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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
Sooooooo ok. I really REALLY loved Ella Enchanted as a girl, and still do today! Which probably puts unfair pressure on this book, since it's impossible not to compare the two. This book just didn't have that same magic as the first book, that same level of impossible tension from the curse, or leaving me afraid for the main character.
There were a few things that stood out for me as unlikeable:
A) I sincerely HATE Lucinda. I had actually forgotten how much. And while in Ella we get to see her change her ways, in this one she is just a smug pain in the ass and I just can't with her.
B) I didn't like the "romance". Largely because it didn't feel like a true-love situation. Evie herself says at the beginning she's too young, which is frankly a large part of the problem. I appreciated that they waited a few more years to get married, but it just felt contrived.
C) A HUGE part of why I loved Ella Enchanted was that the princess saves herself. SHE breaks her own curse, not with a kiss of true love, but simply because she stood her ground and said no. That was so very important to me, and this book just did not have that moment. Evie is a great character, but in the end she is saved because of someone else's actions. It's not a bad ending, but it lacked any sort of oomph for me.
D) I don't know, I found a lot of the ending unsatisfactory. Peter and Lady Eleanor's story was so sad, and knowing that they won't get any happier in Ella just leaves me feeling melancholy.
On the whole, this really isn't a bad book, but unfortunately I love Ella Enchanted too much to love this one. Perhaps if I was younger I would enjoy it more.
There were a few things that stood out for me as unlikeable:
A) I sincerely HATE Lucinda. I had actually forgotten how much. And while in Ella we get to see her change her ways, in this one she is just a smug pain in the ass and I just can't with her.
B) I didn't like the "romance". Largely because it didn't feel like a true-love situation. Evie herself says at the beginning she's too young, which is frankly a large part of the problem. I appreciated that they waited a few more years to get married, but it just felt contrived.
C) A HUGE part of why I loved Ella Enchanted was that the princess saves herself. SHE breaks her own curse, not with a kiss of true love, but simply because she stood her ground and said no. That was so very important to me, and this book just did not have that moment. Evie is a great character, but in the end she is saved because of someone else's actions. It's not a bad ending, but it lacked any sort of oomph for me.
D) I don't know, I found a lot of the ending unsatisfactory. Peter and Lady Eleanor's story was so sad, and knowing that they won't get any happier in Ella just leaves me feeling melancholy.
On the whole, this really isn't a bad book, but unfortunately I love Ella Enchanted too much to love this one. Perhaps if I was younger I would enjoy it more.
This book was pretty disappointing. I love Ella Enchanted, and expected this to be similar. This book was much more juvenile in tone, though - much closer to a middle grade novel than a YA novel. The story was not nearly as well thought out, and the characters were flat. The main character especially was super annoying. I just found that I did not care what happened to her. There were also pretty huge plot holes - some major events are not explained, and other major reveals are kind of glossed over. I really expected to love this book. Too bad!
I had high hopes because ELLA ENCHANTED...
But nope. Hard nope.
DNF.
But nope. Hard nope.
DNF.
Not as great as the first book, but overall enjoyable. I liked seeing characters I recognized and learning more of their backstory, but I also disliked that I knew exactly what would become of them, which made the ending much less climactic. And I didn’t like that Evie only liked Wormy after she saw other women fawning over him. It made her seem shallow. Overall a fun one-time read.
Ella Enchanted is one of my favourite books of all time so when I saw there was another book in the series, this one a prequel to the series, I was happy to snatch it up.
In this book, Evie is a young healer who is far more interested in healing than anything else. She doesn't want to get married at the tender age of fourteen (and fair enough) so when her friend proposes to her, she lets him down as gently as possible. Not good enough for Lucinda who transforms Evie into an ogre. She has a limited number of days to accept a marriage proposal from someone otherwise she'll be an ogre forever.
Unfortunately, because I was comparing this book to Ella Enchanted, I was a little disappointed. Evie didn't charm me as much as Ella had, and at times she felt very young. Considering the nature of her curse, it was understandable she spent her time obsessing over various young men she knew and whether she liked them and they liked her but I found these parts boring and slightly irritating. I liked Evie having to deal with being an ogre and all that came with it, especially with learning how to be persuasive so humans didn't kill her when she came too close, and I appreciated seeing characters from Ella Enchanted show up in this book but I just wasn't that interested in the story. The world is still amazing and I like how Levine manages to introduce the world without overexplaining it.
However, this probably won't be a book I would recommend or buy in the future (I got my copy from the library). 3 stars!
In this book, Evie is a young healer who is far more interested in healing than anything else. She doesn't want to get married at the tender age of fourteen (and fair enough) so when her friend proposes to her, she lets him down as gently as possible. Not good enough for Lucinda who transforms Evie into an ogre. She has a limited number of days to accept a marriage proposal from someone otherwise she'll be an ogre forever.
Unfortunately, because I was comparing this book to Ella Enchanted, I was a little disappointed. Evie didn't charm me as much as Ella had, and at times she felt very young. Considering the nature of her curse, it was understandable she spent her time obsessing over various young men she knew and whether she liked them and they liked her but I found these parts boring and slightly irritating. I liked Evie having to deal with being an ogre and all that came with it, especially with learning how to be persuasive so humans didn't kill her when she came too close, and I appreciated seeing characters from Ella Enchanted show up in this book but I just wasn't that interested in the story. The world is still amazing and I like how Levine manages to introduce the world without overexplaining it.
However, this probably won't be a book I would recommend or buy in the future (I got my copy from the library). 3 stars!
Rating: 3.5 stars
Why You Should Read The Book Jacket Summary Reason #4: So you don't spend the first few chapters thinking the main characters are ogres and end up completely distracted when you discover they're human.
[b:Ella Enchanted|24337|Ella Enchanted (Ella Enchanted #1)|Gail Carson Levine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1410727190s/24337.jpg|2485462] is without a doubt one of my favorite books in the whole world, so you know I'm going to read anything related to it.
I tried to keep my expectations low because 1) I'm well past the age of its target audience
2) I've read other Gail Carson Levine books after Ella Enchanted which felt like they never quite lived up to the hype (possibly related to reason #1?)
3) The Ella Enchanted film adaption gave me trust issues.
I really was not expecting much from this story; I didn't even expect an entire book when I'd put it on hold at the library. At most I was expecting a cute short story about some random ogre-version of Ella Enchanted.
Then I started reading it and was surprised by how much lower I should have kept my expectations. This was not a book that grabbed my interest and attention right away. I didn't find either of the characters engaging (and was honestly ridiculously distracted that some human child's name would be WORMY) and thought that maybe I had finally reached the point where the little girl in me died and I was too old to appreciate children's books. I also felt slightly cheated because I could not for the life of me figure out what made this "Ella Enchanted #0.5" beside the cameo by Lucinda (whose appearance felt too sudden and inexplicable and forced - even for a children's book). But I persevered and actually ended up enjoying the book. It's not my new favorite book, and I'm not going to start shopping for books in the children's section, but it reminded me what I loved about the world Levine built in Ella Enchanted. I did also finally figure out what made this a prequel of sorts to the book, by the way.
The story, by nature, is a bit juvenile but that's kind of the point. There were a few places where it felt overly contrived or like a bit too much of stretch even for a fairy tale. It also used the word "tingle" way too much for my liking, but all in all, it was a fun, light read on a day when my brain sorely needed a break.
Why You Should Read The Book Jacket Summary Reason #4: So you don't spend the first few chapters thinking the main characters are ogres and end up completely distracted when you discover they're human.
[b:Ella Enchanted|24337|Ella Enchanted (Ella Enchanted #1)|Gail Carson Levine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1410727190s/24337.jpg|2485462] is without a doubt one of my favorite books in the whole world, so you know I'm going to read anything related to it.
I tried to keep my expectations low because 1) I'm well past the age of its target audience
2) I've read other Gail Carson Levine books after Ella Enchanted which felt like they never quite lived up to the hype (possibly related to reason #1?)
3) The Ella Enchanted film adaption gave me trust issues.
I really was not expecting much from this story; I didn't even expect an entire book when I'd put it on hold at the library. At most I was expecting a cute short story about some random ogre-version of Ella Enchanted.
Then I started reading it and was surprised by how much lower I should have kept my expectations. This was not a book that grabbed my interest and attention right away. I didn't find either of the characters engaging (and was honestly ridiculously distracted that some human child's name would be WORMY) and thought that maybe I had finally reached the point where the little girl in me died and I was too old to appreciate children's books. I also felt slightly cheated because I could not for the life of me figure out what made this "Ella Enchanted #0.5" beside the cameo by Lucinda (whose appearance felt too sudden and inexplicable and forced - even for a children's book). But I persevered and actually ended up enjoying the book. It's not my new favorite book, and I'm not going to start shopping for books in the children's section, but it reminded me what I loved about the world Levine built in Ella Enchanted. I did also finally figure out what made this a prequel of sorts to the book, by the way.
The story, by nature, is a bit juvenile but that's kind of the point. There were a few places where it felt overly contrived or like a bit too much of stretch even for a fairy tale. It also used the word "tingle" way too much for my liking, but all in all, it was a fun, light read on a day when my brain sorely needed a break.
God, it’s always such a gamble reading the sequel to a childhood favourite. Despite the reviews, despite the COVER, I wanted it to be so good. It just... wasn’t.
The thing about Ella Enchanted is that she makes her own ending happen. Hence why I loved the book, but not the film, where they managed to fuck that bit up because evidently the idea of female empowerment is too uncomfortable for Hollywood.
The concept of Evie’s story could have been worked out properly, if only Levine hadn’t (ironically) been so set on shoehorning in the romance. It missed the point so utterly - if Evie wanted to make her own story, getting her happy ending shouldn’t have felt so forced, required so much convoluted plotting, or made it so clear what the author was trying (and honestly, failing) to convincingly do. You can’t make a point about a meddling fairy if your own meddling is just as bad.
If you wanted to compare Cinderella and Shrek, you’d have a fairly clear idea of the difference in the elegance of storytelling. Ella Enchanted was an elegantly feminist fairytale, about the power of choice and being able to say no, but also the power of choosing yes. Of choosing a happiness that might be the traditional route, and being okay with that. That’s true feminism, and we need more of it. Ogre Enchanted was a clumsy, clumpy rush towards a union of characters that I had no real interest in. There were so many side characters I lost track of them, each of them as 2D as the last. There could have been so much more development of the ogres. Evie’s struggle with the ‘us and them’ narrative could have been so much more compelling, but it utterly lacked nuance.
The whole thing felt like it had been hammered together with planks and nails. This plot bit here, this plot bit here, oh this character turns up in Ella so they need to be here, add some convolution... etc. Perhaps, and it seems likely, that Ella was beginner’s luck for Levine. There are so many lessons about writing to be learned from the mess that is Ogre, not least how to structure a believable plot. Don’t get me wrong, this fits on a plot graph, but none of it actually fits together. The threads don’t weave in, they become tangled, and from that mess Levine has desperately pulled a sham fairytale ending that lacks both the subtlety and sparkle of Ella.
I’m sure the disappointment hits that much harder because it’s a childhood favourite, but I could highlight all the bits of this story that don’t work for me, and what it essentially boils down to is this - Levine did not convince me that Evie got her happy ending. In fact, she left me feeling that she had been coerced into exactly what she’d been trying to avoid.
Also what the fuck was with the squirrel thing at the end. Totally unnecessary ‘twist’. Most of my classmates would have done better in Week 1 of Creative Writing.
The thing about Ella Enchanted is that she makes her own ending happen. Hence why I loved the book, but not the film, where they managed to fuck that bit up because evidently the idea of female empowerment is too uncomfortable for Hollywood.
The concept of Evie’s story could have been worked out properly, if only Levine hadn’t (ironically) been so set on shoehorning in the romance. It missed the point so utterly - if Evie wanted to make her own story, getting her happy ending shouldn’t have felt so forced, required so much convoluted plotting, or made it so clear what the author was trying (and honestly, failing) to convincingly do. You can’t make a point about a meddling fairy if your own meddling is just as bad.
If you wanted to compare Cinderella and Shrek, you’d have a fairly clear idea of the difference in the elegance of storytelling. Ella Enchanted was an elegantly feminist fairytale, about the power of choice and being able to say no, but also the power of choosing yes. Of choosing a happiness that might be the traditional route, and being okay with that. That’s true feminism, and we need more of it. Ogre Enchanted was a clumsy, clumpy rush towards a union of characters that I had no real interest in. There were so many side characters I lost track of them, each of them as 2D as the last. There could have been so much more development of the ogres. Evie’s struggle with the ‘us and them’ narrative could have been so much more compelling, but it utterly lacked nuance.
The whole thing felt like it had been hammered together with planks and nails. This plot bit here, this plot bit here, oh this character turns up in Ella so they need to be here, add some convolution... etc. Perhaps, and it seems likely, that Ella was beginner’s luck for Levine. There are so many lessons about writing to be learned from the mess that is Ogre, not least how to structure a believable plot. Don’t get me wrong, this fits on a plot graph, but none of it actually fits together. The threads don’t weave in, they become tangled, and from that mess Levine has desperately pulled a sham fairytale ending that lacks both the subtlety and sparkle of Ella.
I’m sure the disappointment hits that much harder because it’s a childhood favourite, but I could highlight all the bits of this story that don’t work for me, and what it essentially boils down to is this - Levine did not convince me that Evie got her happy ending. In fact, she left me feeling that she had been coerced into exactly what she’d been trying to avoid.
Also what the fuck was with the squirrel thing at the end. Totally unnecessary ‘twist’. Most of my classmates would have done better in Week 1 of Creative Writing.
A cute story with a lot of promise, but ultimately the end ruined it for me. There was lots of opportunity for an empowering message to young girls about making their own choices and not needing a man, but in the end the author chose to basically say the villain (ie Lucinda) was right the whole time and the whole ordeal could have been avoided if the heroine had just agreed to the proposal in the first place....not really the message I was hoping for.
Ella Enchanted is my favorite book of all time, so I was intrigued by this book. This one definitely lacked some of the “magic” that makes EE so good to read over and over again, but I did still enjoy it. I think I would’ve liked it more if I first read it as a pre-teen/teen, like I did with EE, so I’d highly recommend for youth to read, and I’d recommend a read if you are an adult who grew up with EE.