Fairest

Fairest 2010-08-23

Reviewer: Erica Kaleda

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine, I thought that the book needed just a little more suspense in it (towards the end it gets confusing). I wasn't a big fan of the violence in the book. It needed more suspense because it didn't catch my attention that much, but it was still a good book. The violence was kind of sad because a girl is tied up in the dungeon cell and is threatened to be killed. I would recommend it to a friend if they like princesses, kind of like snow white. I say that because the book is mostly about a princess and she was born singing instead of crying. She has to save herself from many things. I would mostly recommend it to someone would doesn't like a lot of suspense.

A midnight conversion does not make up for an entire book of selfish behavior... 2010-08-08

Reviewer: Ana Mardoll

Fairest / 978-1-934180-08-2

There is an entry on TV Tropes called "Idiot Plot", which is defined as a plot that is only possible because all the characters are complete idiots. With that completely unrelated tidbit in mind, let's go over the plot of "Fairest".

"Fairest" is set in a provincial little kingdom, whose humble and quiet subjects are abjectly and lovingly devoted to their wise and gentle king. When the exceedingly wise and clever king decides to marry a sexy young foreigner who is (a) literally less than a third of his age, (b) completely ignorant of the country's ways and customs, (c) not even remotely trained in the rudimentary concepts of leadership, and (d) utterly spoiled rotten, the wise king and his wise advisers and his humble people see absolutely nothing potentially wrong with this stellar plan.

When the totally unforeseeable occurs, and the extremely elderly king becomes incapacitated in an accident, it becomes apparent that this sweet provincial kingdom who has weathered its fair share of civil wars in the past, has literally never heard of a succession plan. The young queen - who has been married less than 24 hours at this point - immediately assumes the throne, forcibly disbands the parliamentary council, and starts to rule with an iron fist - a course of action that no one opposes because no one in this kingdom has ever had a teenage daughter before.

The protagonist against all this political intrigue is young Maid Aza. Aza, poor thing, is ugly - she's literally so ugly that guests at her adopted parents' inn will sit and stare at her for hours, fascinated by her intense ugliness. Seriously, she makes Quasimodo look smoking hot - and she will tell you again, and again, and again how truly ugly she is. (This is particularly helpful in the audio book version - if she just told you 99 times how ugly she was, it might not fully sink in; it's that extra 100th time that really makes or breaks the story.) How is she ugly? Well, she's kind of tall, and kind of wide, and her skin is ghost-white, and her lips are blood-red. She's HIDEOUS!!!

Ultimately, "Fairest" is a difficult book to enjoy, because the protagonist is distinctly unlikable. Apart from the constant, repetitive, excessive, repetitive, annoying - did I mention repetitive? - reminders of how "ugly" she is, she comes across as almost as selfish and spoiled as the Designated Villain. When people in the kingdom are starving, and Aza is being blamed for their suffering, she simply cannot take her mind off of an upcoming shopping spree; when the distraught palace staff start "pranking" Aza to get back at the queen, instead of explaining that she's on their side, Aza instead totally gets off on threatening the staff and making them grovel before her. It's hard to root for the Designated Hero, when she's just as unlikable and selfish as the villain - and the villain has been magicked up to the gills enough that it's almost easy to believe that her behavior may not be completely typical at this point.

We listened to this audiobook on a long trip; the box proudly proclaims that "Not one single sentence has been omitted!" but this is something I think they should have rethought. Since the kingdom in "Fairest" is a "Planet of Hats" where everyone sings constantly, someone hit upon the world-beating idea of making a musical out of this story. The voices are, for the most part, good - but the songs are boring and tedious - the repeated cleaning songs, bathtime gurgles, and the like reminded me of the poetry of Grunthos the Flatulent and his twelve book epic 'My Favorite Bathtime Gurgles' - and we all know how THAT ended.

Bottom line, I suppose some young readers may like this book, but I found the protagonist so appalling, and the supporting characters so utterly stupid, that I found no enjoyment here.

~ Ana Mardoll

Quite enjoyable, but not without its hangups 2010-07-25

Reviewer: Brooke E. Templeton

This book is interesting and colorful, with distinct personalities for each character. There are even some characters that I love to hate, such as, oh, the majority of the citizens, who seem like little more than xenophobes who despise Kyrrians and people who are unattractive and/or can't sing.

Songs are nice to see, especially in a book based in a kingdom of singers, but about half of them could stand to have been removed with no effect on the plot. And the members of the nobility talk too much, whereas in Ella Enchanted they are stated to be very quiet.

Aza, the main character, seems to be universally disliked, mostly for irrational reasons. In the end when the Prince finds out about her forced agreement to sing in the queen's place behind everyone's backs, he automatically despises her for lying to everyone, ignoring the fact that the queen would have had a dreadful punishment in store for her and her family had she not agreed to go along with the plan. Maybe things like that are in the plot for drama's sake, but seriously... before then, the prince was a remarkably reasonable person! It's like someone else temporarily took his place, because that was out of character for him, big time.

Otherwise, this book has a complex storyline, which will keep you engaged all the way through. You won't be bored, that's for sure.

This was the first book I've read from Gail Carson Levine and it was good! 2010-06-17

Reviewer: Bianca Vandenbos

Posted April 4, 2009, 2:25 PM EST: I thought the book Fairest was a good book. Its about a girl named Aza who is a good singer but she thinks she is ugly. Then she becomes a lady in waiting to the new Queen Ivi. And the queen is jealous that Aza can sing so well. So she uses Aza's gift of mimicing other peoples singing voices so the queen could pretend that she can sing well. Believe it or not the book has parts from Snow White in the book theres a poison apple and a magic mirror. In the end Aza realize's that everyone is beautiful in thier own way. I was dissapointed that the queen didn't get punished for giving Aza the poisoned apple.In the end the queen is sent away and the king who is better now, goes to visit her. And why did the Snow White in this story have to be ugly? Gail Carson Levine is a good writer but in my opinion I don't think this would be on my number 1 top 10 book lists but it was a good book. Another thing I was dissapointed wit was that the story Fairest is supposed to be a story about Snow White and its mostly nothing like the tail. Next time Gail Carson Levine should write something more like Snow White.

A Great Version of Snow White 2010-05-02

Reviewer: P. Maisterra

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVED this book. I have always loved fairytales, and this, like many other Gail Carlson Levine books, is an enlongated version of a fairytale. It is about a girl who many humans think is very ugly, but she can sing very well. These characteristics force her to live a very interesting life: from meating "dwarfs", making friends with a queen, and falling in love with a prince. this novel is very well writen and i couldn't put it down until the end. it is a great book for ages 8-100: My friends and family loved this book! It is a truly intreaging twist on the famous fairytale Snow White. :)