Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

My rating: 4 Stars

Description:

I was born singing. Most babies cry. I sang an aria. Or so I believe. I have no one to tell me the truth of it. I was abandoned when I was a month old, left at the Featherbed Inn in the Ayorthaian villiage of Amonta. It was January 12th of the year of Thunder Songs.

The Fairy Lucinda has once again given a dreadful gift. THis time it's a mysterious magical mirror. The gift is disastrous when it falls into the hands of Aza, who never looks in a mirror if she can help it. In the Kingdom of Ayortha, Aza is most definitely not the fairest of them all. Many spurn her. Many scoff at her. She keeps out of sight.

But in the land or singers, Aza has her own gift, one she's come by without fairy intervention: a voice that can do almost anything, a voice that captivates all who hear it. In Ontio Castle, merry Prince Ijori is drawn to it, and vain Queen Ibi wants to use it for her own ends. Queen Ivi would do anything to remain the fairest in the land.

In this spellbinding tale filled with humor, adventure, romance, and song, Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Leine invites you to join Aza as she discovers how exquisite she truly is.

My review:

This book was a good, yet, a completely different, interpretation of Snow White. It was a fast and easy read. Aza was easy to fall in-love with, even though her whining about being ugly was a bit overdone. It was, however, easy to feel sorry for her.

Aza wasn't the most beautiful girl in Ayortha – that is putting it lightly, as far as the book is concerned – and everyone made sure she knew it. People avoided her at all costs because she wasn't slender and she was too palel with her strange black hair. Regardless of her strange looks, she had the most beautiful voice in the entire kingdom. She was the best singer and singing was BIG in Ayortha.

This book is an example of how people are capable of judging others by the way they look and not bothering to learn who the person really is on the inside. The beautiful thing about this story is, is that the prince was the exception. He thought Aza was beautiful and honest and didn't care what others thought of her. When she drank the potion that made her beautiful, which made the queen jealous, the prince didn't like it. He wanted his Aza back - big hips, pale skin, and all.

Overall, a good fairy tale interpretation.