I didn't like it as much as i thought i would. The concept of this book was good and had a lot of potential, but the singing was over the top, the second half of the book felt rushed, and it felt like you were supposed to feel sorry for the main character the entire time, even though some of the situations happened just because she didnt listen or think things through. ( )

Levine's books are always a treat for me to read. Ella Enchanted, her most famous work and The Two Princesses of Bamarre (my personal favorite) both proved that a heroine doesn't have to be perfect in ways that were easy to identify with. Fairest is no exception. Aza is very easy to identify with--not just because she is ugly, but also because the trials she goes through are trials everyone deals with.

I liked Aza, she was a honest open character who did her best to do what she says she will do. She cares about others more often then herself and has been able to rise above the pettiness of the inn's guests to feel that she was greatly gifted by her family. I didn't begrudge her the fact that she often brought up the subject of her looks, the other characters rarely let her forget how she looked after all.

Ivi, as is to be expected I guess, was a horror. Even before Aza realized, finally, what was going on with her I could have guessed it. I would accuse her of being bipolar, but honestly even when she was being 'generous' with Aza the fact was that you could hear what she wasn't saying out loud. 'I will give you this Aza, but mine is still better' or 'You look great in that Aza, but I still look better' seemed to be the theme of their relationship. Attention, of any kind, always had to be on her. Good, bad or even hateful it had to be directed at her. She was a vain birdbrain given to selfish tantrums (I honestly wonder what she was like before she married Oscaro. I can't imagine that as a peasant girl in Kyrria she could have gotten away with even a smidgen of what she pulled in the Ontio Castle).

Ijori...I really really liked him at first. He seemed like such a wonderful guy. But I don't believe he ever really got over his intial distrust of Aza--despite what he said. Too quickly did he decamp from her when it looked like things were stacking against her. Too harshly did he decry his feelings for her when favor turned against her. I wouldn't have faulted Aza for socking him.

In the end this book left me with more feelings of unease then Ella or Bamarre did. The moral of the story (any good fairy tale has one after all) seemed too forcibly hoisted on the reader. Forgive Others! Accept yourself! Be Confident in Yourself! I might have liked this better if Aza didn't accept herself after Ijori said he thought her looks were fine and he liked them better then ordinary beauty. ( )

Beautiful and very creative story. Easy to picture and hear in the mind's senses. The names are a bit strange and difficult to pronounce, but who's reading out loud, right? ( )

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). ( )