Welcome to A Week of Cinderella! Grab some promotional buttons for your blog HERE and stop back all week long for fun guest posts, exciting author visits (because, after all, Marissa isn't the ONLY author with a kick-ass Cinderella to celebrate!), giveaways, reviews, and a blog tour stop for CINDER!
I love Angel. I didn't know just how much until this year when buzz began building around CINDER. It turns out we've run into one another over the years through other circles and that Marissa Meyer brought our connection full-circle. So here we are now, two book bloggers still in love with fairy tales and mermaids!
Stop by Mermaid Vision Books TODAY to check out the 1/11 CINDER Blog Tour Stop. Today's stop features Angel interviewing the delectable Prince Kai. How can you skip that!?
Oh...and she's GIVING AWAY a copy of CINDER in hardcover or audio. Don't you want to WIN???
Check out her stop!!!
Learning to appreciate Cinderella through EVER AFTER
As a little girl, I was never a fan of Cinderella. Her story seemed very wishy-washy to me, a true fairy tale with the usual deus ex machina instead of a real fight for freedom. I couldn't relate to her subservience or always-sunny nature--she never felt real to me. It wasn't until I was 15 years old that I grew to appreciate a Cinderella figure of a different sort: Danielle de Barbarac of the beautiful period film EVER AFTER.
While most Cinderella retellings don't stray too far from the fairytale canon, don't be fooled by Drew Barrymore's passive figure on the movie posters. EVER AFTER takes a radical path and writes her in as a historical figure. Leonardo da Vinci even makes an appearance! Danielle is a girl living in the Renaissance era, a lucky girl who is protected so well by her father and servants. There are no silly mice running around helping her with chores, nor does a glass slipper come into play. Danielle and the people around her are refreshingly real.
The story is familiar, but it is also given a modern twist. Danielle is an intelligent girl who can debate about politics and philosophy. Her favourite book is Thomas More's Utopia. Interestingly enough, the writers were careful not to make her into a spinster-like character that needed a prince to save her. Danielle saves herself over and over again, and no viewer will doubt her strength and courage. Unlike the daydreaming Cinderella that many of us grew up with, Danielle is determined to make her own way and has the tenacity to achieve it.
In fact, each female character in this film is well-rounded. Danielle's stepmother, the Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent, is sharp-witted and vicious, a true product of her own desperation to be popular. Stepsisters Marguerite and Jacqueline are wonderful foils to Danielle; the latter sister's turn from meek pushover to smirking victor is hilarious and well worth watching. With such a cast, even a Prince Charming would find himself hard-pressed to win ample screen time.
EVER AFTER won my heart with entertaining dialogue, gorgeous settings and, most of all, a brilliantly written heroine. Not all fairy tales are created equal, and Danielle de Barbarac's story is one that shouldn't be missed.
While most Cinderella retellings don't stray too far from the fairytale canon, don't be fooled by Drew Barrymore's passive figure on the movie posters. EVER AFTER takes a radical path and writes her in as a historical figure. Leonardo da Vinci even makes an appearance! Danielle is a girl living in the Renaissance era, a lucky girl who is protected so well by her father and servants. There are no silly mice running around helping her with chores, nor does a glass slipper come into play. Danielle and the people around her are refreshingly real.
The story is familiar, but it is also given a modern twist. Danielle is an intelligent girl who can debate about politics and philosophy. Her favourite book is Thomas More's Utopia. Interestingly enough, the writers were careful not to make her into a spinster-like character that needed a prince to save her. Danielle saves herself over and over again, and no viewer will doubt her strength and courage. Unlike the daydreaming Cinderella that many of us grew up with, Danielle is determined to make her own way and has the tenacity to achieve it.
In fact, each female character in this film is well-rounded. Danielle's stepmother, the Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent, is sharp-witted and vicious, a true product of her own desperation to be popular. Stepsisters Marguerite and Jacqueline are wonderful foils to Danielle; the latter sister's turn from meek pushover to smirking victor is hilarious and well worth watching. With such a cast, even a Prince Charming would find himself hard-pressed to win ample screen time.EVER AFTER won my heart with entertaining dialogue, gorgeous settings and, most of all, a brilliantly written heroine. Not all fairy tales are created equal, and Danielle de Barbarac's story is one that shouldn't be missed.
Beautifully written! I couldn't agree more. Danielle transformed Cinderella into a girl worth rooting for. And you're right, the side characters have depth and are worth watching in their own right.
ReplyDeleteBest. Movie. EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you focused on EVER AFTER this week <3