Friday, June 01, 2012

Review: Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

From Inside Jacket: It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true. When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland - and a man Sunday’s family despises. The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?

My Rating: 3 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Alethea Kontis’ Enchanted is a nicely written book that can be read by anyone who enjoys fairy tales. As the synopsis suggests, Enchanted is a re-telling of The Frog Prince. But, Kontis weaves in elements from other fairy tales so that Enchanted ends up being a mash-up of fairy tales (e.g. The Princess and the Pea, Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc.) squished into one book. It was well done; and I really liked spotting some the different things borrowed from other fairy tales.

The characters however could have used a little more depth. Sunday has six sisters named after the other days of the week and initially, I had trouble remembering what their personalities were like. This was made a little easier though by a rhyme at the beginning of the book that I could flip to in order to find out what each sister was supposed to be like. After a while, the sisters’ personalities become distinct enough that I didn’t need the rhyme. Still, none of the characters ever felt like they were anything more than characters, and it was kind of hard to connect with Sunday because she seemed sort of young and really sweet.

The romance was cute as well – although it was nothing worth gushing over because Sunday starts falling in love with Grumble the frog on the second day of knowing him. Normally this would bother me; but since instant love situations are a staple of fairy tales, I let that slide this time.

Aside from the romantic storyline, there were some other storylines that made up the plot (e.g. what Rumbold’s father has been up to during his rule as king), which I liked more. Unfortunately, I thought their impact was either minimized or that they were developed quite late and so their resolution felt a tad rushed.

A charming tale nonetheless, Enchanted was released by Harcourt Children’s Books in May 2012.

Comments About the Cover: Although the cover is gorgeous and I love the dress the model is wearing, it’s sort of hard to see the frog.

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Thomas Allen & Son) for free. 

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like a fun book when you just want something enjoyable and not too deep or emotionally complex. I like those books in between some of my grittier reads, so I think I'll keep this one on the list:) Really fantastic review Z!

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  2. Ooh, I'm all for fairy tale retellings. I haven't read any retellings of the princess and the frog, so I'm definitely intrigued. I'm sorry you couldn't connect with Sunday and that some of the characters weren't as fleshed out as they could've been. However, I think I might give Enchanted a shot! Lovely review, Zahida. :)

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  3. The word cute really does describe this book, doesn't it? x) It was just so adorable and sweet and completely Mimi-like that I couldn't help but adore it too! I guess that the characters could have used a little more character depth, but I actually didn't mind the insta-love that much in this book either since it's a fairytale.

    Awesome review, Z! I'm glad you liked it, even though it wasn't perfect for you :)

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  4. Have you read Cloaked by Alex Flinn. This one sounds just like it, with the weaving of The Frog Prince with multiple FTs.

    I'll probably skip on this one, but it does sound cute. I know I should since I'm always daring myself to read outside my preferred genre, but since there are so many books I want to read in my preferred genre, I just can't make myself stray. LOL

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  5. Darn, I was hoping for greatness. At least now I know where to adjust my expectations though, so I'll probably enjoy it more now. Thank you! I like that there is a mash up of different fairy tales. I wasn't expecting that.

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  6. Oh shoot, I was expecting this one to have a higher rating. Oh well, I do plan on reading it. I seem to be on a fairy tale retelling roll for some reason this year. I know nothing about The Frog Prince story so it'll be fun to sit back and be told a story.

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