Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

This book, loosely based on the story of Snow White, is just a bit too convoluted for my tastes. In trying to make the plot of Snow White into a full length, though derivative tale, there are just a few too many duplicities for my interest. It makes the plot of the book more realistic, I will concede, but it makes it harder to believe some of the actions of the main characters.

I felt betrayed that the Prince, who was shown as doubting the queen and her rule, so readily accepted the queen's accusations against Aza, supposedly the girl that he was falling in love with. He just didn't seem to be THAT shallow and lacking in understanding. In fact, in another scene, he shows incredible finesse in the situation, which potentially saved the life of the cook and one of the court ladies.

One of the issues brought up by a reviewer on Amazon was why was it necessary for Aza to feel loved by the prince, before she was able to stand up for herself. It is clearly shown before then that she knew she was completely and well loved by her family and appreciated by some guests at her parents' inn. Why was her self esteem so low? I think the answer to that comes out of the situation. Although she knew her parents and family loved her and appreciated her voice, that wasn't enough to shield her from the dislike of strangers at the inn. And, they do, after all, allow her to shield herself from many guests. She was taken to the coronation only as a substitute - not for herself, only for her availability. That does nothing to up her self esteem. She was taken as the lady-in-waiting to the queen under circumstances that were dishonest and threatening. That further lowers her opinion of herself. She can't even enjoy the one thing about her that is acknowledge to be beautiful - her voice, because it is the instrument of her bondage. It takes someone for whom she has respect in order to break the cycle. The king is unavailable for that role, as is the queen. The head musician is the one who later exposes her, so he can't be the person who boosts her self esteem. And, this is a tale for teenage, or pre-teenage girls, so the availability of the prince is convenient - and needed later on for the completion of the Snow White-ness of the story. It would be a bit unrealistic if, all of a sudden, she developed self-confidence without some outside intervention. I suppose she could have conveniently found a female friend in the castle, but that would have made the story even more convoluted.

All in all, it is a decent story. I would rate Ella Enchanted (by the same author) higher, though.

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