the cover still makes me cringe when i see it. it illustrates pretty good in a hieroglyphic way what the book is about, but still it's ugly >.< 
 this book was quite a nice surprise... i read it being sick at home, that might be softened my perception, but nevertheless it was a pleasant surprise. 
 i enjoyed very much reading ella's story, meeting her, accompanying her through her struggles... i felt her heartbreak, i almost cried with her and got frustrated when the world was being unfair to her. she is a great character, witty, funny, intelligent, strong, the perfect heroine for this story. she gets over the hurdles against all odds and everybody's opinion. i liked her friends and of course cinder (although i almost did not forgive him leaving ella behind after the whole mess) and i loved to see how the fairy tale of cinderella flows through the story naturally... even in the end, which was far-fetched but cute anyway :P 
 the only thing i couldn't get over was the fact that ella's father donated all her books when she was in the hospital. why would he do that? WHY?? Who would see books in a home and think "let's donate them, she probably won't need them anymore"??? T____________T i almost cried with ella at that moment... on top of all the things she lost, that was like the last straw :___( 
 (there was a tiny little thing it bugged me and that was jennifer's comment telling that ella's father thinking she was beautiful helped her believe in herself and not taking the critics so personally anymore. i think it's a little bit misplaced and the book could have lived without that bit of advise, but well, it's not as harmful as other things i read before in other books of this kind)