This was a very slow burn and hard to get into. Once the leads finally fell for each, the plot picked up and the romance was palpable between the two. The family drama felt realistic and relatable. Overall it just moved too slowly.

Another wonderful novel by Allison Saft! I adored the setting and the characters and she is SO GOOD at building romantic relationships. The amount of pining and yearning in her books revives my soul every time. I loved the aesthetic of the novel and the prose and just everything!

An auto buy author for me always I can't wait for everyone to read this book!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

I adored this book! This book had so much positive going for it...grumpy/sunshine, lower class/royalty, forbidden love, politics/arranged marriage, chronic illness, family drama, tense political intrigue, scandal, magic...true love.

Niamh and Kit, so loyal and sacrificing. Both always putting the rest of the world first. But watching their walls slowly crumble as they even dare give in to a personal want of this deep connection with the other...oh, my heart. The side characters also captured me along with our main couple.

This was a brilliant fantasy that absolutely enchanted me!

5 stars

This was dreamy, whimsical and full of quite interesting and unique world-building and magic systems that I hadn't seen in YA before. I find Saft's writing to be really immersive and A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT was no exception.

I wanted to like this book sooooo bad.

And I did for the first quarter. A poor seamstress with magic sent to work in the palace and work for a prince! My catnip, an absolute sell. The Cinderella trope at its best until the glitz and glamour began to fall away. Too many side characters and subplots that did not hold my interest. Perhaps I just don't have the patience to get through it all, but I found myself getting frustrated with the characters' motivations. A lot of talking and not enough doing for my taste, so it's a sad DNF. May this book find its way to the appropriate reader because it wasn't me!

A Fragile Enchantment tells the story of Niamh, an enchanted dressmaker who is selected to craft pieces for the prickly Prince Kit's wedding. Quickly, their stories become intertwined with friendship, political intrigue, love and a dabble of magic. In a word, A Fragile Enchantment is perfection! Saft kept this reader on her toes, while also making the whole thing feel dreamy. I loved it!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the ARC of Fragile Enchangment.

The cover of this book is beautiful and drew me into the story. Niamh was commissioned to create a wardrobe for the royal wedding. She has a unique ability to sew emotions into her clothing.

I enjoyed the start of the book, it did take me a bit to get used to the names of the characters and places. I did start to lose interest mid book. I figured out what would happen and it seemed to be kind of slow. The book is beautifully written, I can picture the clothing that Niamh created as well as the grounds of the royal castle. The ending though... I won't say much as it would be a spoiler, but it was just so unbelievable.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Fragile Enchantment was well titled because “enchanting” is truly the word that best encapsulates my feelings towards this book. This was my first book by Allison Saft and her writing is nothing short of beautiful. She does such a wonderful job of balancing whimsy and relatability when describing and developing her characters and as a reader, I could not help but fall in love with them. From a King to a commoner they all felt so perfectly imperfect and I found myself rooting for each of them as if they were the main character. I highlighted more lines in this book than almost any other and I am a little sad now to not be able to share them on goodreads since I was not reading the finalized copy. I was a little underwhelmed by the ending but that could have more to do with my love for a good series. I always want more or the characters I love and Niamh and Kit definitely fall in that category. I waffled between 4 and 5 stars but ultimately landed on 5 because of the way this book made me feel. I know I will look back fondly on this one and it will be a story that stays with me. Looking forward to reading more of Saft’s work. ✨

🌷A Fragile Enchantment Review🌷

A Fragile Enchantment is Allison Saft’s latest release. It is a fantasy romance with a Regency England inspired world. Niamh is a magical dressmaker who has been commissioned for the royal wedding in a neighbouring kingdom in Avaland. Her magical abilities allow her to stitch emotions and memories into fabric, though using this magical ability will eventually kill her. She is determined to spend the little time she has left making a better life for her family which is why she has accepted such a large commission. Avaland isn’t necessarily the fairytale she pictured as unrest brews amongst the working class.

Allison Saft’s lyrical and lush writing instantly transports the reader into this beautiful world where reality and magic intertwine seamlessly. I really felt like I was in Regency England and could vividly picture the kingdom of Avaland. I enjoyed her attention to detail and her ability to both capture the wonderful setting and her character’s emotions. I also really enjoyed the way that she takes the reader on a journey through the underlying mystery which is at the heart of the story. I enjoyed the various twists and turns of this compelling story.

Niamh was a strong and interesting main character. She is very self sacrificing and I enjoyed seeing her grow throughout the story. Kit was mysterious, prickly and intriguing. I would have loved the addition of his POV. He reminded me a bit of Prince Corrick from Defy the Night, just a tiny bit though. I would be remiss to not mention that the side characters were also interesting and well developed.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! I look forward to reading more of Saft’s work in the future!

Thank you to @netgalley & @wednesdaybooks for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. A Fragile Enchantment came out earlier this week so you can get your hands on it now!

⭐4/5 stars⭐

I went into this book really wanting to love it, despite some reservations, but sometimes a book is simply Not For Me, and I'm trying to be okay with that. I tried reading this at various stages and in various moods, and we just never clicked, so I'm confident in saying it wasn't an issue of mood or timing - this book and I are just not meant to be.

On the pro side of the column, this book has a good setup, and Saft is, as always, great at describing the world so it feels like you're there with the characters. I would love to see the places these characters visit because it reads so beautifully.

But on the con side, I never connected with the characters themselves. There were interesting facets that didn't quite feel fleshed out and motivations and traits drop out and reappear when it's convenient for the plot. Likewise, I struggled with the overall plot and tone. There are elements of frothy romantic fantasy and grim political intrigue/oppressed people fighting for justice, which could all work very well together by either committing to a stark juxtaposition of the two tones or by making it predominantly one with a dash of the other. Here it was a little to0 muddled to work. At least for me.

There are many people who will enjoy this as a light read (or may even find more meaning in it than I did), and if it appeals to you, I encourage you to give it a try. But if Bridgerton-Netflix-inspired fantasy that's just as hit-or-miss about the real historical inspiration isn't your cup of tea, you may want to go ahead and give it a pass.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I adored Saft’s A Far Wilder Magic, so I was extra excited for this release. However, it missed the mark for me in a lot of ways.

Let’s start with the good: I thought the magic and whimsy of this one was definitely fun. Niamh is a great and unique MC, she is tripping over herself and her words at every turn, and I enjoyed watching her struggle between her sense of duty and doing things that make her happy. I also adored Sinclair, who was a funny and charming addition to this cast.

I think there are a number of things that went wrong for me. I never connected with Kit, and I still dont like how frequently he and Niamh made excuses for Jack’s behavior, especially toward Niamh’s people. I also generally disliked that Kitt didn’t much care about the plight of the Machlish people until it was convenient for him. This took away a LOT from
The story for me.

Second, and this is a personal thing, this felt all a bit too Bridgerton for my tastes. The stakes never felt very high, which I realize may just not have been the point of this tale, but this combined with my disconnect from the MMC really made it quite difficult for me to get into. The political conflict frequently felt imbalanced, and Niamh spent a lot of time internally spouting the woes of the royal family, but not seeming all that concerned about the poor treatment of people from her homeland. The ending came very quickly and conveniently, and I ultimately felt like I was just anxiously anticipating it being over.

I will continue to go back to Saft in the future. I think this just didn’t end up being for me. I’m sure many will enjoy the court intrigue, the coziness, the forbidden love, and the subtle magic.

Thank you to Wednesday books and Netgalley for this arc copy!

This was 100% my cup of tea.

The characters were really nice, consistent, and fleshed out; the situations were believable; the emotions and personal discussions were well handled. The best part about this was honestly the sewing - I love cross-stitching, and have always yearned to be able to make my living doing my sewing. There was something so deeply satisfying to me about reading the descriptions of Niamh's work. It got me all fired up, which is good because I was on the precipice of a dangerous sewing slump. I loved the platonic friendships in this book too - Niamh and Sinclair, Rosa, and Miriam. I liked the dynamic between Jack and Kit. I liked Sofia a lot actually, and I was really hoping to see more of her. She deserves a whole book to herself, honestly.

Sometimes books will include a character's trauma as an integral part of their story, but this book wasn't like that. Niamh turned out to be a bit of an unreliable narrator when it came to her own life, and as the story went on and Kit started calling her out on some of her more destructive tendencies, she (and the reader) came to realize that her relationship with her family was perhaps not always a healthy one. We never got details on it, aside from some suggestions that her grandmother is an extremely judgmental traditionalist, but I find I really appreciated that. Niamh doesn't "reveal" any details, possibly because she doesn't see them all yet, but also (from an authorial perspective) it's not really important that we know them. We see what Kit sees: a woman who works herself to death, giving everything she can in support of her friends, and keeping or asking nothing for herself, to her own eventual detriment. We can assume that the same has been happening her whole life to harmful effect, but that really doesn't matter anymore because it's in Niamh's past.

Jack and Kit's childhood trauma is handled quite differently. We are given a bit more info on their situation, partly because it's still so directly affecting their present troubles, and because what they experienced was a perhaps more clear-cut form of abuse. They are able to look back with no trouble and see that their situation was messed up. I appreciated that they touched (ever so briefly) on the fact that children can live in the same family and have different relationships and experiences with their parents as well - Kit's relationship with his mother was completely different to Jack's, but never is either of their experience invalidated or shown to be "incorrect." Very cool.

Other than all the technical stuff, I say again, this was 100% my cup of tea.
I loved Kit. I loved Niamh. I loved Kit and Niamh. I loved the gentle fantasy vibes. I loved everything with the flowers and the gardens and the rain SPOILER (and the dying girl thing, surprisingly enough. I didn't think I'd like that bit, but I actually really liked it END SPOILER. I loved the magical, empath embroidery! I don't usually care about the fantasy clothes, but this book had the best fantasy clothes I've ever heard of. It was probably the magical empath embroidery, which I loved. I loved the palace vibes! I loved fantasy Ireland and fantasy regency and DID I MENTION THE MAGICAL EMPATH EMBROIDERY? Did I mention that I love Kit and Niamh?? ...???????

The conclusion of Niamh's personal arc is probably my only complaint. It had a very individualistic bent in the end, which makes sense based on her background, but didn't sit right with me. I can relate somewhat to Niamh's self-destructive people pleasing, and maybe my qualm here is just because I have a hang-up on this in real life. Obviously it's not healthy to totally run yourself into the ground, but this is where my concerns arise - it's not "selfish" to make healthy choices for yourself. It's not selfish to sleep and eat and exercise, nor is it selfish to do those things instead of something else you need to. Niamh makes a quick leap from "Kit is telling me I need to rest," to "I should be able to make selfish choices for myself and take what I want from life, my family be damned." Maybe I'm being pedantic and the author is being exaggerative to make a point, but perhaps not. Shouldn't there be some in between?? I don't know if this is an actual complaint so much as the start of some brain musings on my part.

Overall, I definitely recommend this book, and I'll definitely be checking out the author's backlist!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Allison Saft, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Allison Saft never disappoints. A Fragile Enchantment is a fun and heartwarming regency inspired fantasy romance. The main characters are complex and compelling, while the side characters also shine. Niamh is a clumsy seamstress who can weave magic into her work. She has been tasked by the royal family to make wedding attire for the young, brooding Prince Kit. Their developing friendship is messy and fun.

I love how Allison Saft is inspired by historical events. Niamh is Maclish, whose plight are inspired by the Irish, and Kit is the Prince of Avalon, inspired by British history and the tumultuous politics between them.

There's a small Bridgerton-esque gossip column plot line, which was also a fun way to weave the story together. It's not a flawless book, but I just had so much fun reading it, it deserves 5 stars!

I HOPE that this book is not the last we see of these characters. Niamh was likeable from the first few pages, smart, talented and infections - this was a hard book to put down. If you're a fan of regency romance novels, like Bridgerton vibes, but want a dabble of fantasy then this is the book for you. The period era style and vocabulary paired with the magical elements was a match made in heaven for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

I loved the title of this book and the cover is gorgeous! Unfortunately the romance and magic the cover gives did not give me that in the book.

This is such a lovely YA fantasy romamce. The unique story of our heroine making a truseau,for the young prince (our hero) and the historic but also different setting really won me over.

I loved how beautifully descriptive the fantasy world was and how unique and complex every character, including villains was.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing the ARC.

What a delightful read!

This book is a low stakes fantasy story with enough plot and intrigue to keep things interesting, but it is very heavily focused on the developing relationships with the characters. It is primarily driven by the relationship between Naimh and Kit, who are absolutely wonderful characters, but I also found myself drawn to the cast of secondary characters as well. Found family is a very strong theme throughout the story.

If I had any criticism, it would be that there was a distinct lack of exposition surrounding the world they live in. There is a subplot of unrest between the kingdom and other territories it tried to takeover, but it never truly delves into the why behind the continued conflict. There is magic, but how it works is never really explained. Since this book is very character driven, these situations didn't detract too much from the overarching story, but as someone who loves worldbuilding and lore, it felt lacking.

Overall, it was a fun read with compelling characters. I enjoyed it immensely and I find myself wanting more of the characters and their stories.

Niamh has a special skill that must stay subdued and hidden- her emotions become part of each garment she sews. It also depletes some of her life with each stitch. She has been commissioned to go to Avaland and create a wardrobe for the prince and his future bride. Kit Carmine is not at all interested in what she has to offer and is everything rude and brash. Through overheard conversations and interactions with the royal family, she becomes entangled in a web of lies, deceit, and possible ruin.

This is a perfect enemies to lovers trope. It’s impressive the author could make Kit likeable considering where he starts in this one! But it is done well and I enjoyed this story. At times the story trudged along and I skimmed a little, but overall I liked it.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This author has really never let me down. She’s such a good writer and now easily one of my favorite YA authors! This book was the perfect mix of the historical, fantasy and romance genres. It felt like Bridgerton meets Spin the Dawn with the regency era setting, the royalty, the political intrigue and the magical dressmaker.
The characters were really a highlight of this one for me. I loved Niamh and Kit each as individuals and together as a couple. Seeing them grow to understand and love one another was so sweet, they were really the perfect balance for each other. They were complex and deep and I found myself caring a lot for them as I was reading. The side characters were a lot of fun too and brought rounded out the story really well.
I really enjoyed learning about the magic in this world and I wish we got to see even more of it. It seemed like there were so many different kinds of magic and we only got to know a few of them.
This was another great book from this author and I can’t wait to see what she writes next!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

✧.* first off, I'd like to thank netgalley, allison saft, and the publishers for the e-arc!
this is the first book that i have read by allison saft and it was very cosy and cute <3 however, it took some time to get through this because it felt very slow and the plot dragged on at the beginning and in the middle. as a a fantasy reader who prefers more fast-paced and action packed books with a substantial amount of world-building, this felt a little off for me, although that is simply a personal preference.
the setting was dreamy and had a bridgerton-feeling to it! however, i would have liked to learn a little bit more about the side characters. i didn't connect much to the fmc, she didn't capture my attention, and to be honest, she was bland. i would have liked to see more depth and feeling added to her character and kit's (the mmc).
what i cherished most about "a fragile enchantment" happened to be the nostalgia i derived from it. i used to read fairy-tale princess novels like this one often when i was little, so if you're an avid reader of those genres, this book might be the perfect fit for you!
despite my certain quirks, the reason I'm giving this a 3 star rating is that i see the potential and why readers would adore this book. the writing is different from what i'm used to and hopefully i can read more of saft's work in the future!
love always,
mitra ✩