Ella lives in a fairytale world, where there are ogres, giants, fairies and magic. When she is born, poor Ella is given the gift of obedience by a very misguided fairy, who refuses to take it back, even after the appalled pleading of Ella’s mother and fairy godmother. Lucinda the Fairy is of the opinion that this is a wonderful gift to bestow on a child, and so Ella grows up having to obey any direct order given to her, and knowing that if someone were to ask her to chop off her own head, she’d have to obey. Luckily, the only ones who actually know the truth about Ella’s “gift” are her mother, and the loyal cook. Ella also learns to be creative in the ways in which she obeys any orders. If asked to fetch something, she might throw it at the person, or when asked to hold something, she might march around with the object, forcing the other person to follow her around in order to get to it.
I foolishly didn’t read this book for years and years, basing my opinion of the story on the film, starring Anne Hathaway. I was very dumb to do so. Read the rest of my review on my blog.
Cannonball Read V 
Thanks for the review. I actually did like the film–as something cute and fun, but I had no idea it was based on a book. I probably need to read it now.
I didn’t hate the film, it was light-hearted and a bit silly and I sort of liked the random singing numbers. It’s just not exactly memorable or all that re-watchable, and I think Anne Hathaway is a better actress now that she’s gotten away from her Princess Diaries type casting. The book is massively different, though – it’s like they took some names from it and threw into the movie, then made up an entirely different story.