I'm not sure why this didn't work for me ... if I just wasn't in the mood (this was right smack in the middle of my #middlegradeMay, so I'd been reading a lot of "younger" books. It fit!). I'm not even sure if I would have loved this in my younger years. I can't put a finger on what it was I didn't like ...

Very simple, conversational, 1st person/past tense ... main character POV of Ella. It was "fairy tale" but the wording seemed completely contemporary, so that was a little at odds (just my opinion). Overall, it just seemed too silly for me I guess.  Elves, giants, fairies, gnomes, ogres. 

Lots of "extras" which I usually love ... but they also didn't hold my interest here (an intro, deleted scenes and closer looks, a list of the gnomic languages and a glossary.

I had this in three formats, having picked up the physical book at some point, and borrowing the audio and Kindle copy from the library. I went primarily with the audio. Annoying music at the start of most chapters.   When a song was sung by one of the characters ... it was not sung by the narrator, but spoken (I realize it wasn't a 'real' song, but I would have preferred a made up tune. It just breaks me out of the story when it says they are singing, and they are speaking instead). 

Words I note: swathed