Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted

Gail Carson Levin

Published in September 19998 by HarperCollins Publishing

Ella Enchanted is about a girl named Ella who, when she was born, was given a "gift." A fairy gave her the gift of obedience. She had to do whatever anyone ordered her to do. Her mother died from an illness and only her and their cook/fairy god-mother knew of the curse. One cruel girl learns of the curse though and forces her to do things against her will. This cruel girl named Hattie's mother marries her father and Hattie makes her life miserable. Meanwhile, Ella falls in love with the prince, Prince Char. He is the only spot in her life that is not miserable. She wants to marry Char but knows that it would never be good for him because of her obedience, which could create problems so she tries to find the fairy that gave her the curse so that she can take it away. 

I really really liked this book. It was a nice fluffy read and I liked how it wasn't a dark, deep book but just a fun one that was easy to read. I loved Ella's character. She was strong and tried to fight her curse. I loved that even though she tried to break the curse before and disobey, she could never truly do it until Char, the prince that she falls in love with, is in danger because of her curse. I liked seeing how Ella's character changed throughout the book- she started out strong and became stronger. I wish I could be more like her. I liked this version of Cinderella a lot. 

This book doesn't really have anything to be cautionary about. I would recommend it to anyone.