A Fragile Enchantment (Review)

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.

The Wren in the Holly Library

 

Blurb:

Can you love the dark when you know what it hides?

Some things aren’t supposed to exist outside of our imagination.

Thirteen years ago, monsters emerged from the shadows and plunged Kierse’s world into a cataclysmic war of near-total destruction. The New York City she knew so well collapsed practically overnight.

In the wake of that carnage, the Monster Treaty was created. A truce...of sorts.

But tonight, Kierse―a gifted and fearless thief―will break that treaty. She’ll enter the Holly Library...not knowing it’s the home of a monster.

He’s charming. Quietly alluring. Terrifying. But he knows talent when he sees it; it’s just a matter of finding her price.

Now she’s locked into a dangerous bargain with a creature unlike any other. She’ll sacrifice her freedom. She’ll offer her skills. Together, they’ll put their own futures at risk.

But he’s been playing a game across centuries―and once she joins in, there will be no escape...

Review:

What drew me to this book was its uniqueness. Not often are fantasy books set during the modern age. I liked the premise of monsters always existing in the shadows and then choosing to emerge into society with ramifications. I feel like K. A. Linde did a good job with issuing a semi-realistic description of the event if it did in fact take place. 

The book definitely felt like an easy read. It was fast paced and there was no need to fill in details on your own. K. A. Linde described sights and events clearly. At some points it did feel like more telling than showing, however, it didn’t draw much attention. 

I really liked the inspiration of Irish mythos. As a lover of the mythology behind the Tuatha dé Danann, I was tickled pink with all of the allusions and direct conversations in the book.

This leads into one of my biggest complaints about the book. There was way too much going on. When drawing on inspiration for a fantasy book from other fairy tales, legends, or mythologies, you need to stick with one or two. K. A. Linde didn’t just include the Irish mythos and its key figures, she included warlocks, werewolves, witches, merfolk, nymphs, vampires, wraiths, and the list goes on. It was too much and too messy. Alongside this there is the feeling of more than one storyline happening in the book. While having subplots is to be expected in a book, especially an adult book, these didn’t feel like subplots. It was like there were two stories being told at the same time in a not so cohesive way.

Thus enter Ethan and Gen-- two side characters and the best friends to the protagonist, Kierse. Obviously they’re painted as important to Kierse at the beginning of the book, however, they don’t hold any weight for the rest of the book until the very end where they play a massive role. When they do enter at the end of the book, and have this great ta-da, it is awkward, jolting, and confusing. If they were so important, why was that importance not carried throughout the whole book? I don’t mean importance to the protagonist, but importance to the plot. I understand that there is most likely going to be a series built out of this book, but I felt left feeling empty with the ending. It wasn’t sufficient in the way things played out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a cliffhanger, but this wasn’t that. It was a “oh, I want these characters in the next book so I’m going to shuffle them in at the end with this major revelation that makes absolutely no sense with what else has been going on except for one hint a few chapters before.” If K. A. Linde wanted Ethan and Gen to be as important to the ending as Kierse, then they needed to be more present and active in the rest of the story.

I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars because of the plot holes, inconsistencies, overwhelming pace, and character developments. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. I recommend this book to readers 18+ because of sexual themes and disturbing imagery. In the words of today’s youth: it was mid.

House of Hollow (Book Review)

 

Book Review and Discussion

Blurb:

Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats. 

Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind. 

As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children. 

The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous – and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years.

Review:

This book left me absolutely messed up. There were times where I had to reread sections because it was absolutely mind boggling. 

This story is incredibly original. It takes traditional fairy tale tropes (I’m talking the dark Grimms tropes) and twists them to fit the modern setting. It includes diverse characters (not so much race, moreso gender and sexuality) that paint a vivid and authentic modern day. I feel like Sutherland did a great job including enough allusions that the story felt like it could happen today. Now, obviously it is a fantasy horror book (now more commonly known as paranormal horror) so we know that it can’t happen. However, there are times where you are sitting at the edge of the chair or couch in anticipation of what is going to happen next because it feels so real.

I felt like Sutherland was trying to paint a picture of feeling out of place in your own skin, finding your ownself, and breaking away from family which are all things that teens feel. The entire book felt like a metaphor to all the struggles that teenagers undergo. Therefore, I do think that this book is appropriate for teens, but it does have some harsh language, discussion of sexuality, and dark imagery. Therefore, I think it is for teens 16-17 and up.

As you can see, I rated this book 3.5 stars. That is because of some characters and the ending. There was a specific character, Tyler, that at the end of the story I could not figure out what his role in the book is. There were some times where his character helped reveal some new information, however, the ratio of needed presence to unneeded presence was tipped too far into the latter. I did love his character. I liked his background, history, and vibe. However, he felt unnecessary to the plot: a total npc. However, Tyler only knocked the book down half a star. 

Second. The ending felt incredibly empty and too cleanly wrapped up. I was incredibly dissatisfied. You mean to tell me that after every major revelation at the end of the book, there are absolutely no consequences? None whatsoever? Nah! I think Sutherland wanted the book to have a happy ending, however, a happy ending did not make sense for this book. In what ways are the characters-- except for the mother-- deserving of a happy ending? Why do these characters just get to have a normal life after everything that happened? There really was no trying to right wrongs. I just… I just couldn’t understand the ending. I wanted to knock the book down to a 2.5 or 3 stars because of the ending, however, the rest of the book was very memorable and good that I couldn’t do that.

Discussion: If you haven’t read the book, stop reading here. Spoilers ahead!

I really, honestly, cannot get behind the ending. Iris should not have just waltz back to the living world to Cate to continue on. Cate shouldn’t have forgiven her or Vivi. I know if I was in Cate’s shoes, I wouldn’t have. Then, Iris has the audacity to then become someone different. Why would you put Cate through that? The whole reason why Cate forgave Iris was because Iris acted like the original one. Now, Iris is going to take that away from here? No way. I think that Iris and Vivi should’ve tried to atone. I know it was Grey who did most of it, but the other two went along with the whole skin-napping. AND, nothing happened to Grey except that the sisters don’t talk to her anymore. I feel like something more should’ve happened. The girls didn’t deserve a happy ending for killing three kids, stealing their skin, and assuming their lives. Like, no way.

I also feel like the father wouldn’t have given up on his quest for vengeance just because Iris went “Papa.” If that’s all it took, why did she do that when he was still alive? It was terribly inconsistent.