Fairest

A meta-sequel to Levine's Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, Fairest is a warped Snow White, set in the singing country of Ayortha with the sister of Ella's best friend Areida as the main character. 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 Ivi discovers the shy, withdrawn Aza while she illuses in private, and forces her to sing for her because she despises Sings and singing so much.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.

Tropes used in Fairest include:

BBW:^[context?] Aza is heavily implied to be one, being abnormally wide as well as abnormally tall. Ijori likes that aspect of her as well, avoiding a preachy Beautiful All Along message and instead opting for Just the Way You Are
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: When Aza meets Queen Ivi for the second time.
Blondes Are Evil: Ivi, to a tee.
- Alternate Character Interpretation: Ivi is less evil than just self-absorbed and afraid of being alone.
Crazy Cat Lady: The Duchess of Olixio. Though she's a lot saner than others, especially Ivi.
Disney Death: Aza has one in the strangest way possible. You could also call her predicament a Big Sleep, because it's unclear whether she died after she was poisoned, even though her trip into a magic mirror and becoming an apparition (except while singing) certainly implied this.
Dub Name Change: In the Hebrew translation, Aza's name is Kyra, presumably because the name Aza in Hebrew provokes associasions to the Gaza strip.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Aza, to keep within the Snow White theme.
Et Tu, Brute?: The fact that the prince, who is Aza's friend and love interest, allows her to be taken to prison once her secret is revealed. She forgives him when he writes a letter of apology, but he spends the second half of the book kicking himself in regret while the gnomes offer her Sacred Hospitality.
Faux Death
First-Person Smartass: Aza in a few instances when she's referring to people she dislikes.
Food Porn: Done twice, although the second time it's done disgustingly.
Fridge Logic: In Ella Enchanted, Prince Charmont is visiting the court in Ayortha during Ella's stint at Finshing School. And Areida is there at Finishing School at the same time. And during this time Aza is there at court too. But we never hear mention of the Prince at all during the course of the book.
Genki Girl: Ivi, especially when it comes to fashion.
God Save Us From the Queen: Ivi again. To the point of needing protection from her own subjects, which has apparently never happened before in Ayortha. She dissolves the council, imprisons people for minor crimes, refuses to help countries in need, and apparently studies the art of effective blackmail. Later on in the book, she tries to murder Aza. It very nearly works.
Heel Face Revolving Door: Ijori. Make up your mind whose side you're on, dagnabit.
Humans Are the Real Monsters: The beautiful, ethereal-voiced Ayorthaians are snobbish to the point of being xenophobic, and god help anyone who isn't attractive or can't sing.
I Just Want to Be Loved: Ivi's motivation for most of the book. When King Oscaro falls ill, she tries to seduce Ijori just so that she can have someone else to love her.
Instant Plastic Surgery: Aza gets it in her head to try and find these in the Ayorthian libraries. She hates how she's tall with pale skin, red lips and black hair; it makes her look ghastly. The first attempt, a singing spell, doesn't go well; it nearly turns her to stone. While her body revives, her big toe remains stone as a reminder of the near-miss. She figures out that the new Queen Ivi hides these in the flute she never plays, finding a potion for beauty, and drinks a few drops. It makes her beautiful by Ayorthian standards, but the price is that when she and Ivi die, a spider named Skulni will trap them in a mirror while he travels the world for as long as he likes. He also reveals that he manipulated Ivi into attempting to murder Aza, as well as either get her killed in a civil war or die by suicide so that he can go out and explore the world. Turns out he's destroyed entire countries to have his bit of fun! Even though Aza is mad at Ivi for framing her for treason and blackmailing her, she sings that no one deserves that fate and destroys the mirror while trapped inside of it. The potion reverts them to their normal looks, and Aza admits that beauty is not everything.
Is This What Anger Feels Like?: Aza, when the tailor ruins all her new clothing in an attempt to rebel against Ivi, who has appointed Aza her lady-in-waiting and therefore her right-hand woman. Ijori helps out with this quite a bit.
Karma Houdini: Discussed in this story.
- The gnomes let a thief go with a pickaxe. When Aza angrily asks why, the gnomes explained they saw a vision of the future and that any punishment would lead to worse consequences.
- Ivi, for the most part. After the fracas of the whole story, Aza tells Oscaro about Skulni and the murder attempt while pointing out that Ivi is not evil, just stupid and weak-willed. Oscaro confirms her story is true; Ivi told him about what she had done while he was comatose. Oscaro thinks about this, because either he has to charge his wife with treason, or risk letting her rule again. He goes with a third option: exile Ivi to a distant castle, abdicate so he can be with her and ensure that she never has political power again, and crown Ijori as the new king. The Ayorthians grudgingly accept this, though none of them trust Ivi again. Aza agrees; when Ivi apologizes for murdering her and says they can do makeovers, Aza silently refuses. Ivi is basically left alone at the end of the book, and atones by doing charity work in her hometown of Bast.
- Lucinda, once again. She caused the whole mess by giving Ivi the magic mirror with Skulni in the first place, blindly trusting that Skulni would be reasonable about the deal.
Kick the Dog: Ivi when she somehow manages to take the songbirds away from Ayortha.
Les Yay: Aza had to carry Ivi when they were running from the choirmaster. Plus, the way Ivi acts sometimes...

Ivi: Do you care about me deeply?

Magic Music: Sort of. Aza can skillfully throw her voice without moving her lips, sound like an object or a person whenever she wants to, but no one else can except for the gnomes.
May–December Romance: The forty-year-old king Oscaro and 19-year-old Ivi. It's implied to Oscaro truly does love Ivi.
Our Monsters Are Different
Pinocchio Nose: See if you can tell what Ivi does before she lies. Aza even mentions it.
Rewrite: See Fridge Logic above.
This Is My Name on Foreign
Uncoffee: Ostumo, a common hot morning drink made with molasses.
Wicked Stepmother: Quite ironically, the story ends with Ivi, the stand-in for the Evil Queen, becoming Aza's aunt by marriage when Ijori and Aza have a surprise wedding. Yet she's only a few years older than Aza and more immature. Before that, she blackmailed Aza into singing for her, and accused her of treason when they were busted. Fortunately, she and Aza barely interact after Oscaro abdicates and retires with an exiled Ivi to a distant castle.
You Can't Go Home Again: Once again, Aza, through no fault of her own. It's not forever, though.