History Literature / Fairest

* AndIMustScream: The fate of everyone who gets trapped with Skullni. You end up trapped in a mirror, unable to talk to anyone unless you can figure out how to manipulate the mechanics, and stay there until he returns from his travels.

* WeddingDay: Oscaro marries Ivi, and [[spoiler:Ijori marries Aza]]. Ayorthan weddings are entirely sung, with each member of the couple singing a song they've written about their love and their hopes for the future.

* InterruptedSuicide: Ivi after [[spoiler:poisoning Aza]] almost poisons herself when she sees [[spoiler:Aza]] in the mirror. Aza despite disliking the queen wouldn't submit her to [[AndIMustScream the fate of an eternity in a mirror]] that awaits Ivi if she dies.

%% * UnfortunateImplications: It's revealed that ogres and humans have interbred several times over the course of history. Ogres are represented as an entirely evil species (even though all other species have clear capacity for good an evil...) [[ImpliedRape who can convince most sentient beings to do whatever they like with only a few words]]....

* ForeShadowing: While living with the gnomes, Aza is disgusted that a gnome that stole a pickax is allowed to go home with it and suffer no punishment, because the gnomes saw that if he were punished a worse future would happen. [[spoiler: She later helps Ivi achieve a KarmaHoudini so that King Oscaro can recover and rule the kingdom properly, since Ivi being punished would only result in political chaos.]]

''Fairest'', by Gail Carson Levine, is a meta-sequel to Levine's ''Literature/EllaEnchanted'', set in the same world and with the sister of Ella's best friend Areida as the main character. ''Fairest'' is a warped Snow White, set in the singing country of Ayortha. Aza is an adopted, abnormal-looking child in a country obsessed with beauty. Her parents are innkeepers, and since Aza is expected to do her part in taking care of the inn, she often falls victim to rude staring and remarks by the guests - except for the gnomes, one of which becomes her close friend. She has a singing ability that can be done by no one else, called 'illusing', which is actually a voice-throwing skill made magical in a way. Through an interesting course of events, she becomes the companion of the Duchess one night thanks to her cat, and makes her way to the castle for the king's wedding.

The catch? 40-something-year-old King Oscaro has married a 19-year-old Ivi of Kyrria, (Ella's country) a commoner who people distrust at first for that very reason. However, her radiant beauty eventually wins over the court. Ivi discovers the shy, withdrawn Aza while she illuses in private, and forces her to sing for her because she despises Sings and singing so much. When the king falls ill, Ivi uproots the kingdom with Aza in tow with deception dragging at her every day. Aza's story winds around falling in love, getting over her weakness, and learning to accept herself for who she is.

* {{BBW}}: Aza is heavily implied to be one, being abnormally wide as well as abnormally tall. [[spoiler: Ijori likes that aspect of her as well, avoiding a preachy {{Beautiful All Along}} message and instead opting for {{Just the Way You Are}}]]

** After receiving a letter from Ijori [[spoiler: after Aza has run away and sought refuge with the gnomes]], Aza is able to forgive him. Subverted with the Duke Uellu, who had accused Aza of being [[spoiler: an ogre and only apologized when the king confirmed her story about Ivi.]]

* HappilyAdopted: Aza with her parents. Not only does her [[MamaBear mother]] get angry at the royal guards who imply that their daughter [[spoiler:may have ogre's blood]], but her father writes a note to Aza saying that he knows her too well to believe she may be [[spoiler:a traitor to the crown]].

* HollywoodToneDeaf: Averted with Ivi. She is a bad singer who tries to hide this by feigning sickness and then blackmailing Aza to [[spoiler:use ventriloquism to mime singing.]]. When she finally sings [[spoiler:for herself]], it's portrayed realistically: her voice is weak and she misses some notes.

* NaturalizedName: Ayorthian names begin and end with the same vowel, so Ivy of Kyrria becomes Ivi of Ayortha
** zhamM calls Aza "azacH", her name in Gnomic.

* PinocchioNose: See if you can tell what Ivi does before she lies. Aza even mentions it.

* ThisIsMyNameOnForeign: Ikulni, once a guest at the feather bed, [[spoiler:who was actually Skulni, the creature in Ivi's mirror.]]

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Ijori. Make up your mind whose side you're on, dagnabit.

* {{Rewrite}}: See FridgeLogic above.
* TakeAThirdOption: On waking up from his coma and becoming well enough to rule from bed, King Oscaro is faced with his wife having committed treason and [[ItMakesSenseInContext taken orders from a spider in a mirror]]. A SadisticChoice ensues: if he punishes her, he loses the love of his life, but if he pardons her then she is still free to rule by his side and [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen make bad decisions]]. Choosing neither, he exiles her to one of his vacation palaces and decides to abdicate in a year so that she will never have royal power again.

* HollywoodToneDeaf: Ivi is this in-universe, which she tries to hide by feigning sickness and then blackmailing Aza to [[spoiler:use ventriloquism to mime singing.]]

* ThisIsMyNameOnForeign: Ayorthian names begin and end with the same vowel, so Ivy of Kyrria becomes Ivi of Ayortha.

* ConverseWithTheUnconscious: Ivi does this with Oscaro, and [[spoiler: he recalls this when waking up from his coma, providing evidence that Aza was telling the truth.]] Oscaro when he wakes up ends up in quite a conundrum.

* DealWithTheDevil: If you drink Skullni's potions, you become beautiful, but in exchange he will goad you into either getting killed by your stupidity and jealousy [[spoiler: like Aza]] or induce a DespairEventHorizon [[spoiler: like in Ivi]]. Then your soul is stuck in his mirror chamber, [[AndIMustScream unable to escape]] or communicate except to living people through the mirror, while he gets to go out and explore the world. You only get to rest in peace when he comes back, which can take a long time.

* EasilyForgiven: After receiving a letter from Ijori [[spoiler: after Aza has run away and sought refuge with the gnomes]], Aza is able to forgive him. Subverted with the Duke Uvu, who had accused Aza of being [[spoiler: an ogre and only apologized when the king confirmed her story about Ivi.]]

* HappilyAdopted: Aza with her parents. Not only does her [[MamaBear mother]] get angry at the royal guards who imply that their daughter [[spoiler: may have ogre's blood]], but her father writes a note to Aza saying that he knows her too well to believe she may be [[spoiler: a traitor to the crown]].

* HollywoodToneDeaf: Ivi is this in-universe, which she tries to hide by feigning sickness and then blackmailing Aza to [[spoiler: use ventriloquism to mime singing.]]

* IdiotBall: After being accused of [[spoiler: being an ogre]], Aza finds the magical mirror and the potion that made Ivi beautiful. Instead of using the evidence to show that Ivi is a liar [[spoiler: by putting all the blame on Aza for the ventriloquism]], Aza drinks a few drops of the beauty potion. Unsurprisingly, [[spoiler: she gets carted to jail]] anyway.

* IJustWantToBePretty: Ivi is revealed to have felt this, since she was worried that Oscaro would stop loving her, and Aza feels this all the time.

* InterruptedSuicide: Ivi after [[spoiler: poisoning Aza]] almost poisons herself when she sees [[spoiler: Aza]] in the mirror. Aza despite disliking the queen wouldn't submit her to [[AndIMustScream the fate of an eternity in a mirror]] that awaits Ivi if she dies.

** [[spoiler:Ivi, for the most part, thanks to Aza vouching for her.]] Though it's because the King has to tread the line between protecting his people and protecting his [[spoiler: wife]] from charges of treason. At the very least [[spoiler: she's exiled from the rest of a kingdom that she failed to rule and will go down as the worst foreign queen in history, staying in relative isolation. Not to mention that she is "no longer pretty" and only Oscaro will love her.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Ivi breaks down after she returns to the palace [[spoiler: having just poisoned Aza]]. Ijori also gets this when he thinks that Aza died helping a guard escape from ogres, after he let her be [[spoiler: taken to prison]]. Duke Uvu apologies to Aza [[spoiler: when learning from the King that she told the truth]], looking genuinely remorseful, but she [[RejectedApology says nothing]].

* PartingWordsRegret: Ijori feels this when he believes that Aza is [[spoiler: part ogre and a traitor to the crown]] and dismisses her with disgust. By the time he's cooled down and realized that her story makes more sense than Ivi's and the Duke Uvu's, the guard sent to assassinate her tells him that Aza is dead. [[spoiler: Good thing the guard was lying, which allowed Ijori to rescue Aza from a DisneyDeath . . .]] According to the guard that tells a (not-dead) Aza, Ijori let out a SkywardScream.

* BlondesAreEvil: Ivi, to a tee.

** Lucinda the fairy, for her role in causing the story [[spoiler: by giving Ivi the Magic Mirror and beauty potions.]] Although in EllaEnchanted she gets some LaserGuidedKarma for her "blessings," here the Ayorthians only [[spoiler: stage a quick wedding]] so that she doesn't arrive.

* HappilyAdopted: Aza with her parents. Not only does her [[MamaBear mother]] get angry at the royal guards who imply that their daughter [[spoiler: may have ogre's blood]], but her father writes a note to Aza saying that he knows her too well to believe her [[spoiler: a traitor to the crown]].

* [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Why Did It Have to be Apples]]: Aza throughout the book emphasizes her hatred of apples, and she encounters a rather deadly one among gnome traders, courtesy of [[spoiler: Ivi]]. [[SnowWhite Then]] [[ProperlyParanoid again]] . . .

* CoolOldLady: The Duchess of Olixio. She helps Aza fit into a better-looking outfit for the royal wedding.

* EasilyForgiven: After receiving a letter from Ijori [[spoiler: after Aza has run away and sought refuge with the gnomes]], Aza is able to forgive him. Subverted with the Duke Ovu, who accused Aza of being [[spoiler: an ogre and only apologized when the king confirmed her story about Ivi.]]

* ForeShadowing: While living with the gnomes, Aza is disgusted that a gnome that stole a pickax is allowed to go home with it and suffer no punishment, because the gnomes saw that if he were punished a worse future would happen. [[spoiler: She later helps Ivi achieve a KarmaHoudini so that King Oscaro can recover and rule the kingdom properly.]]

* HollywoodToneDeaf: Ivi is this in-universe, which she tries to hide by coughing and then blackmailing Aza to [[spoiler: use ventriloquism to mime singing.]]

* PartingWordsRegret: Ijori feels this when he believes that Aza is [[spoiler: part ogre and a traitor to the crown]] and dismisses her with disgust. By the time he's cooled down and realized that her story makes more sense than Ivi's and the Duke Ovu's, the guard sent to assassinate her tells him that Aza is dead. [[spoiler: Good thing the guard was lying, which allowed Ijori to rescue Aza from a DisneyDeath . . .]] According to the guard that tells a (not-dead) Aza, Ijori let out a SkywardScream.

* EasilyForgiven: After receiving a letter from Ijori [[spoiler: after Aza has run away and sought refuge with the gnomes]], Aza is able to forgive him. Subverted with the Duke, who accused Aza of being [[spoiler: an ogre and only apologized when the king confirmed her story about Ivi.]]

** Lucinda, for her role in causing the story [[spoiler: by giving Ivi the Magic Mirror and beauty potions.]] Although in EllaEnchanted she gets some LaserGuidedKarma for her "blessings," here the Ayorthians only [[spoiler: stage a quick wedding]] so that she doesn't arrive.

* PartingWordsRegret: Ijori feels this when he believes that Aza is [[spoiler: part ogre and a traitor to the crown]] and dismisses her with disgust. By the time he's cooled down and realized that her story makes more sense than Ivi's and the Duke's, the guard sent to assassinate her tells him that Aza is dead. [[spoiler: Good thing the guard was lying, which allowed Ijori to rescue Aza from a DisneyDeath . . .]]

* DubNameChange: In the Hebrew translation, Aza's name is Kyra, presumably because the name Aza in Hebrew provokes associasions to the Gaza strip.
* EasilyForgiven: After receiving a letter from Ijori [[spoiler: after Aza has run away and sought refuge with the gnomes]], Aza is able to forgive him. Subverted with Duke, who accused Aza of being [[spoiler: an ogre and only apologized when the king confirmed her story about Ivi.]]

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Ivi, for the most part.]]

* MayDecemberRomance: The forty-year-old king Oscaro and 19-year-old Ivi. It's implied that Oscaro truly does love Ivi.
* OurMonstersAreDifferent
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Aza, to keep within the Snow White theme. However, in Ayortha that combination of hair colour and complexion is considered ugly.

* EasilyForgiven: After receiving a letter from Ijori [[spoiler: after Aza has run away and sought refuge with the gnomes]], Aza is able to forgive him.

** AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Ivi is less evil than just self-absorbed and afraid of being alone.

* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Aza, to keep within the Snow White theme.

* MayDecemberRomance: The forty-year-old king Oscaro and 19-year-old Ivi. It's implied to Oscaro truly does love Ivi.

* ThisIsMyNameOnForeign

* UnfortunateImplications: It's revealed that ogres and humans have interbred several times over the course of history. Ogres are represented as an entirely evil species (even though all other species have clear capacity for good an evil...) [[ImpliedRape who can convince most sentient beings to do whatever they like with only a few words]]....