Just Ella

Rating:
Summary: Just Ella
Review: In just Ella, a 15-year-old girl is forced to work for her evil stepmother after her father died ( sound familiar?). Like every commoner in her town she dreams of marrying the young good looking Prince Charming, and having a luxrious life in the palace. When she was choosen by the Prince at the ball she finds herself trapped between etiqutte, and people trying to force her to be something that she is not and does not want to be. After she told the Prince she did not want to be married to him she was locked in a dungeon till she changed her mind about the marriage. She must now choose between being a princess or happiness. Can she choose what is right and live happily ever after?

Rating:
Summary: Cinderella's Ever After
Review: First of all, if you are looking for a continuation of Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted, sorry, this isn't one. Yet it is a very good read on it's own. It tells the tale of Cinderella AFTER she was engaged and living in her own room at the castle. It shows her hating having to act proper and do embroidery and no longer seeming to have a brain. It shows the shallowness of "The Charmings" whom she "fell in love with at first sight" and is no longer sure this is real love.

Rating:
Summary: Lacked insight
Review: When I bought the book, I was excited because I generally like reading retellings of traditional fairy tales. This novel, however, failed to reach any set of expectations. Though the idea for the novel itself was original, with Ella hating the castle and eventually running away, I felt as if the author herself was lacking in style and failed to create any sort of coherent setting. Throughout the book I felt as though I was being pulled between a modern world because of the language and Ella's ideas and a much older world due to the dress and traditional older ideas of the castle. I literally had to continue reminding myself that this book takes place in the past and not the present. In addition, Ella failed to have a set personality: she was spouting ideals of falling in love with the prince one moment and then claiming that she disliked him the next. Then, the change that took place in Ella was so fast that I wondered if she was even the same person. Finally, the long awaited moment when she was supposedly going to marry her tutor never happened: the author seemed to build to this eventual end, but never gave the reader the satisfaction of being able to read it. The novel in itself was terribly written and it gave me a headache to get through it. I recommend it to no one.

Rating:
Summary: Ashley Maiuri Ms. Olivet
Review: This book was basically the real Cinderella story. The girl's real name is Cynthiana Eleanora. She likes to be called Ella for short. Ella had become infatuated with Prince Charming (as any 15 year old girl would) and had to figure out the true meaning of love. She had to take classes in the castle that taught her how to be a princess. She hates her teachers and just wants to escape. She finds herself not holding her thoughts in her head and letting all her emotions out. She talks back to Madame Bisset. Madame Bisset is a mean old woman who doesn't understand how hard it is for Ella to learn princesses ways. Ella's other teacher Lord Reston got very ill and couldn't continue teaching Ella. His son Jed had to take over. Jed fell in love with Ella without her knowing. He wants to help the kingdom because it's fighting in the Sualan War. He wants to keep the world at peace. He's also afraid to show his feelings.
Ella soon finds herself questioning her love for the Prince. She tries to tell him that she can't marry him and he ties her up! (He's a jerk that just tried to find a beautiful woman to bear his children.) He locks her in the dungeon with a rapist, Quog. She still refuses to marry the prince and escapes out of the (. . .) hole. She goes to her old house first to get some things and then goes to find Jed at the camp he was sent to. She finds him and stays with him. And well your just going to have to read the book to find out what happens at the end!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Enchanting Book
Review: Just Ella is a wonderful continuation to the classic Cinderella story. You know, her fairy godmother lets her go to the ball, but at midnight the spell is broken, Cinderella loses her glass slipper, the prince finds and carries her off to the palace. But does she really marry prince charming? She lives happily ever after, right? Well in a way...but you'll need to read the book to find out how. Although this book does leave you wanting for more, it also leaves you thinking. This book is wonderful and I fully enjoyed it! Its definitly one of my favorites. So,if your looking for a book to give as a gift or just to read this would probubly be a really good choice.

Rating:
Summary: Just . . . Magic
Review: Just Ella is a great book. The settings used create a lot of feeling for the reader. The only problem I saw was the realism. It was not very realistic, but that can be forgiven because it is, after all, a fantasy novel. Thank you Ms. Haddix, for giving me and many other bookworms a chance to enjoy ourselves with this excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: a suprisingly good book
Review: I refused to read this book for a while, because Ella Enchanted was so good, but I finally gave in. I probably would have stopped reading the book in the middle if it started ruining Ella Enchanted somehow, but this is a completely different part of the Cinderella story. Ella Enchanted is Cinderella with even more magic and extra extra good parts, but Just Ella is a different thing completely. This book has no magic, and starts after the ball. If you like Cinderella story book, this is a pretty good one.

Rating:
Summary: Happily Ever After . . . But With Who??
Review: I love all kind of Cinderella stories, so of course I loved this book. It gave me a warm feeling inside. With all the tradgedies in the world right now it's nice to get away with a good book. The main character is spunky and goes for what she believes in. That made the book even better. Also, the book didnt exactly fallow the "Cinderella rules." It made it more interesting. You got into it a little more.

Rating:
Summary: Happily Ever After . . . But With Who??
Review: I love all kind of Cinderella stories, so of course I loved this book. It gave me a warm feeling inside. With all the tradgedies in the world right now it's nice o get away with a good book. The main character is spunky and goes for what she believes in. That made the book even better. Also, the book didnt exactly fallow the "Cinderella rules." It made it more interesting. You got into it a little more.

Rating:
Summary: Happily Ever After . . . But With Who?
Review: I love all sorts Cinderella stories, so of course I loved this book. It give you a warm feeling inside, especially with all the tradgedies going on in the world. A good book is the only place you can escape to. It doesnt matter if she ends up with the Prince or someone else, so long as she and whoever she is with are happy. I especially liked the spunky leading character. She has so much bravery that others wish they could have. Also this book wasn't the average fairytale, it had some differences. So it wasn't the same old thing.