A review by annewithabook
Enchant: Beauty and the Beast Retold by Demelza Carlton

2.0

I happen to love Beauty and the Beast retellings, and this one had such potential, which is why it disappointed me so much. I loved the twist that Zuleika was both Belle and the witch, and the fleshing out of the world was interesting (like the mystery of the missing ships). But the romance felt so cheesy. Character's motivations were quite strange. Zuleika has something traumatic happen, and yet she isn't psychologically affected as a person would be. Similarly, Vardan (the Beast) has little motivation for falling in love with Belle, or trusting his brother. Many of the concepts in this book (the romance, the mystery, the world) were interesting, but it felt underdeveloped in many ways.