No plot whatsoever ( )

A loose twist on Beauty and the Beast that takes place in the same world as, and before the events of, Ella Enchanted.

When Evie’s best friend proposes to her, she politely turns him down. She doesn’t love him in that way, and besides, fifteen is too young to get married anyway. But the meddling fairy Lucinda decides that Evie needs to be taught a lesson, and transforms her into an ogre. Now Evie has only 62 days to accept another marriage proposal or else she’ll be stuck as an ogre forever!

How is she supposed to find someone to love her when everyone she meets either runs away screaming or tries to kill her? And how is she supposed to help people with her healing skills when everyone is afraid she’s going to eat them? When disease breaks out in the capital city of Frell, she might just have a chance to prove her worth and trustworthiness, and maybe even convince someone to break her curse.

I was honestly hoping for a less predictable ending for this one, but it is still an enjoyable fantasy just like all Levine’s books I’ve read so far. And it was very interesting to see Ella’s parents make an appearance here! ( )

There were some funny moments but overall I was let down by this, not because it's a bad book, but because I don't really think I'm in the mindset to read children's books anymore (or at least, not currently). I found many of the parts just too silly for me and I'm pretty far past the target age group at this point. In addition, with Ella Enchanted being one of my favourite books since childhood, my expectations for this companion novel were probably just too high. ( )

Ogre Enchanted is a prequel of sorts to Ella Enchanted, as Ella's parents play background characters. I enjoyed this, but not as much as Ella (granted, I LOVED Ella Enchanted so it would have been near impossible) but I really liked this glimpse of life for someone who isn't noble or royal in Levine's world.

Also, the ending was quite smart. I love when brains win the day instead of brawn. ( )

This was okay. Ella Enchanted was my absolute favorite book as a child (it is by far the most worn book I own) and I was very excited for any connection to that story. Perhaps my expectations were too great, and that hurt my impression.

For starters, I didn't find Evie particularly likable. I get that she's infused with the temperament of an ogre, but I had trouble really rooting for her. I also didn't like that the book started with a proposal -it didn't feel right if Evie had Wormy thoroughly friend-zoned. He's displayed as very intelligent and aware through the rest of the book. I get that's the catalyst, but it made me feel iffy about those two from the start -particularly Evie's denial to his second proposal after she'd been turned into an ogre. She has a mere two months to find and accept a proposal, and in that time she makes ridiculously desperate, "that'll do" moves.

I also thought it was pretty obvious how the book had to end, so the story is 300 pages of speedbump after speedbump until we get there. To be fair, there were a few unexpected turns and I liked how everything was culminating. The story was successfully building several issues/reveals, and I was ultimately irked by how quickly everything promptly came out, and was promptly resolved.

I did like seeing some familiar characters again... for the most part. I adored having more background on King Jerrold, and I really liked how that was done. My opinion of Lucinda was shifted a little bit -I didn't consider her to be quite so intentionally cruel. Just dim. And I'm not quite sure how I feel about all the extra information about Ella's parents. I want to re-read Ella Enchanted and see how all of the new details sit. I think it hurts to make Peter so conniving and... evil, to a degree. I've always wondered why Lady Eleanor removed the hairs from her soup in Ella Enchanted -and I was NOT AT ALL satisfied by the supposed answer.

Either way, I think lovers of Ella Enchanted would want to read this. I think it helps Ella Enchanted, even if it's not as strong on its own. ( )