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216 reviews for:

Fantastical

Kristen Ashley

4.03 AVERAGE

adventurous emotional lighthearted 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: Complicated

I didn't realise this was the third in a series when I started reading this, so I know this rating might be harsh. But it was a mixture of the character interaction, the language and the editing which left me unimpressed. Sometimes I feel I'm reading a kids' book with Ms Ashley's work. "And then... and then... then..." and the continued use of repetitive sentences turns a cute fantasy romance read into a frustrating one. Please, Ms Ashley, find another way to start or continue your sentences. The story itself was pleasant, but the way K.A's main love interests interact has seemingly become formulaic.
Not great, but as a diversion, it was ok.

Good, but really enjoyed the previous one more. Hope next one is great!
adventurous dark slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated

He should have had to grovel waaaaaay more for the shit he put her through. The heroine was supposed to be this super nice person to contrast with how horrible her alternate-universe version was, I get that. But at one point too-nice just becomes doormat.
"You thought I was making it up,” I whispered and his eyes went dark.
“But now I know you were not.”
“You thought I was,” I semi-repeated.
“But now, Cora, I know you were not,” he also semi-repeated, this time softly but also firmly, that tender look back in his eyes.
I swallowed.
It was Tor’s way of apologizing. And it was a good way.

oh honeyyyy, it isn't it reeeeeally isn't.

She was the one who had to deal with him cheating on the alter-ego, it was just too icky with the whole perfume thing. He should have had to be more apologetic later on to make up for the crap she went through. He was basically just torturing her throughout the first 50% of the book for stuff she didn't even do, which would be semi-understandable IF he had appropriately grovelled after the truth came out. But no no no no no, that would be tooooo much to ask. I liked the premise of the book but there were too many other issues so had to reduce my rating.

I have always been bad at reading the books of a series in the right order and here again, I started this new series by the third book x)
A nice book with a very "Once upon a time" enchanting world, an interesting plot, a very endearing heroine and a yummy hero ><
A lot of humor, a lot of emotions and a lot of squeals on my behalf =D
Anyway, I'm soo looking forward to read the other books =D
adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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: No

Out of the three books I read from the series so far this one surprised me the most. Based on the blurb I didn’t expect to like it as much as i did. It’s on the shorter side compared to the previous ones and not as eventful either still a pretty satisfying and well rounded story.

The main character doesn’t know what’s going on just like in The golden dynasty, but in this case she thinks she is simply dreaming. She thinks this for white a long which causes a lot of complications for her. This belief of hers kind of becomes the source of most of the conflicts in the book. Also this is the first book in the series that shows any kind of indication that there is going to be a meeting, a common ground between the couples from the different stories. 

The plot takes place in a really poetic atmosphere; it’s a bit like in the 14th century France.
I can’t say that this book is action packed because everything remotely action like play out in the background a we only hear about them from second hand recounting. However the way Tor and Cora relationship changes and plays out is more than enough to meet my expectations and satisfy my need for excitement with the numerous different unexpected turns in the storyline. It’s not boring for sure.

A new and notable element to the book that here the characters spent more time in the modern world too. 
Cora is the most pacifists among the characters yet. She is full on hippie. She is really good, kind, happy and peachy character. Unfortunately she is a bit slow-witted at times which drove me up the walls. Also she cares too much about what others think of her which is one of her draw backs. She is against any kind of aggression and really determined to stand beside her views. Her relationship with Tor goes seemingly very smoothly but there is a twist which refutes this.
Tor is handsome, brave, dahlia and noble character who is also could be fair and kind if the original Cora didn’t make his life a hell. Because of this he has a hard time to accept and believe the new Cora even if he deep down knows that the two girl are not the same. A couple o times he disappointed me but compared to the situation he handled himself well.

One thing tough, it’s a pity that we don’t see more of Tor brothers because from that little scene they appear in the seemed really sympathetic. Unlike Rose who just with two sentence irritated me as hell. The other Cora is really spoiled, shallow and acted in an unbelievably disgusting manner. She would have deserved a more severe punishment.

A beautiful and picturesque story and worth every minute I spent reading it. 
lighthearted
adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A
bayou99's profile picture

bayou99's review

5.0

Re-read 12/27/14
Re-read 9/16