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A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft

33 reviews

joygarcialim's review against another edition

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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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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nakole's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

𝓕𝓻𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓵𝓮 𝓔𝓷𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽
By: Allison Saft
Contemporary Regency Romance

𝒪𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓁𝓁 3.5/5
𝒮𝓅𝒾𝒸𝑒 1/5

JUNE BOOK CLUB PICK

𝑅𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌: This book was pretty good, it was giving major Bridgeton vibes. I was giggling and kicking my feet at points. There were a couple plot points that just didn’t give everything they could have. For one Niamh’s friend was really hyped in the beginning and we more from/about her maybe once or twice. Also the fact that Niamh’s magic will eventually kill her, which is made to seem really important in the synopsis, just kind of is and that is it. Also Rosa was my favorite character and I can’t actually give you a concrete reason why.

𝒜 𝐹𝒶𝓋𝑜𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝒬𝓊𝑜𝓉𝑒:
“I’m all thorns.”
“I don’t know about that. I think you’re more like a weed.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Yes! Weeds are…tenacious. They survive against all odds, wherever they land, no matter how many times you cut them down. And sometimes they can be quite beautiful.”

𝒯𝓇𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓈: GrumpyXSunshine; Enemies to Lovers; LGBTQIA+ Rep; Slow Burn; Forbidden Romance; Forced Proximity; Regency Era; RoyalXCommoner

𝒯𝓇𝒾𝑔𝑔𝑒𝓇 𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: Terminal Illness; Chronic Illness; Infidelity; Blackmail; Death of a Parent; Alcoholism; Xenophobia; Sexual Content (minor)(consensual);Violence (minor); Child Abuse (minor); Colonization(mentioned)

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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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susiemarie1111's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Super cute, sweet story! A light fantasy with a UK-Ireland(?) coded tension. Different classes,

happy ending

. In the beginning (first few chapters) I was a little skeptical of whether I would like it, but I ended up adoring it! Soft FMC. A reviewer said it had Studio Ghibli vibes, definitely agree!

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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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theresamothinmyroom's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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

4.5

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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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nataliealane's review against another edition

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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.

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