Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - A Fragile Enchantment

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A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft

42 reviews

aggressive_nostalgia's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

1.75

Thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head since I finished this yesterday:

Plot threads just got dropped. (Niamh is dying? Except maybe it’s treatable and she isn’t? This is used for a couple of dramatic heartstring-tugging conversations and then never resolved!) // (Niamh wanted to make a better life for her family but in the end she’s semi-estranged from them and that’s fine I guess…?) // (Whatever happened to Erin? She abandoned her job and goes back to Machland but the tension Niamh felt about it for half the book just fizzled?)

The speed at which things happen (relationally and especially politically) strains credulity. Impossible to be invested in any of it when nearly everything gets resolved (relatively) quickly and it turns out there are no people acting in bad faith at all except everyone’s terrible absent dads. It feels like the author wanted to rush ahead to the payoff but failed to lay enough foundation for it, so the reader can’t properly enjoy it.

I was confused about the princes’ backstory. I didn’t really understand why their relationship was so strained or their communication was so bad, why Kit stayed away from court for so long (he mentions that after his mom’s death, people expected him to snap, so he did? But he never says what that means or exactly what happened?). Kit and Niamh would have these emotional conversations and act like they’d had some relational breakthrough, but I didn’t understand what was actually being communicated?

According to Niamh, Machland “doesn’t have anything for us” - everyone is poor and sad and is either leaving or wants to leave - not just small rural towns, but the whole country?? The “best” thing is for Machlish people to move to Avaland even though they just fought a war to be independent and the people in Avaland treat them with racism and contempt and they’re second-class citizens??? …wtf?????

This was a mild annoyance by comparison with the plot/character issues (since it’s a fantasy and not a straight historical novel) but if you’re looking for Regency period vibes, this is not it. Class divisions were supposed to be a significant part of this plot, but it was incredibly loosey-goosey. Everyone’s on a first-name basis and no one stood on formality. Propriety was a suggestion rather than a rule. On top of the slangy dialogue, it felt incredibly modern with some superficial Regency-inspired trappings. The historical inspiration was clearer in the plot than the atmosphere.

This feels almost like a rough draft. Obviously it was edited for structure, grammar, et cetera - but the plot and pacing are not nearly as coherent as they should or could be. Ideas are stuck into the story and not fleshed out. Really disappointing.

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annie45's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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joygarcialim's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The narrative and prose are enchanting, the characters were well constructed and the first 3/5th of the plot was really good, well on its way to a 5 star rating. However, whatever happened on the last 2/5th seemed kind of disjointed, rushed and unfleshed out and my enjoyment radically declined.

Here are two main characters who were really likeable(maybe not if they were actual people, but the actual character writing is immaculate). The psyche/mentality of these characters, motivations and personality are all extremely coherent with each other and consistent character writing is such a delight, so thank you to the author.

The romance between the two MCs

reached a conflict

, and it seemed glossed over without

any proper conflict resolution other than the characters being way too obsessed with each other.

It would have been a lot more engaging if they

didn't just looked at each other and decided that a fight wasn't worth it.

The author did not give this subplot of having this colonisation stuff going a lot of attention, so it did not resolve itself well imo and also somehow resolved itself without any proper conclusion?? Also there really wasn't any updates on Niahm's friend that was talked about in the beginning, she just kinda MIA-ed and wasn't written about much after, like the author kinda forgot that Niahm has a friend.

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moominquartz's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

3.5

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callistag1's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

3.75

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maresuju's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-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

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niftyreads's review against another edition

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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

5.0

Allison Saft has crafted a rich fantasy world with captivating characters in A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT. I recall stumbling upon a review that likened this book to a blend of “BRIDGERTON and BELLADONNA,” a comparison I found quite fitting. The infusion of social issues with the allure of fashion, the enticement of the gossiping Ton, and the intrigue of magic create a narrative that held me spellbound.

I loved how Saft used many of my favorite tropes in the book—forbidden romance, enemies to lovers—making it a fun read. Niamh and Kit are so good together!! The pining! The banter! Ughhhh, and that ending! I’m so in love!!!

Also, we must talk about Niamh’s magic. She’s a seamstress who can enchant feelings and memories into her thread. What she sews makes you feel things. A dress can make you feel a warm summer day or like a strong fighter. So cool!

This book would have won me over if I wasn’t already a fan of Saft’s writing. Instead, it solidified Allison Saft as a favorite author of mine. She’s so creative; I can’t wait to see what she does next. Until then, I definitely recommend A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT!

Content warnings: (per the author) discussions of emotional and physical abuse, discussions of colonialism, death of a parent (off page), alcoholism, homophobia

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mels_reading_log's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

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

4.5

This book really surprised me with how great it is, because I have not heard anyone talking about it. It is Bridgerton with a little bit of magic. Niamh is a seamstress who is able to magically embed feelings into her embroidery, making her designs not only gorgeous but breathtaking. She has been hired to create the wedding looks for the youngest prince and his soon to be wife. Years ago her people were taken over and they suffer to this day of poverty and racism, so not everyone is happy that she was brought to the palace for this esteemed job. The first time she meets the prince to discuss his wedding attire he is rude and does not seem interested at all. But maybe that is just because he has grown used to feeling empty and she makes him feel more.

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blewballoon's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I was enjoying this book just fine and then I'm not sure what happened, but around the 60% mark I started to feel exasperated with it and just wanted to finish as quickly as possible.

I liked the concept of the magic seamstress who could imbue her embroidery with emotion, and the tension that her magic came with a price and it would weaken her if she used it too much. I was baffled by the juxtaposition of this setup with a multitude of other (arguably more valuable and powerful) forms of magic that cost nothing for the users. People can just shoot lighting, have Elsa's Frozen powers, sprout plants everywhere, and more! This made it seem out of place that the main character's abilities would be so valuable, half the time she didn't even sew the right emotion into the garments that were commissioned of her. Speaking of, the book tries to make it seem like there's a little bit of a found family situation going on with the group of royals she is working for, but every time they are like "aww you work too hard, just relax!" it doesn't hit right because the reason she is working so hard is because of the complicated garments they have ordered her to create in such a short time frame?

I thought the political aspects of the plot were a bit weak and/or nonsensical.

How the hell could the prince regent keep the fact that the country was out of money hidden from anyone? They specifically say he's hiding it from Parliament? What? It was so obvious that was what he was hiding, but it didn't make sense. At the end most of the issues are basically resolved by "people inexplicably became a lot more chill about everything, and they just talked about stuff off-page and it all worked out."

Ultimately I probably could have looked past all of the above if I liked the romance more. I was looking for some cute tension with the premise of a seamstress falling in love with her client (like a gender swap of The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews) but I felt let down by the small amount of sewing/fitting/garments in the story. Kit kind of does the bare minimum in terms of being a love interest. He's outwardly a jerk most of the time and he turns on Niamh at the slightest discomfort. Their bickering/banter didn't feel healthy because the power dynamic was off-balance. I'm not even sure if having Kit's perspective would have helped.

I'll cut myself off there, I feel like I've complained enough. The audiobook narrator was pretty good, and the cover is gorgeous. I also didn't mind the writing style, there were some really pretty yet effective descriptions. I would try this author again.

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inkysplodge's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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