I spent the weekend trying to make my way through the mound of books that I have that I’m in the process of reading; trying to narrow down the number of books I’ll want to take with me next Saturday when I head to my parents’ place for a week. Sadly, I only got through one book, and it doesn’t look like I’m going to finish any of the others any time soon. Then again, maybe I’ll really get into one of the others I’m reading one night.

Fairest is set in the same universe as Ella Enchanted – which I still haven’t read. It’s about a girl, Aza, who had been abandoned as a baby in an inn. The inn keeper and his wife take her in, and she grows up as one of the family. Only thing is, she isn’t pretty. In fact you might say she’s rather prone to attracting rude remarks about her looks. When the King brings his new bride to the kingdom, she manages to accompany a duchess to the wedding, where, as luck would have it, she befriends the new queen, and becomes her lady-in-waiting. Things appear to go well until Aza discovers the queen’s enchanted mirror.

This was a charming little book. Comforting in the fact that all of the elements in it are so familiar – a retelling of Snow White and all. There are SO MANY different retellings of that fairy tale, and it was a pleasant surprise that this book still had elements in it that were completely unique.