Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (movie review)

Genre: Fairytale (MG/YA)

Publication Date: January 1997

One Word Review: Enchanting

Author Website: www.gailcarsonlevine.blogspot.com

First Line: “That fool of a fairy Lucinda did not intend to lay a curse on me.”

GoodReads Synopsis: At birth, Ella is inadvertently cursed by an imprudent young fairy named Lucinda, who bestows on her the "gift" of obedience. Anything anyone tells her to do, Ella must obey. Another girl might have been cowed by this affliction, but not feisty Ella: "Instead of making me docile, Lucinda's curse made a rebel of me. Or perhaps I was that way naturally." When her beloved mother dies, leaving her in the care of a mostly absent and avaricious father, and later, a loathsome stepmother and two treacherous stepsisters, Ella's life and well-being seem to be in grave peril. But her intelligence and saucy nature keep her in good stead as she sets out on a quest for freedom and self-discovery as she tries to track down Lucinda to undo the curse, fending off ogres, befriending elves, and falling in love with a prince along the way.

Kathy’s Review: My friend Deb was shocked to see that I hadn’t read Ella Enchanted yet, knowing how much I love fairytales. Cinderella is actually my favorite fairytale and I’ve had my eye on Ella Enchanted for awhile, but never got around to reading it. I think part of the reason was because I didn’t really like the movie version, with Anne Hathaway. Deb assured me the book was much better, and since I trust her judgment I decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed.

Ella Enchanted was a very fun read. It had the fairytale feel to it throughout and was a great retelling of Cinderella. It had some of the traditional aspects of the original Cinderella, but was also very unique. I liked the idea that Ella had been “cursed” with obedience. What an awful gift to receive, it could really get you into some tough situations. Although, in some ways I think the gift also gave Ella a lot of blessings. She was able to learn things rather quickly, helped her enhance her natural talents and while it would be a burden it probably taught her a lot about compassion and eventually help her to be a better Queen. I liked Ella’s character as well as the Prince (although, I didn’t like his name). I thought they had a cute relationship. I liked that they were friends first and built on that friendship until they were both in love. The story was really sweet and well written. I definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys fairytales. I’m even tempted to re-watch the movie, although if I remember right they made quite a few changes from the book.

Cover Comments: I have not been able to find a cover that I really like. I chose this one because its cute, although I think the girl looks a lot younger than Ella (who is around 15-16).

Bookworm Rating: 5

(Updated) Movie Review: I just got done watching the movie version of Ella Enchanted and thought I’d add it to the Read a Book See a Movie Challenge.

Three words come to mind when I think of the movie: Cheesy, Disappointing, and as my friend Janssen said Lame. I’m used to books being better than the movie; Hollywood tends to make changes to characters or plot lines and in this case they went WAY overboard with this one and the end result was just ridiculous. I remember now why I hated the movie so much and was reluctant to read the book. They try and mix too much modern elements with a fairytale setting. The music was awful, the script (and re-written plot) was dumb, and the acting and dialog were also poorly done. If you couldn’t tell by now, I didn’t like the movie. The book was so cute and the story was great, I can understand if some things need to be changed for a movie, but again they went OVERBOARD. I was hoping for another Ever After (great movie) and I guess I set my expectations too high. So, I would recommend the book and skip the movie.

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

This is a story of the two princesses of Bamarre, Meryl and Addie. Meryl has dreams of ridding the kingdom of dragons, specters, and ogres. Addie is just the opposite. She is fearful of everything, especially spiders and depends on her older sister for courage. When the mysterious illness, Gray Death, takes Meryl, Addie becomes determined to find the unknown cure by leaving the kingdom all alone. Rhys, a sorcerer, outfits her with a magical cloak and a tablecloth that produces food on demand. Other friends give her precious gifts that she will need to accomplish her mission before her sister dies. She sets out on her own and must travel across her world to find the cure, meeting gryphons, specters and dragons along the way.

I enjoyed this story, I think it was meant for a younger audience than I am use to reading. I kept thinking throughout the book that if I was 12-13 I would probably love this story. I enjoyed the idea of the story, but did feel a little let down. I thought there was too much time spent at the castle at the beginning of the story. Anyone could tell what was going to happen, and I was looking forward to Addie beginning her journey. The journey wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be, and because of the magical gifts she received she was able to avoid most obstacles placed before her. I also felt that the relationship/courtship between Rhys and Addie’s wasn’t fully developed. The ending felt a little rushed, and a lot of new stories were introduced too late. I would have enjoyed if there was a few more chapters added to really explain the story and also the relationship with Rhys and Addie. Unlike some young adult books, this one was definitely written for young readers, and certain aspects of the story weren’t as developed as I would have liked.