I heard this was being made into a movie and decided to pick it up to read first. Ella is a very obedient girl. She was cursed at birth to follow every direct command given to her! She can't disobey anything they tell her to do ('they' including a mean girl and her needy sister, their clueless mother, her loving 'cook' aka her fairy godmother, and her overbearing father). It's a very enchanting novel. (Ella speaks magical creature languages and meets a prince b/c of it!)