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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
Set in the world of Ella Enchanted (one of my favorite books of all time!) I was super excited to read this novel set in the same universe.
However, I didn’t like Evie anywhere near as much as I liked Ella. Ella is vivacious and fun; Evie is dull and obsessed with people’s posture. She has none of the quick wit of Ella. Also, the fact that she has two months to make someone fall in love with her made the whole thing instalove-y.
Gail Carson Levine is a great writer and definitely has a way with words. However, I found this book to be sadder than Ella Enchanted which I was not expecting. And I hate Lucinda more than ever now.
However, I didn’t like Evie anywhere near as much as I liked Ella. Ella is vivacious and fun; Evie is dull and obsessed with people’s posture. She has none of the quick wit of Ella. Also, the fact that she has two months to make someone fall in love with her made the whole thing instalove-y.
Gail Carson Levine is a great writer and definitely has a way with words. However, I found this book to be sadder than Ella Enchanted which I was not expecting. And I hate Lucinda more than ever now.
A delightful return to the world of ELLA ENCHANTED, full of familiar faces who it was lovely to learn more about. As always, Levine's pacing is not her strongest suit, but she more than makes up for it with her strong sense of character, imaginative world-building, and fresh concepts.
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I needed something simple to read that I didn't really have to apply myself to so I picked up this title. I have enjoyed Levine's other works ("Fairest" most of all), but this -! The writing was choppy and incomplete and while I could look past it in the beginning it seemed to worsen as the story progressed.
ARC provided by Edelweiss.
I liked that this was set in the same world as Ella Enchanted and that we get to meet some of the characters when they were younger. However, I didn't think that the characterizations of Evie or Wormy were that dynamic. There was very little growth and that made the conclusion somewhat rushed. I wanted more emotional depth. Overall, I think this would be an adequate addition to a children's collection, but it is too simplistic for a young adult collection.
I liked that this was set in the same world as Ella Enchanted and that we get to meet some of the characters when they were younger. However, I didn't think that the characterizations of Evie or Wormy were that dynamic. There was very little growth and that made the conclusion somewhat rushed. I wanted more emotional depth. Overall, I think this would be an adequate addition to a children's collection, but it is too simplistic for a young adult collection.
Tingling.
I do not think I ever want to read the word tingling again. Probably because I kept reading it as a euphemism for hormones - which maybe it was and maybe it wasn't. But the point is, it firmly coincided with the heroine's search for love and self-discovery and whatnot.
And I'm just not down with tingling in my middle school fiction.
This book felt very middle school. And kind of pointless. And rambling. And yet on-the-nose. And...
Oh gosh, I wanted so badly to like it!
I mean, an [b:Ella Enchanted|24337|Ella Enchanted (Ella Enchanted #1)|Gail Carson Levine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1410727190s/24337.jpg|2485462] prequel! I love Ella. I loveeeeee Char. I love the story. Heck, I'll even admit to loving the movie (as a completely different and totally unrelated story to the book.) I love [b:Fairest|183660|Fairest|Gail Carson Levine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348108149s/183660.jpg|2581]. I wanted to love this book! I went in expecting to love it.
But I did not.
For starters, Evie is kind of a bore. She turns down her BFF's proposal of marriage (after practically dragging it out of him) and gets turned into an ogre by Lucinda. Weird, but okay. She is huge on healing people and even as an ogre makes it her goal to heal everyone she meets. She goes on this journey of self-discovery to find a man who will love her in her ugly, ogre form. She meets three men and I guess the reader should draw wisdom from their contrasting behavior.
But her relationships with all three felt awkward and on-the-nose. It is obvious who the "right" choice is. So the other two (and her perceived emotions for them) are more...moral lessons? I guess I would call that:
Problem 1: The characters come across as one-dimensional because they are intended to provide a moral lesson about finding love.
Problem 2: This is an Ella Enchanted prequel, in just about every sense of the word, so the moral, boxy characters get an added dimension of being people the reader already loves/hates. I won't give any spoilers but many of the adults in Ella Enchanted appear as young people here. The combination feels...awkward. And honestly, totally depressing. Lucinda's meddling takes a front and center role for most of their lives and I do not think it adds much to the story. I'd rather Lucinda sort of...appear for Ella's christening than think what a plague she has been on Frell for all these years! (I also feel like people would know her and her curses better by that point.)
Problem 3: The book feels like a lot of "fill" time. Evie has two months to break the curse. Obviously, she won't break it till the last possible second and so for two months she wanders around figuring out ogre stuff. And let me tell you, ogre stuff is not that interesting.
There were moments I enjoyed this book. It took about 2/3rds of the way through, but sometimes I glimpsed the magic that made me love Ella. But the guy she ends up with is no Char and I think any comparisons just left me feeling...dissatisfied.
To be perfectly fair, I think I would rate this book closer to 3 stars if I went in thinking "middle school fantasy novel." Then I would more eagerly analyze the different heroes and perhaps even appreciate the lesson about love communicated within the story. But it isn't just any random "middle school fantasy novel." This is Ella, or a prequel to Ella, and I just can't read it in a detached manner. Ella Enchanted might fit specifically in a juvenile fiction/middle school/YA categorization, but for me the story remains timeless. It do not need to put on my "middle school fiction" cap to read it. I love it at 25 as much as I did at 15. Ogre Enchanted really needs the middle school fiction cap. It mostly reminded me of why I gave up reading Gail Carson Levine's novels. They cease to function as the timeless stories they once were.
Further, I probably would have enjoyed this book as a novel set in the same world as Ella, but throwing in characters from her book just depressed me too much. My deep affection for this world worked against it.
Still, I don't recommend avoiding it. Just don't think of it in connection to Ella Enchanted. Maybe that will help?
I do not think I ever want to read the word tingling again. Probably because I kept reading it as a euphemism for hormones - which maybe it was and maybe it wasn't. But the point is, it firmly coincided with the heroine's search for love and self-discovery and whatnot.
And I'm just not down with tingling in my middle school fiction.
This book felt very middle school. And kind of pointless. And rambling. And yet on-the-nose. And...
Oh gosh, I wanted so badly to like it!
I mean, an [b:Ella Enchanted|24337|Ella Enchanted (Ella Enchanted #1)|Gail Carson Levine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1410727190s/24337.jpg|2485462] prequel! I love Ella. I loveeeeee Char. I love the story. Heck, I'll even admit to loving the movie (as a completely different and totally unrelated story to the book.) I love [b:Fairest|183660|Fairest|Gail Carson Levine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348108149s/183660.jpg|2581]. I wanted to love this book! I went in expecting to love it.
But I did not.
For starters, Evie is kind of a bore. She turns down her BFF's proposal of marriage (after practically dragging it out of him) and gets turned into an ogre by Lucinda. Weird, but okay. She is huge on healing people and even as an ogre makes it her goal to heal everyone she meets. She goes on this journey of self-discovery to find a man who will love her in her ugly, ogre form. She meets three men and I guess the reader should draw wisdom from their contrasting behavior.
But her relationships with all three felt awkward and on-the-nose. It is obvious who the "right" choice is. So the other two (and her perceived emotions for them) are more...moral lessons? I guess I would call that:
Problem 1: The characters come across as one-dimensional because they are intended to provide a moral lesson about finding love.
Problem 2: This is an Ella Enchanted prequel, in just about every sense of the word, so the moral, boxy characters get an added dimension of being people the reader already loves/hates. I won't give any spoilers but many of the adults in Ella Enchanted appear as young people here. The combination feels...awkward. And honestly, totally depressing. Lucinda's meddling takes a front and center role for most of their lives and I do not think it adds much to the story. I'd rather Lucinda sort of...appear for Ella's christening than think what a plague she has been on Frell for all these years! (I also feel like people would know her and her curses better by that point.)
Problem 3: The book feels like a lot of "fill" time. Evie has two months to break the curse. Obviously, she won't break it till the last possible second and so for two months she wanders around figuring out ogre stuff. And let me tell you, ogre stuff is not that interesting.
There were moments I enjoyed this book. It took about 2/3rds of the way through, but sometimes I glimpsed the magic that made me love Ella. But the guy she ends up with is no Char and I think any comparisons just left me feeling...dissatisfied.
To be perfectly fair, I think I would rate this book closer to 3 stars if I went in thinking "middle school fantasy novel." Then I would more eagerly analyze the different heroes and perhaps even appreciate the lesson about love communicated within the story. But it isn't just any random "middle school fantasy novel." This is Ella, or a prequel to Ella, and I just can't read it in a detached manner. Ella Enchanted might fit specifically in a juvenile fiction/middle school/YA categorization, but for me the story remains timeless. It do not need to put on my "middle school fiction" cap to read it. I love it at 25 as much as I did at 15. Ogre Enchanted really needs the middle school fiction cap. It mostly reminded me of why I gave up reading Gail Carson Levine's novels. They cease to function as the timeless stories they once were.
Further, I probably would have enjoyed this book as a novel set in the same world as Ella, but throwing in characters from her book just depressed me too much. My deep affection for this world worked against it.
Still, I don't recommend avoiding it. Just don't think of it in connection to Ella Enchanted. Maybe that will help?
Evie is a teenage healer, always concocting potions for her best friend, Wormy. When he proposes, she says no, and the fairy Lucinda curses her to be an ogre until she accepts a marriage proposal. Any marriage proposal from anyone. Evie travels to the Fens, hoping to learn the art of persuasion from the ogres who live there. Life as an ogre is more difficult than she imagined, but Evie becomes known as the healer ogre. She searches for someone who will awaken her ability to love, and hopes that someone will propose to her. But she isn't even sure what love is supposed to feel like.
I was disappointed in this book.
The story was oddly disjointed, and there were several things that seemed exceedingly far-fetched, even for a fairytale world. The ending was rushed, and the relationships felt forced. The characters are okay, but I wasn't amazed with their personalities or the bland character development.
Evie is such a lost soul. She really is a child blundering around, pretending to be in love. After several false starts in dead-end relationships with boys who aren't even interested in her, she finally ends up with the right person. However, I wasn't happy with her character development or with the development of the romantic relationship. She doesn't really grow that much or change or learn.
The plot is all over the place. There are several things in the world-building that are never explained. Many plot points are very Deus Ex Machina and way too convenient. The dragons' behavior is never explained. There are scenes with violence, murder, and death. A lot of people die gruesomely from a plague. And then the characters just pick up again with their pathetic little romantic intrigues. It's weird, and it doesn't fit with the rest of the story. Even with all that plot upheaval, the characters are fairly stagnant.
The writing style is great though. I usually love this author's books! This story started out well, but the middle was too long, and the ending was too quick.
I was disappointed in this book.
The story was oddly disjointed, and there were several things that seemed exceedingly far-fetched, even for a fairytale world. The ending was rushed, and the relationships felt forced. The characters are okay, but I wasn't amazed with their personalities or the bland character development.
Evie is such a lost soul. She really is a child blundering around, pretending to be in love. After several false starts in dead-end relationships with boys who aren't even interested in her, she finally ends up with the right person. However, I wasn't happy with her character development or with the development of the romantic relationship. She doesn't really grow that much or change or learn.
The plot is all over the place. There are several things in the world-building that are never explained. Many plot points are very Deus Ex Machina and way too convenient. The dragons' behavior is never explained. There are scenes with violence, murder, and death. A lot of people die gruesomely from a plague. And then the characters just pick up again with their pathetic little romantic intrigues. It's weird, and it doesn't fit with the rest of the story. Even with all that plot upheaval, the characters are fairly stagnant.
The writing style is great though. I usually love this author's books! This story started out well, but the middle was too long, and the ending was too quick.
This was...not great. In fact, it wasn't even good. I absolutely love [b:Ella Enchanted|24337|Ella Enchanted (Ella Enchanted #1)|Gail Carson Levine|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1410727190l/24337._SY75_.jpg|2485462] so, while I knew this likely wasn't going to be as amazing as it, I had high hopes. Gail Carson Levine is a talented author so I don't know why this book sucked so much.
I'll start with the good. Firstly, the writing was good. Very simple, but also very readable. It made me want to continue with the story even when it was dragging. The other good part about this book was the world. It was great to see more of Frell and to learn some more about characters that we already know.
Unfortunately that brings me to my first negative: the characters. I didn't really like anyone. Lady Eleanor was fine I suppose, but I only really cared about her because of how tragic her story is. Other familiar characters, like Sir Peter, Eckbert, and Mandy felt like they were only put in for the sake of connecting this to Ella Enchanted. They could have easily been replace with other characters and it wouldn't have made a difference. More importantly, I didn't even care about the protagonist! There isn't anything wrong with Evie, but she was kind of dull. If you take away all the orge-urges she has like being hungry and smelly, does she have that much of a personality? All I can remember about her is that she likes to heal people -- and I just finished this book yesterday.
The absolute worst part of this book was the ending. I had a feeling that things were going to end up like they did but I was really hoping that the author would surprise me. There are so many things that could have happened with the story and the author chose to bring it to the worst possible place.
Would I still read Gail Carson Levine books? Ya, probably. I'm getting a bit old for Middle Grade but I usually enjoy it and I really enjoy her writing style. This was really bad book, but hopefully it was just a miss and the next book the author comes out with won't be nearly as horrible.
I'll start with the good. Firstly, the writing was good. Very simple, but also very readable. It made me want to continue with the story even when it was dragging. The other good part about this book was the world. It was great to see more of Frell and to learn some more about characters that we already know.
Unfortunately that brings me to my first negative: the characters. I didn't really like anyone. Lady Eleanor was fine I suppose, but I only really cared about her because of how tragic her story is. Other familiar characters, like Sir Peter, Eckbert, and Mandy felt like they were only put in for the sake of connecting this to Ella Enchanted. They could have easily been replace with other characters and it wouldn't have made a difference. More importantly, I didn't even care about the protagonist! There isn't anything wrong with Evie, but she was kind of dull. If you take away all the orge-urges she has like being hungry and smelly, does she have that much of a personality? All I can remember about her is that she likes to heal people -- and I just finished this book yesterday.
The absolute worst part of this book was the ending. I had a feeling that things were going to end up like they did but I was really hoping that the author would surprise me.
Spoiler
I am genuinely upset that Evie married Wormy. I thought that this book was going to be about how you should only marry when you want to marry and that you should never feel pressured to have a romantic relationship with anyone. Instead we get served with a message that Evie was in love with her childhood friend this whole time and she should have just married him when he first proposed. What kind of moral is that? I'm all for the friends-to-lovers trope -- it worked really well in Ella Enchanted -- but this wasn't the book it should have been used in.Would I still read Gail Carson Levine books? Ya, probably. I'm getting a bit old for Middle Grade but I usually enjoy it and I really enjoy her writing style. This was really bad book, but hopefully it was just a miss and the next book the author comes out with won't be nearly as horrible.