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cr6zym0nkeyiz's review against another edition
1.0
I honestly thought the characters were not that intersting. The writing was a bit cheesy to me. I just didn't feel any life in the book. I skipped a bunch over and over. I have not read a lot of fae books, except the Dark Swan by Richelle Mead and Fever by Karen Marie Moning, and after reading this I think it fails in comparison.
book_whispers's review against another edition
4.0
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Thoughts:
After reading one of Bast's other books, Witch Blood (Elemental Witches, book 2) I had my doubts about trying this one. Witch Blood wasn't for me. Great idea, but smothered in too much sex. After reading some good reviews about the second book, Cruel Enchantment, I couldn't stop my curiosity reading the first one was my only option.
Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised. It's been hard finding good Fayre PNR. Laurel K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series—while I still liked it—is too sexed up to be enjoyable. Jennifer Armintrout's Lightworld/Darkworld series is just all kinds of messed-up—again still enjoyable. This had everything I was looking in a Faye themed paranormal romance that I just couldn't fine anywhere else.
Bast's world takes place where the Faye have been imprisoned for well over 300 years. The Phaendir, a race of humans that mixed blood with the Faye, imprisoned them and intend to keep them that way. The Faye are well treated and are given all of the benefits of the modern world, but they reside within a prison none the less. The humans are divided into factions that want the Faye free, are in support of the Phaendir keeping them imprisoned, or just don't care one way or the other. The Faye are working on a way to free themselves with our with out the support of humans.
The love story in this book takes place between Aishlinn of the Seelie court (basically the “good” faye court) and Gabriel of the Unseelie court. Aishlinn was publicly used and dumped by her last boyfriend because of her high status in the Seelie court. So when Gabriel comes to the Seelie court to join them, she's ready to leave him to the other females of the court. She doesn't need to tangle herself up with a incubus womanizer. Gabriel of course is there specifically targeting her. He doesn't want anything to do with the boring Seelie court. He needs to use his wiles to get Aishlinn to come over to the Unseelie side. Clearly a very standard romantic setup. Bast's excellent writing and attention to detail of her characters really makes a standard love story come to life. I felt invested in both of the lovers, and I felt like I knew both of them. In PNR that's saying something, especially for the male leads. Usually PNR male leads are just a hot body with a name and that's all we get. I loved the fact that I felt like I new Gabriel. So when eventual betrayal takes the happy lovers on a ride, I feel even more invested wanting them to succeed. That's not saying that Aishlinn didn't put up a good resistance too Gabriel. She was a very strong lead, sure she couldn't kick butt until the end of the book, but she knew what was good for her. So it's safe to say that Aishlinn and Gabriel fell in love first, before they fell in bed.
Even though I loved the couple I still felt like something was lacking between them. Some vital ingredient to their chemistry. Bast kept me happy with good lines like these:
“You're so fucking beautiful.”
She gave a short laugh an gazed down into the empty glass. “I'm sure you've said that to all the women you've tried to seduce.”
He tilted her chin up so she was forced to look at him. “I am trying to seduce you, Aishlinn, but I don't mean you're beautiful in the ordinary sense. You are beautiful inside and out, upside and down, straight into your soul.”
The plot for this book just blew me away. The court politics between the Seelie and UnSeelie are deviant. It's even more chilling what occurs within the courts, instead of court against court. This is probably one of the best PNR Faye worlds I have read. Where others seem to be squeezing in as many myths as possible Wicked Enchantment moves at it's own pace and doesn't try to overwhelm the reader with all the different kinds of Faye. Don't get me wrong we get quite a few here, but you can remember which race is which.
Phaendir are another fun part. The reader gets to infiltrate the enemy lines in the head of one messed up Phaendir, Gideon, who wants all Faye wiped away. Which is a really interesting topic considering that a huge majority of Phaendir blood is mixed with Faye. Plus the Phaendir are divided into factions. Currently they are being lead by a man who doesn't think that the Faye need to be eradicated, just contained. The plot thickens when Gideon finds out that pieces to the Fayes escape are falling into the Faye hands. A spell that can only be obtained using a book and a key broken up into three pieces. So far the Faye have the book and one piece of the key.
The cast of characters in this book is fantastic. If your not interested in the Faye escaping and the political intrigue, then this intense cast of characters will keep you crawling back for more. The little tidbits of information we get on the characters in the Wild Hunt, which happens to be led by Gabriel, lingers in my mind. I want more of these side characters! They all interact so well pulling off dramatic hold-your-breath scenes, to laugh out load humor.
Bottom Line:
This turned into a fantastic read. Sure I felt like a key point in the chemistry in the love story was missing, but Bast makes up for it in realistic characters. The political agendas keep you guessing and Phaendir's clutch through the prison walls of the Faye really adds a dangerous edge. So don't worry about this being the same old PNR tale. Bast makes this stand out in the genre and I'll be back for more. More Faye intrigue, more Phaendir agendas, and more of these fantastic characters.
Sexual Content:
Graphic sex scenes.
4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it.
Thoughts:
After reading one of Bast's other books, Witch Blood (Elemental Witches, book 2) I had my doubts about trying this one. Witch Blood wasn't for me. Great idea, but smothered in too much sex. After reading some good reviews about the second book, Cruel Enchantment, I couldn't stop my curiosity reading the first one was my only option.
Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised. It's been hard finding good Fayre PNR. Laurel K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series—while I still liked it—is too sexed up to be enjoyable. Jennifer Armintrout's Lightworld/Darkworld series is just all kinds of messed-up—again still enjoyable. This had everything I was looking in a Faye themed paranormal romance that I just couldn't fine anywhere else.
Bast's world takes place where the Faye have been imprisoned for well over 300 years. The Phaendir, a race of humans that mixed blood with the Faye, imprisoned them and intend to keep them that way. The Faye are well treated and are given all of the benefits of the modern world, but they reside within a prison none the less. The humans are divided into factions that want the Faye free, are in support of the Phaendir keeping them imprisoned, or just don't care one way or the other. The Faye are working on a way to free themselves with our with out the support of humans.
The love story in this book takes place between Aishlinn of the Seelie court (basically the “good” faye court) and Gabriel of the Unseelie court. Aishlinn was publicly used and dumped by her last boyfriend because of her high status in the Seelie court. So when Gabriel comes to the Seelie court to join them, she's ready to leave him to the other females of the court. She doesn't need to tangle herself up with a incubus womanizer. Gabriel of course is there specifically targeting her. He doesn't want anything to do with the boring Seelie court. He needs to use his wiles to get Aishlinn to come over to the Unseelie side. Clearly a very standard romantic setup. Bast's excellent writing and attention to detail of her characters really makes a standard love story come to life. I felt invested in both of the lovers, and I felt like I knew both of them. In PNR that's saying something, especially for the male leads. Usually PNR male leads are just a hot body with a name and that's all we get. I loved the fact that I felt like I new Gabriel. So when eventual betrayal takes the happy lovers on a ride, I feel even more invested wanting them to succeed. That's not saying that Aishlinn didn't put up a good resistance too Gabriel. She was a very strong lead, sure she couldn't kick butt until the end of the book, but she knew what was good for her. So it's safe to say that Aishlinn and Gabriel fell in love first, before they fell in bed.
Even though I loved the couple I still felt like something was lacking between them. Some vital ingredient to their chemistry. Bast kept me happy with good lines like these:
“You're so fucking beautiful.”
She gave a short laugh an gazed down into the empty glass. “I'm sure you've said that to all the women you've tried to seduce.”
He tilted her chin up so she was forced to look at him. “I am trying to seduce you, Aishlinn, but I don't mean you're beautiful in the ordinary sense. You are beautiful inside and out, upside and down, straight into your soul.”
The plot for this book just blew me away. The court politics between the Seelie and UnSeelie are deviant. It's even more chilling what occurs within the courts, instead of court against court. This is probably one of the best PNR Faye worlds I have read. Where others seem to be squeezing in as many myths as possible Wicked Enchantment moves at it's own pace and doesn't try to overwhelm the reader with all the different kinds of Faye. Don't get me wrong we get quite a few here, but you can remember which race is which.
Phaendir are another fun part. The reader gets to infiltrate the enemy lines in the head of one messed up Phaendir, Gideon, who wants all Faye wiped away. Which is a really interesting topic considering that a huge majority of Phaendir blood is mixed with Faye. Plus the Phaendir are divided into factions. Currently they are being lead by a man who doesn't think that the Faye need to be eradicated, just contained. The plot thickens when Gideon finds out that pieces to the Fayes escape are falling into the Faye hands. A spell that can only be obtained using a book and a key broken up into three pieces. So far the Faye have the book and one piece of the key.
The cast of characters in this book is fantastic. If your not interested in the Faye escaping and the political intrigue, then this intense cast of characters will keep you crawling back for more. The little tidbits of information we get on the characters in the Wild Hunt, which happens to be led by Gabriel, lingers in my mind. I want more of these side characters! They all interact so well pulling off dramatic hold-your-breath scenes, to laugh out load humor.
Bottom Line:
This turned into a fantastic read. Sure I felt like a key point in the chemistry in the love story was missing, but Bast makes up for it in realistic characters. The political agendas keep you guessing and Phaendir's clutch through the prison walls of the Faye really adds a dangerous edge. So don't worry about this being the same old PNR tale. Bast makes this stand out in the genre and I'll be back for more. More Faye intrigue, more Phaendir agendas, and more of these fantastic characters.
Sexual Content:
Graphic sex scenes.
4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it.
sedgehen's review against another edition
4.0
I may be naturally biased to stories involving the fae, but even so I found Piefferburg to be an especially vivid and original setting, and I look forward to reading what becomes of its inhabitants in future books. The story melds politics, mythology, religion, and fantasy in a contemporary setting.
queenalice97's review against another edition
3.0
This one was much better than the last Bast book I read, which was about witches. Still the intense heat between the main couple, but more plot, character development and action outside of the bedroom, plus a nice HEA.
dreamer4ever's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this very much and will most definitely continue the series. If you like The Fae, you should like this, it also has mages and goblins, it's pretty cool. Has great secondary characters as well as the main ones. I love these kinda stories, they are great to get lost in.
reginaexmachina's review against another edition
4.0
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. While I like the idea of PNR, I've had very little luck in finding series I like in the genre. However lately it seems like I've had a streak of good luck. While I wouldn't say I'm totally crazy about it and there were a lot of silly PNR cliche's going on, I actually enjoyed reading Wicked Enchantment. It was fun to read and actually left me wanting to read more. :)
cranberrytarts's review against another edition
4.0
The beginning of this novel is somewhat confusing. There's quite a bit of info dumped on the reader and it was hard to follow along for the first 3 or 4 chapters. After that it really settled into the story, however, and things kind of fell into place.
pacey1927's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the first book in Anya Bast's new Dark Magic series. The story is set in a world where are dark(Unseelie)and a light (rose- Seelie) towers are ran by their respective king and queen, near in proximity to each other but worlds away in politics and beliefs. The Rose tower is the light fae, ran by a Queen whose entire kingdom focuses only on social aspects. Few of these fae are magically inclined and if they are it is frowned upon. The dark tower is run by a King who encourages magical skills from birth. The Rose Tower and the Dark Tower's inhabitants don't communicate or run in the same circles. Each tower kind of keeps to itself. Both the light and dark fae are kept apart from the rest of the world by magical boundaries, put in place by there by a group of druids called the Phaendir. They are distantly related to the fae themselves but 'beat' that part out of themselves. This first installment revolves around a Seelie woman named Aislinn who is given a task by her Queen. She is to host Gabriel, a man from the dark tower who is hoping to change to the Seelie rule. Gabriel, of course, has an agenda of his own. He is an incubus and is supposed to woo Aislinn over to the dark tower, per the command of his King. Gabriel doesn't know why exactly the King wants her but doesn't believe he means any harm. Aislinn actually has magical powers, she can see and speak with the dead. This is her greatest secret because in her society, it is a terrible thing. Gabriel too has magic pertaining to the dead. He is the Lord of the Wild Hunt which collects the souls of the day's deceased each night. I was impressed by "Wicked Enchantment" because of its strong and intriguing world. The fae politics are amazing and Bast's story is well thought out and delivered upon. If you cut out the romance, this story would be classified as urban fantasy. Which brings me to the negative, and why the book is a four star in my opinion. I like romance, but I found this book had way too many sex scenes. After the first one, each scene read the same way. I found myself skimming pages of the romantic stuff, and I never do that. The actual romance was well done, I could totally believe in Gabriel and Aislinn's love for each other. If the book had 1/2 of the sex scenes in this book, I think it would have been even stronger. Overall the story was amazing and I fully intend to revisit it when the next installment comes out in September.
kate2440's review against another edition
4.0
i really enjoyed this book although when i fisrt started it i didnt think i was going to enjoy it as much as what i have done as it took a little while to get into and plus some of the names where hard to pronounce. i liked the characters especially Gabriel.
fallenprincess's review against another edition
2.0
A soulless paranormal romance that felt very bland to me. I only made it a third of the way through before throwing in the towel. I hate instant attraction/objectification prior to even getting to know the characters