A review by lilytholfsen
Stolen Enchantress: Beauty and the Beast meets The Pied Piper by Amber Argyle
4.0
(3.5 stars, but I put 4 instead of 3 because I am nice? I guess?)
I went into this book without reading any reviews or even a real synopsis, which was refreshing, and I think I'll try to do that more. I read it quickly, and was drawn into the story. There was one point where the characters acted stupid, and it took me right out of the story, and I almost gave up reading, but I plowed through and eventually was back on board. I'm still mad about that part though, and I wish it had been done differently.
This book does have quite a few tropes (fast love, love triangle, chosen one), but in my opinion, they were all handled in a unique way, and I was not really bothered by them, except maybe the "fast love" one, I'm still not sure.
Some great aspects of this book are that it is well written, and I was hooked. Although, what with the forced marriage, there was plenty of opportunity for rapey scenes that are prevalent in Fantasy, everything was consensual, and I LOVED that. I also appreciated the racial diversity of the characters.
Now, on to why the book didn't get 5 stars (besides that one scene I already mentioned). If I'm going to be super nit-picky, there were a few times I thought there was a plot hole and it was explained later, but I wished it had been sooner. Time also felt a little weird in the book— I wish it had been more clear how much time had passed. Also, although there was racial diversity, I was sad that there was no mention of homosexuality or gender queer characters, even though this book dealt with a lot of gender issues, and there was a society of only men, so like, you'd think a few would get together? And the idea of a man and woman being destined to work together perfectly (and their magic being complementary) felt a little hetero-normative. As a gay woman, these are things that I look for, but I'm sure others don't notice/care about, and if you don't, that's fine.
Overall, I would suggest this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy, probably over 18 just because it talks about rape and abuse (although rape is never shown). A fun read.
I went into this book without reading any reviews or even a real synopsis, which was refreshing, and I think I'll try to do that more. I read it quickly, and was drawn into the story. There was one point
Spoiler
when she discovers Bane is there, and they escape together, and like what?? Everyone acted so rash and stupidThis book does have quite a few tropes (fast love, love triangle, chosen one), but in my opinion, they were all handled in a unique way, and I was not really bothered by them, except maybe the "fast love" one, I'm still not sure.
Some great aspects of this book are that it is well written, and I was hooked. Although, what with the forced marriage, there was plenty of opportunity for rapey scenes that are prevalent in Fantasy, everything was consensual, and I LOVED that. I also appreciated the racial diversity of the characters.
Now, on to why the book didn't get 5 stars (besides that one scene I already mentioned). If I'm going to be super nit-picky, there were a few times I thought there was a plot hole and it was explained later, but I wished it had been sooner
Spoiler
like they had bread, even though they couldn't light fires, and then like 10 chapters later you find out fires can be lit on islands. I know that's stupid but it bothered me.Overall, I would suggest this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy, probably over 18 just because it talks about rape and abuse (although rape is never shown). A fun read.