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caroleen 's review for:
Cinder & Ella
by Kelly Oram
This book wasn't right for me.
The story was engaging, but not enough for me to push through to the very end.
With more understanding of disabilities and more realistic characters, this story could have been fantastic.
I was hoping for a book that represented the humanity of people living with disabilities, and though this was a step toward that it falls a bit short. Ella "was" beautiful before her body became significantly scarred (from burns) . . . and that seems to be important later. Since most of her beauty remains, people can like her. It's mentioned quite often. Her pain and recovery seemed more plot device and less constant condition. Those things hang on the back burner until they're relevant to the plot.
Also, several adult characters join Ella in her opinion that she doesn't belong with "those" disabled people who go to a school exclusively for people dealing with disabilities . . . as though they're lesser beings.
The romance felt contrived to me.
And that boy is incredibly unlikeable. He's snobby and the way he talks about/treats his fake fiancee made my skin crawl. (The fake fiancee is written like a cardboard prop of shallow evil. She didn't feel believable. The story would have had much more depth had she had any emotions beyond power-lust and had he had an ounce of empathy.)
The story was engaging, but not enough for me to push through to the very end.
With more understanding of disabilities and more realistic characters, this story could have been fantastic.
I was hoping for a book that represented the humanity of people living with disabilities, and though this was a step toward that it falls a bit short. Ella "was" beautiful before her body became significantly scarred (from burns) . . . and that seems to be important later. Since most of her beauty remains, people can like her. It's mentioned quite often. Her pain and recovery seemed more plot device and less constant condition. Those things hang on the back burner until they're relevant to the plot.
Also, several adult characters join Ella in her opinion that she doesn't belong with "those" disabled people who go to a school exclusively for people dealing with disabilities . . . as though they're lesser beings.
The romance felt contrived to me.
Spoiler
The boy falls head-over-heels in love without ever meeting our protagonist from online chats.And that boy is incredibly unlikeable. He's snobby and the way he talks about/treats his fake fiancee made my skin crawl. (The fake fiancee is written like a cardboard prop of shallow evil. She didn't feel believable. The story would have had much more depth had she had any emotions beyond power-lust and had he had an ounce of empathy.)