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A review by cassiealexandra
A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
4.5
In 2023, I decided that Rebecca Ross would be my new-to-me author to read. I barely made it, finishing this on the last day of the year.
There was a lot to love about this one, and I’m looking forward to reading more from this author. The thing that shines here is the atmospheric and descriptive writing. Ross can really turn a phrase beautifully. I loved the setting of the Isle of Cadence and, while still fantasy, the nods to Scotland. I also really enjoyed those fantasy elements with the Folk, the spirits controlling each of the elements, and the enchantments of items. I was disappointed there wasn’t more that this. My favorite characters were Torin and Sidra with the exploration of their complicated marriage of convenience made more complicated by Maisie (Torin’s daughter, Sid’s step-daughter). I wondered why I felt so connected to them rather than Jack and Adaira, whom I’d expected would be the “main characters.” After reading the author’s note and understanding that Torin and Sidra were the first characters that “came to her” in her writing, I realized that perhaps my deeper connection with them was not imagined, but actual.
I did have a few items that didn’t work so well for me. The first was that I wanted more understanding of Jack and Adaira. I could see there were unresolved feelings from their childhood friendship turned rivalry, but those feelings resolved almost too quickly for me in their adult life. This brings me to a related issue in the timeline and pace feeling “off,” or maybe just hard for me to wrap my head around. There were a few times when it felt impossible to judge how much time had passed. It seems like everything in this book happens over the course of 4-6 weeks, which felt quick for some of the plot points (Jack-Adaira case in point). I say that the plot moved quickly, but the final item that wasn’t the best fit for me was pace. Somehow it felt both fast and slow. I felt as if I was drifting along a river or listening to one of Jack’s ballads, heading toward some resolution and not sure when I’d get there. The writing was so atmospheric that it lacked character development for me. I felt like I was floating on the surface of something more and held in suspension. My hope is that this feeling will resolve with the second book in this duology.
The bottom line: I enjoyed this very much and am looking forward to more from this author, but had some slight issues with pace and character development.
— NOTES —
Genres: fantasy
POV: third-person, multiple
Content: child disappearances, past death of loved ones
Romance: 2 very vaguely descriptive, nearly fade-to-black scenes
— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 4
Enjoyment: 5
Craft: 5
My Gut Feeling: 4.5
Total Stars: 4.625
There was a lot to love about this one, and I’m looking forward to reading more from this author. The thing that shines here is the atmospheric and descriptive writing. Ross can really turn a phrase beautifully. I loved the setting of the Isle of Cadence and, while still fantasy, the nods to Scotland. I also really enjoyed those fantasy elements with the Folk, the spirits controlling each of the elements, and the enchantments of items. I was disappointed there wasn’t more that this. My favorite characters were Torin and Sidra with the exploration of their complicated marriage of convenience made more complicated by Maisie (Torin’s daughter, Sid’s step-daughter). I wondered why I felt so connected to them rather than Jack and Adaira, whom I’d expected would be the “main characters.” After reading the author’s note and understanding that Torin and Sidra were the first characters that “came to her” in her writing, I realized that perhaps my deeper connection with them was not imagined, but actual.
I did have a few items that didn’t work so well for me. The first was that I wanted more understanding of Jack and Adaira. I could see there were unresolved feelings from their childhood friendship turned rivalry, but those feelings resolved almost too quickly for me in their adult life. This brings me to a related issue in the timeline and pace feeling “off,” or maybe just hard for me to wrap my head around. There were a few times when it felt impossible to judge how much time had passed. It seems like everything in this book happens over the course of 4-6 weeks, which felt quick for some of the plot points (Jack-Adaira case in point). I say that the plot moved quickly, but the final item that wasn’t the best fit for me was pace. Somehow it felt both fast and slow. I felt as if I was drifting along a river or listening to one of Jack’s ballads, heading toward some resolution and not sure when I’d get there. The writing was so atmospheric that it lacked character development for me. I felt like I was floating on the surface of something more and held in suspension. My hope is that this feeling will resolve with the second book in this duology.
The bottom line: I enjoyed this very much and am looking forward to more from this author, but had some slight issues with pace and character development.
— NOTES —
Genres: fantasy
POV: third-person, multiple
Content: child disappearances, past death of loved ones
Romance: 2 very vaguely descriptive, nearly fade-to-black scenes
— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 4
Enjoyment: 5
Craft: 5
My Gut Feeling: 4.5
Total Stars: 4.625
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping and Death of parent