Title: Fairest
Author: Gail Carson Levine
Genre: Fantasy-Fiction

Descriptive Summary: 

Written by Gail Carson Levine, Fairest is yet another classical spin of the fairytale Snow White. The novel is set in the magical kingdom of Ayortha, where singing and beauty are the two most prized qualities of an Ayorthian. Aza, a common girl, has the fairest voice in all of the kingdom. Her voice is unique because she is the only one who can manipulate her voice to make it heard from anywhere. Aza calls this ability "illusing". 

Despite having the most enchanting voice in Ayortha, Aza is still hidden in the shadows of her kingdom, as she does not possess the other prized quality of Ayrothians: beauty. "Ayorthians are sensitive to beauty, more sensitive than subjects in other kingdoms"(5). Therefore, due to her "hideous"(4) and "vast"(125) appearance, Aza is put down by others. That is until Aza is whisked out of her home, The Featherbed Inn, and into the new queen's chambers as her lady-in-waiting. For once in Aza's life, things seem to be changing for the better.

At least that is what Aza thinks until she unexpectedly finds herself and her power to "illuse" in a corrupted and dangerous pledge of loyalty to the new queen. Now, Aza must choose to stay loyal and serve the new queen or embark on a dangerous journey to save herself and her beloved kingdom.

Additional Contextual Information:

Although Fairest is a fantasy-fiction book, Gail Carson Levine makes many important connections to the modern day world, the most prominent one being the topic of beauty. Throughout the novel, readers can see how most of the woman in the book are insecure and dependent on their physical qualities. For example, Aza "developed the habit of holding [her] hand in front of [her] face"(5) when attending to the Featherbed inn's customers, because she did not want to inconvenience others with her "ugly"(3) appearance. This concept of looking beautiful for others is a self-demoting ideal for women in our world today because it causes over 50% of the stress, anxiety, and depression that women face. Levine uses Aza's painful journey to accomplish self-acceptance, to show readers that one's personality and unique qualities are far more important than one's physical appearance. Levine embodies this topic in her novel as a way to make it clear that everyone is beautiful in their own way, regardless of what others say. Judging oneself or others based on the physical appearance automatically prohibits individuals to see past the appearance of one, a point made clear in Fairest. Through this novel, Levine shows readers that being judgmental and comparing oneself to another based on physical appearances is a foolish act to proceed with as it will always cause more harm than good. 

My Recommendation: 

I highly recommend reading this book! Fairest encompasses historical, classical and adventurous elements and is a wonderful book to read if you enjoy the classic fairytales. With a handful of unexpected twists and an action-packed storyline, this book will keep you on edge until the very last page. I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars!

Descriptive Summary:

Five students go in and only four come out alive. What happened to the fifth?

It's the evening of September 24th and presiding at Bayview High's detention are five students. The first is Bronwyn, the mathlete genius. The second is Cooper, the southern jock. The third is Addy, the exceptional beauty. The fourth is Nate, the arrogant criminal. The last is Simon, the writer of the school's gossip blog and the one who was carried out from detention in a black body bag.

Detectives discovered a high concentration of peanut oil in Simon's cup of water. Simon had died from asphyxiation from his severe peanut allergy and based off of the nurse's missing epi-pens, Simon's death was no accident. Simon was murdered. The only people who witnessed Simon's horrific death were the particular four students in detention that day. No teachers, no passerbys, just the four students who all had the motive to kill.

Simon was "the kind of person you can get away with killing: someone everybody else wants dead"(43). The notorious busybody was the school's one and only reliable gossip source. Simon was also a nobody, someone who lurked in the shadows, someone who was always watching, and someone who knew everybody's darkest secrets. Bronwyn, Addy, Cooper, and Nate all had their fair share of nasty secrets, but would they really go to the extents of killing Simon to hide what they really are? According to the Bayview detectives, each of the four students had a strong motive to kill because Simon was planning on revealing all four students' biggest secrets, and that too on the evening of September 24th.

Whisked into a world full of manipulative media, desperate detectives and forbidden romance, the four students must dig their way out of this mess before it's too late and they get accused of something they all didn't do. At least what the four each deny doing. Their versions of the truth conflict one another and as Simon's murder goes into a further investigation, it becomes clear that One of Us is Lying. 

Additional Contextual Information:

Using her novel, One of Us is Lying, McManus helps paint her readers a clear picture of the serious problems that teens face every day. Depression, anxiety, pressure, drugs, and stereotypical bullying are only a handful of the many issues that McManus addresses in this book. 

The novel is written from a shared perspective between all four main characters. Every chapter a new student narrates and provides readers with the insight of certain problems that teens face and can easily lose control of. 

One particular quote that got my attention was a quote said by Addy right after she was accused of murder, “You find out who your real friends are when stuff like this happens. Turns out I didn’t have any” (134). This quote embodies the harsh reality of friendship, and how appearances can be deceiving. One minute your best friends with someone and the next they are smiling at you while sticking a dagger in your back. This difficult truth of reality not only reminds readers how easily someone's trust can be broken but also shows readers how broken trust can lead to serious mental health problems or even worse, a corrosive addiction. Although these long-term effects aren't prominent in Addy's life, readers clearly see how this act betrayal by her friends pushes Addy onto a dangerous path that would have led to a plethora of harmful events if Addy hadn't found a source of happiness.

McManus not only ends up addressing serious teen issues in her book but also provides ways in which teens can help and resolve them. Through Addy, she shows readers how a simple act of kindness can indirectly save someone from the brink of danger and makes it clear that anyone can make a difference in others' lives. By providing her readers with certain insight on mental issues, McManus is trying to encourage her teen audience to be step up and help fellow peers who are in need of support.

My Recommendation:

Although the plot of this book is great, certain parts of the book are cheesy and unnecessary. I picked up this book thinking it would be a great mystery book that would keep me turning the pages until I found out what exactly happened, but McManus added in many elements of romance that took away from the uniqueness of the actual murder at hand and prolonged the reveal of Simon's murder for too long. That being said, if you like the teen fiction genre, this book is great to read. However, if you are a hardcore mystery/ thrillers person like myself, this book isn't for you. Since I didn't like the prolonged plot twists and frustrating romance in this book, I would rate this book a 2/5.