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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
I am so very happy that this is only book one. What a marvelously crafted tale! The Woodcutter sisters are an amazing bunch that I have fallen in love with.
Review first posted on Rather Be Reading Blog:
Even though I mostly read contemporary fiction, I like to think of myself as an open-minded reader. (Hey, I’m finally reading Divergent!) As a huge fan of fairy tales, I thought picking up Enchanted would be a nice way to transition into reading more of the fantasy genre. Based on The Princess and the Frog, one of my favorite stories (I used to love Faerie Tale Theatre’s The Frog Prince too), I couldn’t wait to see how this retelling translated on the page.
Main character Sunday is a writer and a dreamer who meets a frog named Grumble one day in the forest. As they spend more time together (him eager to hear stories of her family), feelings develop, she kisses him and soon he disappears. And here is where the conflict arises. Sunday is heartbroken over her missing frog friend and Grumble is actually Prince Rumbold, an enemy of Sunday’s family. Even though he is aware of this “minor” detail, Rumbold is set on finding Sunday and spending the rest of his life with her.
Love story? Semi, instant love but check! Family drama? Double check!
So here we have a sort of Cinderella story with other well-known tales woven through like Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, Jack and the Beanstalk, and many others. While it was nice to encounter familiar tales, I’m not sure including all of them was the best choice in a book that already contained a lot of story. The history/secrets of Sunday’s family were one plotline, as well as Rumbold’s own back story which included much drama (and horror) regarding his father, the King. Plus, there were many supporting characters, which at times caused me to flip back through the pages so I could be reminded of who they were and how they connected to the story.
Kontis is a beautiful writer. She has created a majestic world with gorgeous imagery but too much time was spent on developing that background and not enough on the characters. (This also slowed down the pacing of the book and made me feel frustrated as a reader. I wanted to get to the meat of the story.) While I liked Sunday, she wasn’t multi-dimensional. There were only a few times when I felt what she was feeling. (Surprisingly, her affections for Grumble when he was a frog, this unattainable thing, felt very realistic.) Mostly, I would have loved to read more dialogue. When there was dialogue, it was delightful, funny, and quirky, and gave me true insight into these characters. The scenes I truly enjoyed were between Rumbold and his men (the banter was great) and also Sunday and her “brother” Trix. In addition, not enough attention was paid to key moments in the story and the impact was lost, like when Sunday’s aunt rolls into town with revelations about their family and we are told about it in passing afterwards. I wanted to be IN that moment and maybe then I would have felt more linked to these characters and their stories.
I wonder if Enchanted would have worked better as a multi-book series so more time could have been focused on each of Sunday’s siblings (such fascinating stories!) and this later storyline that pops up with Rumbold’s father. Again, I don’t want to reveal too much but I felt this storyline could have been planted from the beginning instead of just appearing toward the end. I feared, even after the book started at a turtle’s pace and maintained it pretty much throughout, that the ending would come too quickly. And it did.
Mostly I feel Kontis’ strengths as a writer were not utilized in the right way and if they had been, I might be writing an entirely different review.
Despite this, Enchanted did a number of things that I liked. In ways it felt like an organic fairy tale – comparable to Ever After where most characters get to really be themselves instead of a figment of what royalty or a princess-to-be should be. Instead of Grumble morphing right back into a strapping young prince, he is weak once he transforms and struggles to get back to where he used to be (although with a nicer heart). Even though it is based on a story (or stories) that most people know, these were details that made Enchanted unique.
Even though I mostly read contemporary fiction, I like to think of myself as an open-minded reader. (Hey, I’m finally reading Divergent!) As a huge fan of fairy tales, I thought picking up Enchanted would be a nice way to transition into reading more of the fantasy genre. Based on The Princess and the Frog, one of my favorite stories (I used to love Faerie Tale Theatre’s The Frog Prince too), I couldn’t wait to see how this retelling translated on the page.
Main character Sunday is a writer and a dreamer who meets a frog named Grumble one day in the forest. As they spend more time together (him eager to hear stories of her family), feelings develop, she kisses him and soon he disappears. And here is where the conflict arises. Sunday is heartbroken over her missing frog friend and Grumble is actually Prince Rumbold, an enemy of Sunday’s family. Even though he is aware of this “minor” detail, Rumbold is set on finding Sunday and spending the rest of his life with her.
Love story? Semi, instant love but check! Family drama? Double check!
So here we have a sort of Cinderella story with other well-known tales woven through like Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, Jack and the Beanstalk, and many others. While it was nice to encounter familiar tales, I’m not sure including all of them was the best choice in a book that already contained a lot of story. The history/secrets of Sunday’s family were one plotline, as well as Rumbold’s own back story which included much drama (and horror) regarding his father, the King. Plus, there were many supporting characters, which at times caused me to flip back through the pages so I could be reminded of who they were and how they connected to the story.
Kontis is a beautiful writer. She has created a majestic world with gorgeous imagery but too much time was spent on developing that background and not enough on the characters. (This also slowed down the pacing of the book and made me feel frustrated as a reader. I wanted to get to the meat of the story.) While I liked Sunday, she wasn’t multi-dimensional. There were only a few times when I felt what she was feeling. (Surprisingly, her affections for Grumble when he was a frog, this unattainable thing, felt very realistic.) Mostly, I would have loved to read more dialogue. When there was dialogue, it was delightful, funny, and quirky, and gave me true insight into these characters. The scenes I truly enjoyed were between Rumbold and his men (the banter was great) and also Sunday and her “brother” Trix. In addition, not enough attention was paid to key moments in the story and the impact was lost, like when Sunday’s aunt rolls into town with revelations about their family and we are told about it in passing afterwards. I wanted to be IN that moment and maybe then I would have felt more linked to these characters and their stories.
I wonder if Enchanted would have worked better as a multi-book series so more time could have been focused on each of Sunday’s siblings (such fascinating stories!) and this later storyline that pops up with Rumbold’s father. Again, I don’t want to reveal too much but I felt this storyline could have been planted from the beginning instead of just appearing toward the end. I feared, even after the book started at a turtle’s pace and maintained it pretty much throughout, that the ending would come too quickly. And it did.
Mostly I feel Kontis’ strengths as a writer were not utilized in the right way and if they had been, I might be writing an entirely different review.
Despite this, Enchanted did a number of things that I liked. In ways it felt like an organic fairy tale – comparable to Ever After where most characters get to really be themselves instead of a figment of what royalty or a princess-to-be should be. Instead of Grumble morphing right back into a strapping young prince, he is weak once he transforms and struggles to get back to where he used to be (although with a nicer heart). Even though it is based on a story (or stories) that most people know, these were details that made Enchanted unique.
Cute but she added in too many fairy tales by the end!
Take just about every fairy tale and mash it up into a clever, fun love story new fairy tale, and you have "Enchanted". A girl who writes what has already happened in a journal (because if she writes anything else, it'll come true) and befriends a talking frog. This was an exciting and refreshingly new take on some old tales with plenty of great characters and magic.
This was an interesting idea, but the execution was what dragged down my rating. It was too sudden, and I couldn't tell whether Sunday truly felt anything at all in this novel. Her parts were so dry and factual, and I couldn't really get attached to any of the characters.
This is a pretty flawed book, and yet I enjoyed it a lot. It reads like huge chunks of backstory are missing, and the magic doesn't make much sense, and it has too many plot lines going on, and the writing is pretty clunky in places- but it was a fun read. Kinda childish, kinda adult, all magical.
A perfect summer read, and just what I was looking for! It took a couple chapters to grab me, but once it did it was completely charming, magical, and entertaining. I really enjoyed the Woodcutter family's dynamic and the emphasis on words and storytelling. I loved Sunday's brother Trix and sister Thursday (she easily deserves her own book!), and how every member of the family had distinct personalities. I love that this was a pure fantasy fairy tale- it didn't always make sense, and parts of it seemed rushed, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book because it was still well written. It is one of those that you have to let go of logic a little bit and just enjoy the whimsy of the characters and the story. My favorite part was how the author weaved numerous different fairy tales into the plot; it was fun to pick them all out and see how well it fit together! I loved the dresses, and the fairy godmothers and the unexpected dark secrets mixed into the plot. If you like historical settings, fantasy and fairy tales, you'll like Enchanted. Plus, frog princes and ball are always fun!
3.5
As this book began, I thought I would adore it. I really liked the tone, which was whimsical while still paying proper deference to the many fairy tale tropes woven throughout the story. This is definitely the most mashed-up fairy tale mash-up I've ever read, and while I thought that would make it delightful, it's actually what contributed to my losing some patience with it by the time I hit the halfway point. There are many fairy tale references, but as a fan of more traditional retellings, I felt a little frustrated when the threads were never fully followed through, and by the end it started to feel like a jumbled dream rather than a cohesive story -- something along the lines of Alice in Wonderland, except more like Alice in FairyTale Land. The frequent head-hopping also did not help matters at all. Because of all this, there were plot threads from the main storyline that I totally lost in the shuffle, especially those relating to Sunday's "lost/dead" brother Jack and Rumbold's years of "madness."
Still, when this book was good, it was REALLY good, totally sweeping me away into a land that was, well, enchanted. So despite some of my frustrations, I still hope to read the others in the series -- maybe I can even dare to hope for a more tightly reined-in focus!
As this book began, I thought I would adore it. I really liked the tone, which was whimsical while still paying proper deference to the many fairy tale tropes woven throughout the story. This is definitely the most mashed-up fairy tale mash-up I've ever read, and while I thought that would make it delightful, it's actually what contributed to my losing some patience with it by the time I hit the halfway point. There are many fairy tale references, but as a fan of more traditional retellings, I felt a little frustrated when the threads were never fully followed through, and by the end it started to feel like a jumbled dream rather than a cohesive story -- something along the lines of Alice in Wonderland, except more like Alice in FairyTale Land. The frequent head-hopping also did not help matters at all. Because of all this, there were plot threads from the main storyline that I totally lost in the shuffle, especially those relating to Sunday's "lost/dead" brother Jack and Rumbold's years of "madness."
Still, when this book was good, it was REALLY good, totally sweeping me away into a land that was, well, enchanted. So despite some of my frustrations, I still hope to read the others in the series -- maybe I can even dare to hope for a more tightly reined-in focus!
I was so excited to pick this book up! I have loved fairy tales ever since I was little and I vividly remember my mom reading to me from her book of Grimm's fairy tales. While most recent YA fairy tale retellings and twists have focused on stories with a princess, this one promised to deliver a lot more, incorporating references to pretty much every fairy tale you know.
The primary story draws from "The Frog Prince" when a lovely young girl meets a frog and her kiss transforms him back to his human shape. But there is so much more to the story as the girl Sunday shares her crazy family history and the frog prince Rumbold struggles to recover his memories and woo Sunday despite her family's grudge against his family.
Sunday is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter and a seventh son, destining her for a life filled with magic. She meets and befriends the frog, called Grumble, early in the book and soon decides she is in love with him; this makes his sudden disappearance very hard for her. The hardship is compounded when she meets Prince Rumbold and finds herself developing feelings for him despite her lingering love for Grumble. Meanwhile Rumbold is trying to win her hand on his own while also struggling to remember his life pre-transformation and the basic human functions. But pretty much everyone else has their own little story too that corresponds to one or more fairy tale so it is not just the love story of Sunday and Rumbold.
I did find the story a little overstuffed. Every character has a pretty detailed backstory and it sometimes took away from Sunday and Rumbold's story. I also found the tone a little too lighthearted at times. I guess I found the whimsy overwhelming. Perhaps I should have tried to read the book slower so that I could savor all of the connections. On the other hand, I am sure I will discover even more to love in this book when I read it again as I will be able to focus more on picking up the various references. I'm a big reader of fairy tales and I am sure I only picked up on a small proportion of the allusions.
Overall: Full of magic, this is an enchanting book perfect for lovers of fairy tales and romance.
Cover: The model makes me think more of "Sleeping Beauty" but I love the top part, especially the swirly "E."
The primary story draws from "The Frog Prince" when a lovely young girl meets a frog and her kiss transforms him back to his human shape. But there is so much more to the story as the girl Sunday shares her crazy family history and the frog prince Rumbold struggles to recover his memories and woo Sunday despite her family's grudge against his family.
Sunday is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter and a seventh son, destining her for a life filled with magic. She meets and befriends the frog, called Grumble, early in the book and soon decides she is in love with him; this makes his sudden disappearance very hard for her. The hardship is compounded when she meets Prince Rumbold and finds herself developing feelings for him despite her lingering love for Grumble. Meanwhile Rumbold is trying to win her hand on his own while also struggling to remember his life pre-transformation and the basic human functions. But pretty much everyone else has their own little story too that corresponds to one or more fairy tale so it is not just the love story of Sunday and Rumbold.
I did find the story a little overstuffed. Every character has a pretty detailed backstory and it sometimes took away from Sunday and Rumbold's story. I also found the tone a little too lighthearted at times. I guess I found the whimsy overwhelming. Perhaps I should have tried to read the book slower so that I could savor all of the connections. On the other hand, I am sure I will discover even more to love in this book when I read it again as I will be able to focus more on picking up the various references. I'm a big reader of fairy tales and I am sure I only picked up on a small proportion of the allusions.
Overall: Full of magic, this is an enchanting book perfect for lovers of fairy tales and romance.
Cover: The model makes me think more of "Sleeping Beauty" but I love the top part, especially the swirly "E."
I don't think I am smart enough to read this book. I kept wondering what was going on. I am not usually confused by books, but this one kept mystifying me. I couldn't follow what was happening. The characters were interesting, but I felt that the relationship between Sunday and the frog could have developed a little more slowly. I have to admit that I did not finish this book because I just can't understand what is going on.