Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine

Title: Ella Enchanted
Author: Gail Carson Levine
File Size (Pages): 1513 KB (272)
Published: 2012 (first published 1997)
Challenges: Eclectic Reader, E-book, I Love Libraries, Snagged @ the Library, Readers to the Rescue
Genre: Children's, Fantasy
Edition: E-book
Source: Library

Description: At her birth, Ella of Frell was the unfortunate recipient of a foolish fairy's gift -- the "gift' of obedience. Ella must obey any order given to her, whether it's hopping on one foot for a day and a half, or chopping off her own head! But strong-willed Ella does not tamely accept her fate. Against a bold backdrop of princes, ogres, giants, wicked stepsisters, and fairy godmothers, Ella goes on a quest to break the curse -- once and for all.

In this incredible debut novel comes the richly entertaining story of Ella of Frell, who at birth was given the gift of obedience by a fairy. Ella soon realizes that this gift is little better than a curse, for how can she truly be herself if at anytime anyone can order her to hop on one foot, or cut off her hand, or betray her kingdom'and she'll have to obey?  (from Goodreads)

Thoughts: I read this book to fulfill the Eclectic Reading challenge and had heard a number of good things about the book that I felt that I needed to check out this book. 

I felt that the first half of the book was disjointed and I didn't know where the book was headed, but I did enjoy the second half of the book and felt that it was better than the first half.  While the first half felt disjointed to me, one could definitely see elements from the Cinderella fairy tale.

Bottom line: Felt that the first half was a bit disjointed, but saw many elements of the Cinderella fairy tale in the second half.  I would highly recommend the book for middle-grade readers and recommend the book for adults who enjoy fairy tale retellings.

Rating: 3.2/5

If you have read this book, what did you like or not like about it?

Books and Libraries

I love reading, don't get me wrong, and I love libraries and exploring them and I have found gems that I wouldn't have otherwise have found had I not explored the bookshelves of my local library (if you can count the online catalogue as bookshelves, but I have found books by just picking them up from the library). Anyways, it seems that whenever I step into a library or a bookstore, I can't help but come out with a bunch of books in my hands. I know that I am taking more than I can possibly read, but some of them are so good that I don't want them to slip from my hands. I suppose you can call me a book whore and maybe I should try to control my urges to get my hand on a new book. I guess this isn't the time of day to decide.