‘Fairest’ creates fantasy
Now that I’m off all the dystopian society books, you’ve probably noticed I’m beginning to hit more fantasy books. There is definitely one common theme in all the books I’ve reviewed – they’re all romances. This book certainly doesn’t disappoint.
Many of us have heard about “Ella Enchanted”, either from the book or the movie. “Fairest” is written by the same author, Gail Carson Levine. Like “Ella Enchanted” was a rewriting of Cinderella, “Fairest” is a rewriting of “Snow White,” but not in the most common way.
While “Snow White” focuses much on how Snow was the fairest in the land and her beauty saved her many times, “Fairest” focuses on how it’s not beauty that’s important, but rather, your personality. It teaches many different lessons related to this theme and also shows how the more beautiful people sometimes get treated better, even unfairly better at times.
The book takes place in Ayortha, which values singing above anything else. They burst into song whenever they feel any sort of emotion. All of their rituals contain singing as well.
The book follows Aza, who says the entire book that she is ugly. While that may be true, she’s known for having a beautiful singing voice. She can also “throw” her voice to make it seem like other objects and people are talking, as well as perfectly imitating other voices or sounds.
When she ends up going to the castle to wait on the duchess at the king’s wedding, the new queen hears her talent, which then sets forth the whole plot.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m overly emotional and become attached to characters, but this book becomes somewhat of my own story at the same time Aza’s is being told. It’s like I’m right there with her the entire time. You feel what she does for others and see the world through her perspective very easily but are still able to formulate your own opinions about events.
The plot flows perfectly and runs smoothly. It doesn’t go too slow or too fast. There’s not an insane amount of detail, but there’s just enough that you can visualize what the scenery looks like or what’s going on. You’re never bored because she puts the lyrics of the songs they sing in there as well, so it helps add to the realism of the story.
I personally can’t stand when a book I’m reading has grammatical errors that seem obvious to me, that I feel should have seemed obvious to the editor as well. Thankfully, “Fairest” doesn’t have any errors like that. The wording she uses is beautiful, and the writing is all correct.
Some books don’t always leave with a satisfying ending. I think it’s because some books comprise a series. This book is stand-alone. You don’t have to read any other book for it to make sense, and the ending is very satisfying.
I love it when books have characters who are familiar from another book, or who maybe tie into others in some way. If you’ve read or watched “Ella Enchanted,” you’ll find Aza’s sister a familiar name and personality, as she was Ella’s good friend. Ella even gets mentioned at one point.
Overall, I’d recommend this book if you’re into fantasy at all, and if you’re like me and love retellings of fairy tales. If you like this book, Levine also writes more retellings and other very good stories, but “Fairest” is definitely my favorite.
– Gillian Ponce is a sophomore majoring in journalism. She was an editor for her high school newspaper and received a scholarship for an article she wrote. Send comments to gillian.ponce95@gmail.com.