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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Bright cute story that I'm sure middle grade readers will like. However, not an enduring classic in the same way Ella is.
I don't give out one stars lightly, and I suppose half of this should be on me, for expecting things I knew I would not get out of this book.
But god, did this book suck.
I am absolutely one of those people who grew up with Ella Enchanted, who consumed every single one of Levine's books with great excitement, seeking out everything she had ever written as a little ten-twelve year old. I even liked the movie adaptation of Ella. So when I saw this book show up in the new stack at the library and I read the synopsis, I got very excited. The whimsical, fun magic of Levine's books, set in the same world as Ella, with a main character who seemed not to be interested in romantic love? That sounded right up my alley.
Unfortunately, I brought too many expectations to the table -- but even despite that, I feel sort of cheated out of what could have been a really good, subversive story.
Non-spoiler complaints: the story was just so.....meandering. Ella was like that too, but I still felt like there was a point. This story was way too much just...wandering about. It didn't feel coherent at all. The characters were wholly flat and uninteresting. And the constant, constant reminders of Evie's ogreishness bordered on obnoxious. We couldn't go two paragraphs without hearing about how bad she smelled and how hairy she was and how much she wanted to eat meat. All of which were supposed to make her look unattractive on the outside but just instead made me feel uncomfortable with how obnoxiously the story treated these traits as being inherently unfeminine.
The rest of it is spoilers so I'll hide the rest of my complaints.
When I first read the scene where Evie turns down Wormy's affections, I felt liberated. As someone considering myself to be on the aromantic spectrum lately, I related to Evie so hard! Being best friends with someone doesn't mean you have to be in love with them! Sometimes you just enjoy their company. You don't need to get married to anyone. And you definitely shouldn't be forced into accepting a proposal just because it's the thing to do, or because "he loves you so much and you should give him a chance!" No. Even if I wasn't aro-spec or hoping for aro representation, what a crappy world view to put out there.
Because that's how the book ends. She finds out that she did in fact love Wormy all this time, and that her initial feelings of not wanting to get married were fake and not real. This could have been a story about identity and subverting the "true love's kiss" tropes, but instead, it just decided to end with the lazy option. Hell, even Evie's relationship with Eleanor was super adorable and I would have been happy if they ended up together instead of her and Wormy! But no. The childhood friend who just loves her sooooo much just "deserves" her.
I'm getting mad and I can't speak coherently, but this is a story that maybe would have been fun ten-twelve years ago when I was a kid and still enjoying Levine's work, but in 2019? This crap doesn't fly anymore. It's boring, it's cliche, it's trite, and it ripped my desperate hopes to have some relatable representation right out of my hands by ending the story with an "actually, Lucinda was right all along and you should all get married and if you don't there's something wrong with you and you ought to be a monster who no one will ever befriend or love!" BS.
But god, did this book suck.
I am absolutely one of those people who grew up with Ella Enchanted, who consumed every single one of Levine's books with great excitement, seeking out everything she had ever written as a little ten-twelve year old. I even liked the movie adaptation of Ella. So when I saw this book show up in the new stack at the library and I read the synopsis, I got very excited. The whimsical, fun magic of Levine's books, set in the same world as Ella, with a main character who seemed not to be interested in romantic love? That sounded right up my alley.
Unfortunately, I brought too many expectations to the table -- but even despite that, I feel sort of cheated out of what could have been a really good, subversive story.
Non-spoiler complaints: the story was just so.....meandering. Ella was like that too, but I still felt like there was a point. This story was way too much just...wandering about. It didn't feel coherent at all. The characters were wholly flat and uninteresting. And the constant, constant reminders of Evie's ogreishness bordered on obnoxious. We couldn't go two paragraphs without hearing about how bad she smelled and how hairy she was and how much she wanted to eat meat. All of which were supposed to make her look unattractive on the outside but just instead made me feel uncomfortable with how obnoxiously the story treated these traits as being inherently unfeminine.
The rest of it is spoilers so I'll hide the rest of my complaints.
Spoiler
As I'm sure my initial complaining has made any readers already guess, yes: Evie does in fact fall in love and get married by the end of the story. And it is awful.When I first read the scene where Evie turns down Wormy's affections, I felt liberated. As someone considering myself to be on the aromantic spectrum lately, I related to Evie so hard! Being best friends with someone doesn't mean you have to be in love with them! Sometimes you just enjoy their company. You don't need to get married to anyone. And you definitely shouldn't be forced into accepting a proposal just because it's the thing to do, or because "he loves you so much and you should give him a chance!" No. Even if I wasn't aro-spec or hoping for aro representation, what a crappy world view to put out there.
Because that's how the book ends. She finds out that she did in fact love Wormy all this time, and that her initial feelings of not wanting to get married were fake and not real. This could have been a story about identity and subverting the "true love's kiss" tropes, but instead, it just decided to end with the lazy option. Hell, even Evie's relationship with Eleanor was super adorable and I would have been happy if they ended up together instead of her and Wormy! But no. The childhood friend who just loves her sooooo much just "deserves" her.
I'm getting mad and I can't speak coherently, but this is a story that maybe would have been fun ten-twelve years ago when I was a kid and still enjoying Levine's work, but in 2019? This crap doesn't fly anymore. It's boring, it's cliche, it's trite, and it ripped my desperate hopes to have some relatable representation right out of my hands by ending the story with an "actually, Lucinda was right all along and you should all get married and if you don't there's something wrong with you and you ought to be a monster who no one will ever befriend or love!" BS.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really wanted to love this book as Ella Enchanted is one of my all time favourites and I have reread it so many times in the past 15+ years. So when I found out about Ogre Enchanted and that it was a prequel to Ella, I was so looking forward to it! Sadly, it did not even come close to the masterpiece that is Ella Enchanted 😕.
First things first, the things I didn't like:
First of all, Evie was patronising towards Wormy when she was still a human. I found her to be quite condescending and like she thought she was better than others just because she was a healer. I did not like her as a person or as an ogre. Her constant 'tingle' was also just weird. Also, I couldn't really imagine what Evie/the other ogres looked like, maybe I was biased by their representation in the Ella Enchanted movie, but I just could not picture their appearance for some reason.
Secondly, why was Master Warwick known as Wormy?! The nickname was never explained and made no sense at all! Personally I feel Master Warwick would have been better off marrying Mistress Chloris or anyone else besides Evie!
Now, on to the things I did like:
I liked that there was more backstory to characters we know from Ella Enchanted such as Ella's parents, Lucinda, Mandy and Prince Char's parents. Most of them lived up to their stories and were as expected, however Sir Peter should have been cast out of Frell and Eleanor should have been released from her Lucinda 'gift', afterall she only promised to marry him - Lucinda never said she couldn't divorce him afterwards!
Overall, I was unfortunately disappointed. This had so much promise and sadly didn't live up to its predecessor 😔
First things first, the things I didn't like:
Secondly, why was Master Warwick known as Wormy?! The nickname was never explained and made no sense at all! Personally I feel Master Warwick would have been better off marrying Mistress Chloris or anyone else besides Evie!
Now, on to the things I did like:
Overall, I was unfortunately disappointed. This had so much promise and sadly didn't live up to its predecessor 😔
This was okay. Ella Enchanted was my absolute favorite book as a child (it is by far the most worn book I own) and I was very excited for any connection to that story. Perhaps my expectations were too great, and that hurt my impression.
For starters, I didn't find Evie particularly likable. I get that she's infused with the temperament of an ogre, but I had trouble really rooting for her. I also didn't like that the book started with a proposal -it didn't feel right if Evie had Wormy thoroughly friend-zoned. He's displayed as very intelligent and aware through the rest of the book. I get that's the catalyst, but it made me feel iffy about those two from the start -particularly Evie's denial to his second proposal after she'd been turned into an ogre. She has a mere two months to find and accept a proposal, and in that time she makes ridiculously desperate, "that'll do" moves.
I also thought it was pretty obvious how the book had to end, so the story is 300+ pages of speedbump after speedbump until we get there. To be fair, there were a few unexpected turns and I liked how everything was culminating.
I did like seeing some familiar characters again... for the most part. I adored having more background on King Jerrold, and I really liked how that was done. My opinion of Lucinda was shifted a little bit -I didn't consider her to be quite so intentionally cruel. Just dim. And I'm not quite sure how I feel about all the extra information about Ella's parents. I want to re-read Ella Enchanted and see how all of the new details sit.
Either way, I think lovers of Ella Enchanted would want to read this. I think it helps Ella Enchanted, even if it's not as strong on its own.
For starters, I didn't find Evie particularly likable. I get that she's infused with the temperament of an ogre, but I had trouble really rooting for her. I also didn't like that the book started with a proposal -it didn't feel right if Evie had Wormy thoroughly friend-zoned. He's displayed as very intelligent and aware through the rest of the book. I get that's the catalyst, but it made me feel iffy about those two from the start -particularly Evie's denial to his second proposal after she'd been turned into an ogre. She has a mere two months to find and accept a proposal, and in that time she makes ridiculously desperate, "that'll do" moves.
I also thought it was pretty obvious how the book had to end, so the story is 300+ pages of speedbump after speedbump until we get there. To be fair, there were a few unexpected turns and I liked how everything was culminating.
Spoiler
The story was successfully building several issues/reveals, and I was ultimately irked by how quickly everything promptly came out, and was promptly resolved.I did like seeing some familiar characters again... for the most part. I adored having more background on King Jerrold, and I really liked how that was done. My opinion of Lucinda was shifted a little bit -I didn't consider her to be quite so intentionally cruel. Just dim. And I'm not quite sure how I feel about all the extra information about Ella's parents. I want to re-read Ella Enchanted and see how all of the new details sit.
Spoiler
I think it hurts to make Peter so conniving and... evil, to a degree. I've always wondered why Lady Eleanor removed the hairs from her soup in Ella Enchanted -and I was NOT AT ALL satisfied by the supposed answer.Either way, I think lovers of Ella Enchanted would want to read this. I think it helps Ella Enchanted, even if it's not as strong on its own.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A fun read in a familiar World- GCL has a distinctive style and I loved how she built in many familiar faces from Ella Enchanted.