This was definitely one of my favorite books when I was young. I have read it so many times there's no point in trying to count it. But it's been a long time since I've revisited it, and after re-reading all the
Harry Potter books a few weeks ago I wanted to read something equally relaxing to my mind. It was fun to read this book this time because I have read more fantasy books in the last year (thank you, Brandon Sanderson), and thought more about the genre of fantasy, so it was interesting to see how this one added up. I think Levine does a great job of creating the expectations of the world that Ella lives in. There are all sorts of magical creatures, and magical rules, and she doesn't overdo it in trying to tell you what those rules are. It falls together very naturally. The beginning of the book, when Ella's mother dies of a preventable fever, has always been heart-wrenching to me, but the romance is very sweet. It still holds up for me, even though this is a middle-grade novel and not obviously as sophisticated of a plot as even a YA novel really would be. I still like Prince Char and Ella together, and I never feel like the language or conversation is stilted (like bugs me in so many other YA romances). But maybe that's just because of my over-familiarity with this story, so I can't be a totally unbiased reader!
Anyways, this was a perfect book to read this week. It took longer to get through (seriously should only take a few hours) because I was so, so busy this week, with planning/teaching my class, planning/teaching Joy School, and getting ready for Dane's birthday. I have some other books checked out from the library that I am excited to read soon too though. I want to get back into reading more now that I think I'm about to start feeling better!
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