When I read a book, especially when I read fantasy, I find myself mentally putting myself in the place of the protagonist. Which is why my very favorite books of all time are the books that have strongly developed protagonists that I can identify with well in some way or another. I had a hard time enjoying this book at all to start with because the protagonist and I could not be more different. Superficially, Aza is tall, wide, has dark hair and white skin (I'm short, small, blond, and tan easil...

Snow White but so much more. When I picked up this volume I was unaware of the ties to Ella Enchanted so I giggled maniacally when I came to mentions of Sir Peter of Frell and Areida. I love Ella but I feel like with Aza there is so much more like Levine simply stepped everthing up a notch. I think people tend to see fairy tales as having to be about the pretty princess getting the handsome prince and happily ever after, but personally I love fairytales because they can call into question what i...

I don't hate myself enough to continue to read this book. Going to find something else to fit the "A Grimm Tale" square. I just don't have the patience for the singing or Aza and others talking about how ugly she is every freaking five seconds. My biggest issue is that Aza's not interesting enough to read as a re-imagining of "Snow White." She's mean at times to her sister and family cause she's not beautiful, though it makes no sense why she's not besides the fact she doesn't look like others a...

I pulled this book off of the Young Adult shelves expecting some light fiction, but I really enjoyed some of the deeper meanings behind this story! Yes, it is a retelling of Snow White, but with insights that really apply to most women today.First of all, the two most prominent female characters are alike in that they find themselves unacceptable- like two sides of a coin, even their names are like each other. One, however, becomes the villain, and the other, the heroine. But Levine paints the t...

The title of this book suggests that the story would be a fantastic tale about a beautiful young girl in distress who is the fairest of all waiting to be scooped away by a fine handsome prince. But that is not the story of this book at all which makes it really unique especially that the title totally negates the actual description of the main character and of the main conflict of the story. I liked that the main character is not those stereotypical female heroines in fantasies. I also like that...

Snow White is a story that doesn't necessarily appeal to me. It's about beauty and jealousy and the cliche evil stepmother. That is not what this book is about. Fairest is an incredibly subvervise retelling. The main character is not beautiful, and the queen is not jealous of her beauty. Aza's most praised quality is her beautiful singing voice. She's not a flawless, saintly character either. I like the message sent here around beauty, that everyone is beautiful to someone. Snow White has such a...

This was a really pathetic book - a sad departure Levine's other fantastic novels. The idea was interesting (a take on the story of "Snow White" where her desirable trait isn't beauty, but instead is her singing voice), but the execution was horrible.The book staggered under one major inconsistency: the main character is horribly ugly, but the prince falls in love with her very quickly anyway. Hopelessly romantic? Perhaps. But I call it an inconsistency because Aza was not only unlovely, but alm...

It was really hard for me to decide between 4 and 5 stars. I wish I could give it 4 1/2!Fairest takes place in the same world as Ella Enchanted, and has one or 2 characters from that book, which is excellent, because that book is one of my most favorites. In fact, this world seemed instantly recognizable, after reading Ella Enchanted. It was like revisiting that book, in a way.It's a take on Snow White, but only in the loosest of ways, and only after 200 pages. That's the area that I wanted to g...

This book was somewhat charming in that typical YA way, except I couldn't help compare it to Ella Enchanted, and it didn't measure up. The main character (Aza) is very ugly and unlike most YA where ugly isn't ugly, she's described as actually not attractive. And then she spends the whole book obsessing about how ugly she is and wanting becoming pretty. I knew almost nothing about her character other than that she hated being ugly.One of the awesome things about Ella Enchanted was that GCL showed...

I don't love Fairest as much as Ella Enchanted, but I still find this is one of those classic fairy-tale retellings that deserves repeated reads. I've read this one quite a few times but apparently it never occurred to me how much of a Snow White retelling it really is. And how young Aza is...

This story had such an amazing theme of struggling against vanity and discovering inner beauty. Ayortha's culture of singing and all things related to it was so beautiful. Makes me want to visit it and stay awhile (especially to play the hilarious composing song). ;) I loved the world building with the songbirds, the library, and the beautiful singing hall. It was delightful to experience a similar setting to Ella Enchanted (view spoiler)[(Areida was the main character's younger sister!) (hide s...

DNF at 14%I think I’m going to DNF this one because it is boring and the audiobook is CRAZY ANNOYING!!!! 😵‍💫

Once I started to read this I couldn’t stop it took me two days to read it and it was good! Fairest by Gail Carson Levine is a Fiction book and is told in first person. Fairy Lucinda has done it again but instead of having a gift to obey like in Ella Enchanted this time it’s a magic mirror. Ever since Aza was left on her adoptive parents' doorstep as a baby, she's been a mystery. She is plain-looking, with large bones, pale white skin, ruby red lips, "a big sphere of a face and round button eye

Sequel to the Newberry Honor Award-winning Ella Enchanted and a retelling of Snow White, completely its own, Gail Carson Levine's Fairest tells the story of Aza -- a young woman with hideous looks yet a voice to make up for them; abandoned at an inn when she was a child.I really enjoyed Ella Enchanted, so I had rather high expectations for Fairest. Though the beginning and end were both rather slow, Gail's tasteful writing and curious plot in between helped to make up for it. I greatly admire ho...

Fairest is a nice and entertaining retelling of Snow White, and I would have enjoyed it a lot more had I not believed it would be as good as Ella Enchanted. Yes, I know it is not fair, but I just couldn't help myself. Aza herself is a sweet character though rather bland in comparison to spunky Ella, and Ijori, nice though he is, turns out a little too generic. He felt like a slighlty watered down version of Prince Char, with a dog. I was dissapointed we did not get to see his relationship with A...

Want to see more bookish things from me? check out my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfer...3.5/5 Stars When Aza was just a baby, she was found wrapped in a blanket in a room of a local inn. The innkeeper and his wife decided to raise her as their own. Aza looks different from everyone around her and considers herself to be ugly. As Aza grows older, she develops a beautiful singing voice. One day a Duchess comes to the inn and quickly finds herself in need of a companion to ac...

4 charming starsI listened to this on audio, so please forgive me if I make any egregious misspellings of character or place names. I'm actually going to skim some reviews to see if I can find how to spell these names... "Fairest", a Snow White retelling, was the first book by Gail Carson Levine I've ever read. I'm familiar with her work because of the Ella Enchanted movie, but only now got around to picking up her books. (Seeing the movie did at least allow me to notice and appreciate the refer...

This book is very good. The story is very sweet. I love how it's based on Snow White, but the author went in-depth with the story, and the plot is much more complicated; Levine took Snow White and revised it, making it a better, more interesting story. She took the flat characters from Snow White and made them round and three-dimensional. For example, instead of making the queen completely evil and power-crazy, she made her insecure, foolish, weak, slightly barmy, and easy to manipulate. Everyth...

A very cute story!!! The land in Fairest sounds so nice and pretty and was very well described and had lots of character. The songs were fun, the plot was very good, and the writing was also good. Overall maybe 3.5 stars :)

An absolutely wonderful and engaging read! I couldn't put it down!And intriguing embroilment of jealousy and finding what you love in yourself set the stage for this great, easy read. The protagonist has a kind spirit and great depth that shows an emotion that especially young ladies can connect and even contrast with. The world, while I hope someday gets expanded (maybe it has?) is well spanned for the plot. A great read!!