Reviews - A River Enchanted

10.7k reviews for:

A River Enchanted

Rebecca Ross

4.12 AVERAGE

han_tay21's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

itseyeuh's review against another edition

3.5

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

drcornflakes's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

ksather's review against another edition

4.25

emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective slow-paced

astromechas's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Take me back to the Isle of Cadence...

A River Enchanted immediately establishes its atmosphere with beautiful writing and descriptive language that paints a perfectly clear image in your mind. Then, once the characters are introduced, they take a violent hold of you and they never let you go. Jack and Adaira have my heart, but this duology has some of the best side characters I've read in a really long time. I've always had a soft spot for depictions of step-parents and step-children, and Sidra's love of Maisie gutted me.

The evolution of Jack and Adaira's relationship felt very natural, with the reader being fed very clear signs that even during the days of their youthful antagonism of each other, there was an obvious fondness for one another. Ex:

"She had hated him as a lass. But she was coming to learn that it was hard to hate what made her feel the most alive."

Jack and Adaira thus part ways in their youth after Jack is sent away from the Isle for ten years, but even that helps their relationship evolve.

It allowed them to indulge other relationships, relationships that proved to be ill-fated as their partners never truly loved them, only desiring them because of their talents or because they believed something could be gained from it.

It's almost ironic because this allowed them to realize in their older years that for all the animosity they shared in their childhood, there was an undeniable sense of affinity there. Its what makes their dynamic as "Old Menace to Lovers" all the more grounding.

TLDR: I dearly loved this book and the characters it introduced. Jack, Adaira, Sidra, and Torin, they are all very dear to me now.

mishmashedme's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

I really enjoyed getting back to fantasy reads with this one. It didn’t have a lot of world building which was nice since it built slowly as the story unfolded.
The characters were interesting and the different magical abilities they held were fascinating. The way the people and the spirits lived together was a big element which made the story unpredictable in a good way.
I think the mystery of the missing girls helped speed up the story and brought the emotional level high. That always makes for tense moments and big confessions.
This reminded me of Riverkeep bc of the darkness and foreboding and also of Fable bc of the feeling of being set in the past and on an island. Even a bit of Outlander die to the similarities with plaids, language and practices.
All good things to be compared to for sure.
The romance was swift and deep built on a relationship from childhood. I love how there wasn’t miscommunication but full honesty.
I couldn’t predict the revelations at the end and so I liked having that surprise.