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Fairy gifts are supposed to be a blessing. They’re supposed to be nothing more than trinkets and enchanted objects. But when an imprudent fairy named Lucinda visits Ella as a baby, she bestows a curse that Ella will always be obedient.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t also dangerous. What if someone told her to hurt or even kill someone else? She’d have to do it.
“Tell no one of your curse,” her mother commands.
She has no choice but to obey.
But when her mother dies suddenly, leaving Ella in the care of a mostly absent and quite greedy father and, later, a loathsome stepmother and two beastly stepsisters, Ella knows she must find a way to break the curse.
Ella has always been something of a rebel. Maybe it’s because of the curse. Maybe it’s only her nature. Either way, she’s determined to free herself even if it means running away through ogre-infested territory to find Lucinda and demand she set things right.
But when the curse remains unbroken and friendship turns into something more, Ella knows the only way to protect her kingdom is to break the heart of the only boy who ever cared about her and loves her for who she really is.
Ella Enchanted is a charming book worthy of its status as a middle-grade classic and remains vastly different and, in my opinion, better than the movie. It still contains all the elements from the original fairy tale — glass slippers, pumpkin coach — but with a new twist in a fun, fairy tale world.
Rated: None. Includes some mild peril.
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