Fairest

Gail Carson Levine

Dec 2012 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

Once upon a time, there was a girl who wanted to be pretty . . .

Aza's singing is the fairest in all the land, and the most unusual. She can "throw" her voice so it seems to come from anywhere. But singing is only one of the two qualities prized in the Kingdom of Ayortha. Aza doesn't possess the other: beauty. Not even close. She's hidden in the shadows in her parents' inn, but when she becomes lady-in-waiting to the new queen, she has to step into the light—especially when the queen demands a dangerous favor. A magic mirror, a charming prince, a jealous queen, palace intrigue, and an injured king twine into a maze that Aza must penetrate to save herself and her beloved kingdom.

Ratings and reviews

Just like its predecessor Ella Enchanted, Fairest is not your typical Snow White retelling. It's basically Snow White meets DreamWorks Shrek where our heroine, Lady Aza, has a beautiful singing voice but is shunned for her unnatural appearance. She and the readers eventually learn that true beauty is being yourself and appreciating who you really are. It's a wonderful Aesop for all readers and the characters are delightfully charming as well.

I love this book so much it's the greatest thing ever and it also teaches lessons to readers it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside it's the inside that counts aza always thought of herself ugly because of her appearance and her weight/ curvyness and her height she thought she would never find love which she did she won the heart of the prince and she always thought that if she was beautiful everyone would look at her as a different person but in the end she marries ijori and lives happily

I love fairest, I have read it 9 or 10 times. Aza was found on the porch of the featherbed. She was very ugly (LIAR). Later in her life a duchess's companion was sick, so Aza got to go to the King's wedding. There she became the Queen's "Lady in Waiting". She also met the prince with large ears (WHO CARES). Please read this book. -Gigi

About the author

Gail Carson Levine's first book for children, Ella Enchanted, was a Newbery Honor Book. Levine's other books include Ever, a New York Times bestseller; Fairest, a Best Book of the Year for Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal and a New York Times bestseller; Dave at Night, an ALA Notable Book and Best Book for Young Adults; The Wish; The Two Princesses of Bamarre; A Tale of Two Castles; Stolen Magic; The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre; Ogre Enchanted; and the six Princess Tales books. She is also the author of the nonfiction books Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly and Writer to Writer: From Think to Ink, as well as the picture books Betsy Who Cried Wolf and Betsy Red Hoodie. Gail Carson Levine and her husband, David, live in a two-centuries-old farmhouse in the Hudson Valley of New York State.