I kind of love this, and I think it's crazy amusing that while a friend of mine has been trying to get me to read Ella Enchanted I somehow randomly stumbled into reading the sequel, but it was nice. I loved the focus on music so much. So much. So much singing and poetry in this story made my heart sing.


Not to be out done, by just how much I love the actions of the King, toward Ivy, by the end. And how myths and stories and wishes are played with. ( )

The main weakness of this book is that despite covering that different species have different conceptions of beauty, and despite that the love interest (being a worthy romance hero) naturally thinks she's beautiful just the way she is, there's little questioning otherwise of the human conception of beauty and ugliness. And it's unclear whether she's large as in big, or "large" as in fat; a lot of her narration certainly comes across as internalised fatphobia and it doesn't feel like this is sufficiently neutralised by the end of the book.

It's otherwise an enjoyable story of someone getting what seems like a dreamjob which rapidly turns into a nightmare of blackmail and scapegoating while everything goes to wrack and ruin. The Snow White storyline becomes clearer further into the book and is never too closely adhered to: it's more a framework for a story that owes more to the unique world it's set in.

The singing is the best. Poetry and lyrics in books is often risky because novelists aren't always good poets. Some of the songs here are silly things, but that's when they're meant to be; some of them are deeply moving and would stand alone in their own right (though of course standing best in the context of the story). ( )

Excellent! The full-cast audio with different actors reading the parts and singing was incredible. In interesting story with an unusual heroine. Heartily recommended. ( )

A fun, quick read. Every once in awhile, I need to take a break from my heavy reading and try something lighter. Fairest fit the bill perfectly.

As is usually the case with fiction, I don't have a lot to say about the book itself, but I will mention that this is one book where it is worth getting the audio version. The story is set in a kingdom where everyone sings when they are emotionally moved. I've read reviews that said that reading all of these songs was tedious. However, the audio production brought in good (not great, but good) vocalists to sing the songs. In this case, audio was the way the book was meant to be read. ( )

(see copy 2)