Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - A Fragile Enchantment

A cute sunshine and the grump, forced proximity, chaste romantasy. Nothing explicit. Nice longing and desire. The magic system was not very well developed, but novel. It is perhaps a bit unfortunate that the MC's brand of magic is essentially emotional manipulation. She's a sweet character who isn't using it in a corrupt manner and it still verges on unethical. But that is perhaps too nitpicky.

The political dynamics of the kingdom are thinly veiled remarks on the generation immediately following the English genocide on the Irish.

Parts of it, especially in the first half, made me laugh out loud. I loved the scene with the first coat she made for Kit, and loved the impertinence of their developing relationship.

Lightly addressed living with chronic illness in a way that was not disagreeable.

Content Warnings

nataliealane's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

What I liked:

-The friendships

-The romance is so sweet and full of yearning. Kit and Niamh have a lot of personal work to do and trauma to unpack, but that doesn’t mean that aren’t worthy of love or a relationship right now/as they are healing and still messy.

-Niamh’s character. She is clumsy, diehard romantic/idealist, and unapologetically feminine and loves pretty things. She is also loyal (to a fault perhaps) and stubborn, and I love her magical ability. I’ve only read a couple other books that have fabric/sewing-based magic.

What I didn’t like:

-The last third of the book fell flat for me. It seemed rushed, the characters made some really dumb decisions in a last ditch effort to save the day, and everything kind of seemed to magically resolve/tie together nicely with a bow despite that.

-I wanted more magic! I always want more magic though😂 Maybe that’s why romantasy isn’t really my favorite

-Technically, the romance is cheating/an affair as Kit has a fiancée (albeit a purely political match/“marriage of duty”).

Overall, A Fragile Enchantment is not my favorite book from Saft, but it was so fun to read! I read it as an e-ARC, but I do think I will eventually pick up my own physical copy.

Content Warnings

drtx_bwt's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

Content Warnings

toriwatson's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

kirstenf's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

Content Warnings

mattyroh07's review

Go to review page

lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

dani_reis's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted mysterious 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

4.25

Content Warnings

rachtmh's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I always feel over the top giving a 5 to so many books, but honestly, I feel this one deserved it.

I was genuinely excited to read this book as I love a bit of bridgerton style drama. With magic added in, it was sure to be at least enjoyable. I wasn’t prepared though to fall head over heels in love with the book!!

This story genuinely surprised me. I thought it was going to be all focused purely on the lovey dovey, against all odds, slow burn romance set in a era of royalty and balls etc… and it was! But it also had so much depth and intrigue.

The activism and fight against classism, the LGBTQ+ aspects, political match ups and slow burn romance unfolded in such an interesting way that I couldn’t stop reading.

I loved the characters and the setting and even more so the representation.

Being a standalone also gave me a feeling of satisfaction. A must read for me and potentially a re-read as well.

Content Warnings

More...