Reviews - A River Enchanted

10.8k reviews for:

A River Enchanted

Rebecca Ross

4.12 AVERAGE

jwimm's review against another edition

4.5

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

kelsie17's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mneves's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

bubblyinthemorning's review against another edition

5.0

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

possiblysammy's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional medium-paced

wjreadsbooks's review against another edition

4.0

Having recently read Rebecca Ross's [b:Divine Rivals|60784546|Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1)|Rebecca Ross|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1655928079l/60784546._SY75_.jpg|94100483] and fallen in love with her lush, romantic prose, I decided to pick up A River Enchanted to find out if she has always written so beautifully. A River Enchanted definitely has a more traditional fantasy feel to it; like it's been inspired by a Scottish faerie tale.

"Before the clans, there were the folk," Jack began. "The earth, the air, the water, and the fire. They gave life and balance to Cadence. But soon the spirits grew lonely and weary of hearing their own voices, of seeing their own faces. The northern wind blew a ship off course and it crashed on the rocks of the isle. Amid the flotsam was a fierce and arrogant clan, the Breccans, who had been seeking a new land to claim.

Not long after that, the southern wind blew a ship off course, and it found the isle. They were the Tamerlaine clan, and they too established a home on Cadence. The island was balanced between them, with the Breccans in the west and the Tamerlaines in the east. And the spirits blessed the work of their hands."

Jack Tamerlaine left Cadence ten years ago, having been sent to the mainland to learn music at the university. Since then, he's led a peaceful existence learning music and aspiring to become a professor. The mainlanders are wary of Cadence, of the magic that surrounds the land, of the bloodshed between the warring clans that live in it and of the clans' strangeness. Jack has believed that he has forgotten about his home, until he is summoned back home to assist with a series of disappearances involving the young Tamerlaine girls.

The heiress of the east, Adaira, his laird has summoned him home as she believes that the spirits can be summoned with Jack's music:

"Yes," Adaira whispered. "It was something only she and my father knew. A bard can draw the spirits in their manifested forms, but only with a harp and their mortal voice. Old knowledge passed down on the isle for many years, kept hidden by the laird and bard out of respect for the folk."

However, Jack and Adaira have a strained history as childhood rivals. But with no other leads that they can pursue, Jack and Adaira reluctantly work together to draw the spirits to them.

Meanwhile, Adaira's cousin Torin, is the captain of the clan guard. Torin is torn apart by his inability to find the girls, who had seemingly disappeared into thin air. His wife, Sidra, is his second wife and the clan's healer. Their relationship had been strengthened by her devotedness to his daughter, Maisie. With the series of disappearances, Maisie is also in daughter as she fits the profile of the young girls that have been disappearing.

This book certainly feels like a slightly more mature book than Divine Rivals, simply because the characters feel older and more established, with greater responsibilities. Adaira is the heiress and has to protect her people. Jack has a younger sister that he had not known about until his return. Sidra is a healer who loses her faith and has to regain it. And Torin has been fighting and killing the Breccans for so long that he doesn't know how else he can live with his choices.

A River Enchanted is a magical tale involving secrets and how they can never stay buried, especially when the spirits are watching over you. Rebecca Ross really has a masterful way of storytelling, as Cadence is steeped in atmosphere - the gloomy land where warring clans have been fighting forever; the mischievous and sometimes malicious spirits that toy with the inhabitants of the land and romance can be lovely but can also lead to tragedy.

He briefly wondered if he was falling ill; he shouldn't have swum in the ocean at night, when a chill could set in. But as soon as he remembered the moment when they had broken the surface and Adaira had laughed, Jack knew he would choose to do it again, and again, even if time permitted him to redo the past. That he would follow her into the sea. And perhaps that was truly only because Adaira held his allegiance and respect as his laird, but perhaps it was due to something else. Something that stirred his soul like breath on embers, rousing old fire.