Fairest

Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine, takes place in a fairy-tale land with insensible fairies, self-centered queens, and blood-thirsty ogres. The main character and protagonist, Aza, has only one wish: To be beautiful. She has grown up working at her family's inn, dealing with rude guests and bearing their hateful words. But when the duchess pays a visit to their inn and invites Aza to accompany her to the castle, Aza fantasizes that this could be a new start for her. In the castle, where vanity is ubiquitous and the kingdom is falling into disarray, Aza may be the only one that can stop the tyrannical queen from destroying all that is dear to her. In this tale of lust, grief, mischief, courage, and yes, love, the only forgone conclusion is that nothing will ever be the same.

Whoa. Hold on a second. What did I just write? When was the last time you heard anyone say the "forgone conclusion"? You know, instead of deleting that, as I normally would, I'm just going to go with it.

Okay, where was I? Right-- evil queen, big words, etc., etc. We've heard it all before... Right?

Wrong.

How many fairy-tales have you read where the main character isn't a fair damsel, but an ugly maid? That's what I love about this book. It tells you that you don't need to be the spitting image of Aphrodite to have a happily ever after. And sometimes, I think that we need a reminder of that.

The kingdom of Ayortha, where Fairest takes place, is a kingdom of song. People are frequently moved to song, and Aza is no exception. One of the ditties she sang repeats the phrase, "Who judges the judge who judges wrong?" Although not the main focus of this story, this phrase was one of the most thought-provoking in the book. For truly, who judges the judge who judges wrong?