Author: Gail Carson Levine
Reading level: Middle School
Publisher: HarperCollins
Rated 9/10
In a world in which elegance, beauty, and singing ability are revered, Aza is bulky, awkward, and homely. Her saving grace is that she can sing and has a gift of voice manipulation that she calls illusing. Through a chance meeting at her familys inn, a duchess invites Aza to act as her companion and accompany her to the palace to attend the kings wedding. When the beautiful new queen discovers Azas gift for throwing her voice and for mimicry, she sees a way of protecting her reputation and disguising her own lack of talent. Pressured by the womans threats upon her family, Aza deceives the court into believing that Ivi is a gifted singer. When the ruse is discovered, Aza is forced to flee the castle in order to save her life. Through her adventures, she discovers her own strength of character, learns about her true heritage, and decides that her physical appearance is not worthy of the stress and worry she has wasted on it. The plot is fast-paced, and Azas growth and maturity are well crafted and believable. Readers will enjoy the fairy-tale setting while identifying with the real-life problems of living in an appearance-obsessed society.
MY REVIEW
I really liked this book, it's a different version of the story Snow White with a different twist. Fifteen year old Aza was born singing beautiful,there's only one thing wrong,she's as ugly as an ogre,as some of the people at her adoptive(she was found in one of the rooms at the inn when she was a baby) parents' inn like to tell her. One day while cleaning she realizes she can make different voices and sounds of her choice come from anything or anyone,something she calls illusing. Aza gets lucky one day when a duchess who sometimes stays at her parents' inn asks for Aza to be her companion to the royal wedding of the king. While at the palace Aza meets the king and his wife Ivi, and the king's nephew Prince Ijori. Ivi soon discovers Aza's gift of illusing and uses it to her advantage by asking Aza to do it so it seems like she is singing. Aza soon becomes Queen Ivi's lady in waiting while the king is injured. Aza and Prince Ijori get real close and develop feelings for each other. Aza tries a spell to make her beautiful but it only turns one of her toes into stone,she dreams and wishes for the beauty she sees in her reflection in Queen Ivi's mirror and Ivi soon tries to change the ways of the kingdom for the worse til everyone hates her. Eventually Aza is blamed for Ivi's behavior and everyone think she has ogre blood and persuaded Ivi to do her bidding so she could be queen. Aza is thrown in the dungeon and soon after begins her journey to finding out who she really is and learns that looks are not everything in life, especially if someone really loves you. I don't want to give away the whole story but there are a lot of similarities to the story of Snow White as some will notice while reading it. It has a great meaning that looks are not everything in life and we should love ourselves for who we really are.
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