Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - A Fragile Enchantment

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft

43 reviews

inkysplodge's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

vagrantheather's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

A cute sunshine and the grump, forced proximity, chaste romantasy. Nothing explicit. Nice longing and desire. The magic system was not very well developed, but novel. It is perhaps a bit unfortunate that the MC's brand of magic is essentially emotional manipulation. She's a sweet character who isn't using it in a corrupt manner and it still verges on unethical. But that is perhaps too nitpicky.

The political dynamics of the kingdom are thinly veiled remarks on the generation immediately following the English genocide on the Irish.

Parts of it, especially in the first half, made me laugh out loud. I loved the scene with the first coat she made for Kit, and loved the impertinence of their developing relationship.

Lightly addressed living with chronic illness in a way that was not disagreeable.

Content Warnings

nataliealane's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.25

What I liked:

-The friendships

-The romance is so sweet and full of yearning. Kit and Niamh have a lot of personal work to do and trauma to unpack, but that doesn’t mean that aren’t worthy of love or a relationship right now/as they are healing and still messy.

-Niamh’s character. She is clumsy, diehard romantic/idealist, and unapologetically feminine and loves pretty things. She is also loyal (to a fault perhaps) and stubborn, and I love her magical ability. I’ve only read a couple other books that have fabric/sewing-based magic.

What I didn’t like:

-The last third of the book fell flat for me. It seemed rushed, the characters made some really dumb decisions in a last ditch effort to save the day, and everything kind of seemed to magically resolve/tie together nicely with a bow despite that.

-I wanted more magic! I always want more magic though😂 Maybe that’s why romantasy isn’t really my favorite

-Technically, the romance is cheating/an affair as Kit has a fiancée (albeit a purely political match/“marriage of duty”).

Overall, A Fragile Enchantment is not my favorite book from Saft, but it was so fun to read! I read it as an e-ARC, but I do think I will eventually pick up my own physical copy.

Content Warnings

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

This was a bit of a let down from A Far Wilder magic.

It was fine, but I wasn’t super taken with Kit as the love interest. I felt like the middle was the strongest and the beginning was pretty decent. It was just as it started to build towards the end it started to fall flat.

I did enjoy Kit and Niamh’s softer, more romantic moments. And I felt like every character felt well-rounded and unique. It was just the plot itself that wasn’t speaking to me. It didn’t feel very well paced and once I hit the end it felt rushes and ill-planned.

The themes the characters explored, the world building, the dynamics, and the foreshadowing I loved so much from A Far Wilder magic were there. Which was mostly what kept me reading. The plot just felt somewhat convoluted, like it was reaching to play out specific regency setting tropes/was taking a lot from Jane Austen and Bridgerton. It felt like it wasn’t sure if it was trying to make a political statement and tell that story with the romance or play out a more traditional regency romance.

Overall I’m not super sure how I feel about it. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either.

Content Warnings

drtx_bwt's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

librarianloading's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

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

2.0

Content Warnings

Minor: Homophobia

There were a lot of elements I really liked about this novel. The intrigue was great. The world building was wonderful. The characters were lovable and showed plenty of growth and development. The romance was... okay? It wasn't the most endearing romance novel I've ever read, but it didn't feel unnatural or forced. The themes of finding belonging and love conquers all are not overwrought; they're well done and it feels natural. The prose was beautiful, and there were a few quotes I highlighted because I really loved them and wanted to sit with them a few minutes. There is one really big issue with this book. The queer rep feels very performative. Most of the prominent characters are queer; however, this does virtually nothing to drive forward the plot. You could easily change their previous relationships to heterosexual relationships and mostly have the same result.

The two main characters (male and female) bond over their mutual queerness and then wind up falling in love with each other.

I am bisexual, so I understand the importance of good bisexual representation, but this is not it. None of the queer relationships are shown on page, and they're all discussed in very vague terms. Most characters are either closeted or ostracized due to societal homophobia. Only one of the queer relationships is shown on page, and that's very late in the book and it's two very brief moments. This book has been marketed as having queer representation, but it feels like a bait and switch. If you're going to claim queer rep, I expect to see queer relationships played out on page and to see the characters encounter the struggles and triumphs that come with being in a queer relationship. This book was a huge disappointment in this area, and I spent half the book wanting to DNF because it felt like queerbaiting but I really wanted to see how all of the relationships played out before I wrote a review to that effect. Needless to say, the novel did not subvert my expectations, and mostly, I wish I had DNFed to spare myself the disappointment.