Review of Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

"That fool of a fairy Lucinda did not intend to lay a curse on me. She meant to bestow a gift."

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine


As adaptations go, this is practically perfection. 
Not to be confused with the film adaptation of this adaptation, which is problematic for a number of different reasons*.

Ella is born in a magic and medieval land were it is common practice for fairy's to bestow gifts to people (think Sleeping Beauty). This, however, becomes problematic when Lucinda, a know-it-all fairy with a skewed perception of kindness and too much time on her hands gives Ella the "gift" of obedience.



Because of this "gift" Ella cannot disobey a direct order, which has a huge effect of all aspects of her life. Ella is faced with bullying step-sisters who she cannot stand up to, a father with selfish intentions, and in several cases, life threatening situations.

But let's talk about Ella for a second. 

Ella is fantastic. One would assume that the gift of obedience would make a person meek and docile. Ella instead becomes a stubborn and adventurous young woman. The strict confines of the "gift" cause her to test the limits and strive to become her own person. This could have made her a flat and uninteresting character, but Gail Carson Levine (who has several other fairy tale themed stories) creates this very dynamic and flawed personality. She is emotional and stubborn and clumsy and loyal and self sacrificing. 

And, yes, there is romance. With a prince. This is Cinderella, after all. 
But what could potentially be beyond cheesy is actually incredibly well done. 
I challenge any reader not to fall in love with Prince Char. He is flawless**.
Whenever I need a pick me up, I always go to this book. It is short and sweet, uncomplicated without being simple-minded. I have easily reread this book 7 times.

My own copy of the book is just barely held together with scotch tape. Years ago, something spilled in my bag and I thought that leaving it on the back patio to dry would help. Instead, the spine cracked and the last 30 pages of the book fell out. I was heartbroken, but I meticulously taped every page back in.

*None of these reasons include Anne Hathaway, who is flawless in every sense of the word.
*Not as flawless as Anne Hathaway. Let's be real, no one is as flawless as Anne Hathaway.