Book Blurb
Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.
But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more—until an anonymous columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible.
Transporting readers to a Regency England-inspired fantasy world, A Fragile Enchantment is a sweeping romance threaded with intrigue, unforgettable characters, and a love story for the ages.
Review
A Fragile Enchantment was a really cute book. It was a really good Cinderella-esque story with a very warm-hearted ending. However, if you take a step back and examine the time frame of the book, some eyebrow raising is needed. The entire book takes place in the span of, at most, a month. You go from two characters that absolutely despise each other when they first meet to being together in every sense of the word at the end. If they spent a week hating each other, then that’s only 3 weeks (21 days) of being friends to eventually loving each other. Plus, you need to take into consideration the few days or even a week that Kit goes back to hating Niamh (because is it really a YA romance novel if there isn’t miscommunication?). To me, it feels unrealistic. You know that post that is going around asking which characters definitely break up after the book, yeah these characters. This really boasts to the “fragile” in A Fragile Enchantment.
There was chemistry between the characters. Niamh conveniently was the only character who could break the ice on Kit’s heart. It was really cute seeing each character defend the other. Kit felt pretty dynamic in comparison to Niamh. He went through, I think, the most character development in the entire book. Niamh really didn’t change. She remained that selfless person who really didn’t act for herself. Even at the end, she had to rely on others to a point in order to get what she wanted. She was a very static character. All in all, I felt like all the characters didn’t really undergo character development. For some it was: Oh no! I got into trouble so I’ll quickly explain my side and all will be well. For others it was: I’m going to finally voice my opinion because I’m in a tough spot and get my way, but my overall personality and demeanor isn’t going to change.
Furthermore, the magic system and such did not feel too immersive. I liked the powers each character had and the little lore that was given. But, I wish we were given more. It was there and it served a purpose. However, I couldn’t explain it on paper if I tried.
I really liked that Allison Saft included more than one religion in the book. You could tell which characters were monotheistic and which were polytheistic. In a lot of fantasy books nowadays, there is only one overarching religion which is very unrealistic. Having more than one religion in the book makes the book feel like the setting was realistic and could definitely be something that could exist today. I think that it helped that the settings were based on real countries: England, Ireland, and Spain.
Overall, I would rate this book 3 stars out of 5. I would recommend this book to romantasy readers ages 14/15 and up because of mild language and fade-to-black sexual indication.