all quite what it seems again, but that didn't make having to plod through those parts any more enjoyable. I think it's important to keep in mind that this is a naive 14-year-old girl (which honestly is very hard to reconcile with her very grownup skills and demeanor) who doesn't even really understands what a crush feels like and can't conceive of what makes two people want to get married. She's just clueless, looking at every guy (I had an exciting moment where I thought she'd get with a lady, but nope) wondering if this is her "it". I guess it's honest but still super cringeworthy. I'm guessing kids will like this aspect more than adults. It may get kids' attention and help open their eyes to what healthy romance is and is not.
As far as the overall story goes... It meandered. Nothing too exciting yet at the same time, I did inhale most of it in one go. That's really a testament to the writing quality. The setting was as delightful as Ella's. The thing I'm really disappointed about was that the clues dropped about the age-old ogre/dragon rivalry didn't amount to anything! There is some seriously cool lore there (I won't spoil the tiny bit that we DO get), and it would have been amazing for that to have been woven into the plot more. I thought Evie was going to have a hand in uncovering/fixing something there, and that would have elevated the story from love-oriented. It would have given Evie a REASON to have been an ogre and she could have done some good with it. I do not get why that storyline was dropped suddenly in the middle of the book.
Overall: Fun, enjoyable, though I was left craving more depth and nuance. Definitely best only for tweens.
PS- thank you GCL for making her sleep under a bridge just once, I couldn't stop laughing
PPS- do NOT google "meat stick"
We DO get some more backstory on Ella's fam, but, without spoiling anything, I can definitely say that Evie is not any of the people I theorized she was going to be. So I have to give credit where credit is due-- the decoy hints, definitely intentional on Levine's part-- worked! That gave the reading some bits of excitement and tension that I really liked.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there were some low moments where I couldn't stop myself from making a face at how fast this girl (with, usually, a backbone of steel) falls in love. Thankfully, it's not all quite what it seems again, but that didn't make having to plod through those parts any more enjoyable. I think it's important to keep in mind that this is a naive 14-year-old girl (which honestly is very hard to reconcile with her very grownup skills and demeanor) who doesn't even really understands what a crush feels like and can't conceive of what makes two people want to get married. She's just clueless, looking at every guy (I had an exciting moment where I thought she'd get with a lady, but nope) wondering if this is her "it". I guess it's honest but still super cringeworthy. I'm guessing kids will like this aspect more than adults. It may get kids' attention and help open their eyes to what healthy romance is and is not.
As far as the overall story goes... It meandered. Nothing too exciting yet at the same time, I did inhale most of it in one go. That's really a testament to the writing quality. The setting was as delightful as Ella's. The thing I'm really disappointed about was that the clues dropped about the age-old ogre/dragon rivalry didn't amount to anything! There is some seriously cool lore there (I won't spoil the tiny bit that we DO get), and it would have been amazing for that to have been woven into the plot more. I thought Evie was going to have a hand in uncovering/fixing something there, and that would have elevated the story from love-oriented. It would have given Evie a REASON to have been an ogre and she could have done some good with it. I do not get why that storyline was dropped suddenly in the middle of the book.
Overall: Fun, enjoyable, though I was left craving more depth and nuance. Definitely best only for tweens.
PS- thank you GCL for making her sleep under a bridge just once, I couldn't stop laughing
PPS- do NOT google "meat stick"
I loved Ella Enchanted. This just didn't have the same magic. I found it quite annoying most of the time.
The narration didn't help. She was ok with normal narration, but the Ogre speech was so darn annoying. And that's at least half the book.
The narration didn't help. She was ok with normal narration, but the Ogre speech was so darn annoying. And that's at least half the book.
Obligatory reminder to myself that I'm writing this review ~2 months after reading.
This was such a silly read lol. I was a HUGE fan of this author as a child, and, when I discovered that I somehow missed this prequel to Ella Enchanted, I simply HAD to read it, even as a 23-year-old adult. The writing held up, Gail Carson Levine is an excellent author, but I can't say I'm thrilled with the overall themes/lessons. Like... it was ALMOST good? But then the ending *SPOILER ALERT* is that "no, this 14 year old child who had to suffer greatly due to her choice to stick by her independence ends up completely reneging on that decision in order to spend the rest of her life with another child"... Idk, I'm sure if I had read this as a 14 year old, it would have been my fantasy to marry a best friend who was willing to be an ogre for me, but a decade beyond that age I'm wondering what kind of cringey awful partner I'd have now if I had married my crush from my freshman year of high school. *END SPOILER* I also feel like the messaging around beauty is weird af given that, again, the main character is unambiguously a child. Children of course can be independent, powerful, resourceful drivers of their destiny, as this main character is for the majority of the book. But I found it completely unsatisfying and unrealistic that a child could or should make the type of choice the ending of the book describes. Fun but meh. (Though my inner child is LOVING the extra details this book adds to the Ella Enchanted universe, and I definitely want to reread that book at some point!)
This was such a silly read lol. I was a HUGE fan of this author as a child, and, when I discovered that I somehow missed this prequel to Ella Enchanted, I simply HAD to read it, even as a 23-year-old adult. The writing held up, Gail Carson Levine is an excellent author, but I can't say I'm thrilled with the overall themes/lessons. Like... it was ALMOST good? But then the ending *SPOILER ALERT* is that "no, this 14 year old child who had to suffer greatly due to her choice to stick by her independence ends up completely reneging on that decision in order to spend the rest of her life with another child"... Idk, I'm sure if I had read this as a 14 year old, it would have been my fantasy to marry a best friend who was willing to be an ogre for me, but a decade beyond that age I'm wondering what kind of cringey awful partner I'd have now if I had married my crush from my freshman year of high school. *END SPOILER* I also feel like the messaging around beauty is weird af given that, again, the main character is unambiguously a child. Children of course can be independent, powerful, resourceful drivers of their destiny, as this main character is for the majority of the book. But I found it completely unsatisfying and unrealistic that a child could or should make the type of choice the ending of the book describes. Fun but meh. (Though my inner child is LOVING the extra details this book adds to the Ella Enchanted universe, and I definitely want to reread that book at some point!)
Wow, this book was surprisingly awful. If you manage to get through the entire thing (an effort) then you realize that literally the only reason GCL wrote it was to answer the question "why would Ella's lovely mother marry such a piece of shit as her greedy, two-faced father," and AS ALWAYS the answer is Lucinda.
Lucinda, Lucinda, Lucinda. The strongest emotion this book made me feel was deep loathing for Lucinda, who is honestly just plot shoe-horning. She's the excuse GCL uses in order to avoid real work. And here's the thing, I LOVE Ella Enchanted, I read it as a kid and still love it as an adult, it's well-rounded, thought-provoking, and genuinely GREAT literature. But it convinced me Ogre Enchanted HAD to get good eventually right???? No, no it did not, and reaching the end only made me angrier at both Lucinda and GCL because (no spoilers) a very kind and nice character ends up tied to a super shitty one, and yet somehow they still have sex together? Even tho the nice character despises the shitty one? Because they know they're a horrible person? How does any of that make sense???? It doesn't. It answers a question no one asked and no one needed answered.
Overall, I would defintely not recommend this book to fans of Ella Enchanted, or non fans, mostly because it's just bad writing. The story rambles, takes too long in some settings and not enough in others, and seems to be under the assumption that people fall in love with each other over literally nothing constantly. I'm shocked how bad this book was.
Lucinda, Lucinda, Lucinda. The strongest emotion this book made me feel was deep loathing for Lucinda, who is honestly just plot shoe-horning. She's the excuse GCL uses in order to avoid real work. And here's the thing, I LOVE Ella Enchanted, I read it as a kid and still love it as an adult, it's well-rounded, thought-provoking, and genuinely GREAT literature. But it convinced me Ogre Enchanted HAD to get good eventually right???? No, no it did not, and reaching the end only made me angrier at both Lucinda and GCL because (no spoilers) a very kind and nice character ends up tied to a super shitty one, and yet somehow they still have sex together? Even tho the nice character despises the shitty one? Because they know they're a horrible person? How does any of that make sense???? It doesn't. It answers a question no one asked and no one needed answered.
Overall, I would defintely not recommend this book to fans of Ella Enchanted, or non fans, mostly because it's just bad writing. The story rambles, takes too long in some settings and not enough in others, and seems to be under the assumption that people fall in love with each other over literally nothing constantly. I'm shocked how bad this book was.