Ogre Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine Published by HarperCollins on October 16, 2018
Genres: Young Adult, Fairy Tales & Folklore, Adaptations, Fantasy & Magic, Social Themes, Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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Goodreads
Set in the world of the Newbery Honor-winning Ella Enchanted, this tale by beloved author Gail Carson Levine stars a clever heroine who is determined to defy expectations—and outwit a fairy’s curse.
Evie is happiest when she is healing people, diagnosing symptoms and prescribing medications, with the help of her devoted friend (and test subject) Wormy. So when Wormy unexpectedly proposes to her, she kindly turns him down; she has far too much to do to be marrying anyone. And besides, she simply isn’t in love with him.
But a certain meddling fairy named Lucinda has been listening in, and she doesn’t approve of Evie’s rejection. Suddenly, Evie finds herself transformed from a girl into a hideous, hungry ogre!
Stuck in this new and confusing form, Evie now has only sixty-two days to accept another proposal—or else be stuck as an ogre forever.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Why Did I Read?
When I was a kid, Ella Enchanted was my absolute favorite. I reread it so many times. I still own the same copy I had when I was young and the pages are yellowed, the cover is creased and it’s very, very well loved. I was downright ecstatic when I found out there was going to be another story in the same world!
My Thoughts:
Well, I was a little (please forgive my pun) disenchanted with this one. It’s good but left me wanting and feeling a bit sad that it wasn’t more. Ogre Enchanted takes place one generation before the events in Ella Enchanted and focuses on the story of Evie who is a victim of one of Lucinda the fairy’s “gifts” and got turned into an ogre. Cue ogre mischief and shenanigans!
As we follow along with Evie’s misadventures, we see a lot more of Frell than we did in Ella Enchanted and that’s probably my favorite part. I loved learning more about Frell and also more about the creatures in this magical world– ogres, giants and even dragons! There’s a lot of very cool fantasy creature elements that are fun in this one.
I loved learning more about Frell and also more about the creatures in this magical world– ogres, giants and even dragons!
However, I didn’t particularly one way or another in regards to the romance! And that is SUCH a shame because hello, Ella and Char were my OTP before I even knew what OTPs or shipping WERE. You can say that I was a shipper from a young age. It would be unfair to compare Ella and Char to Evie and Wormy here but I just think it was lacking some of the humor, wit and engaging attraction of the former! I felt sort of ambivalent and I ended up feeling like the romance was being told rather than shown.
There are some fun nods and Easter eggs that fans of Ella Enchanted will notice though and I really appreciated seeing some characters or hearing about events that we would see in Ella. Overall, this was a fun, quick fantasy. I almost think that if I weren’t such a fan of Ella if I would have liked this more? It’s hard to say because while I did end up comparing Evie and Wormy to Ella and Char, some of the things that made me enjoy it more were the tidbits that tied into Ella. I also feel like it’s important to add that I DID reread Ella right before reading Ogre Enchanted so I’m not thinking of Ella through rose-tinted glasses or anything. I reread it right before and still loved everything about it. I still am in love with Char and Ella’s spunk and bright personality!
In Short…
An enjoyable middle grade fantasy! The romantic relationship may have been lacking for me but the magical kingdom of Frell and its fantasy creatures made up for it. I am sad it sort of missed the mark from what I wanted or expected. However, if you loved Ella Enchanted, like me, you will probably want to give this a try!
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