A review by _julia313_
A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft

funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This was a really cute and cozy fantasy, and I definitely enjoyed it. I appreciate the character development and relationships of many of the characters, but the story itself was wishy washy at times. Like, I guessed who Lovelace was as soon as the character was introduced. I suspected other characters, but the closer we got to the actual reveal the more sure I was. And yeah, I was right. The third act as a whole didn’t really sit well with me.

I get that the third act conflict was kinda necessary, but Kit going from wanting to marry Niamh one day to not wanting to see her again the next day and then wanting to marry her again the day after that was… jarring. I also don’t like that they got married literally hours after she agreed. Like I get that they had the chapel ready, but my god, let the engagement breathe a little first.

With all of the very valid concerns Niamh and Kit had about being together, I feel like it all wrapped up too neatly. Especially for the conflict with the Machlish and Avaland’s issues; there was no real solution at all. Most of the character arcs were wrapped up well enough, but I feel like some things were left behind. Niamh barely mentioned her family at the end, when they were such a big part of her motivations before. I also wanted to meet her friend Erin, but that’s mostly a side note. Overall this was still a very enjoyable read, and I had a lot of fun with the first half of the book, but it fell off a bit from there. It’s probably 4 stars of enjoyment, but the third act and a lot of the issues throughout bumps it down.