A Fragile Enchantment was a cute fantasy read with characters that you can easily fall in love with. The romance aspect was not as heavily featured and did not feel like the main storyline. With similar vibes to Bridgerton and minimal spice, this was a fun read.

Much like Niamh's speedy sewing, I rushed through the last half of this book in one sitting (with a self-imposed deadline of finishing it in the year of 2023)! It features a Bridgerton-level drama, a magic system that uniquely revolves around emotion, and a swoon-worthy (angst-filled) romance that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the final chapter. Any lover of historical romance, or fantasy, or both, will fall in love with Niamh and Kit!
Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for this eARC

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC of A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft. All opinions are my own.

I think this book just wasn’t for me. It wasn’t a bad book, but I really struggled with the pacing.

Character driven stories can be great, but I didn’t feel that enough happened with the characters (even though I liked them) to make me want to continue reading.

The magic system was really cool though. I liked how Niamh could infuse clothing with magic to make people feel a certain way. I hadn’t seen that in a story before, and I really liked that aspect.

I also liked Kit as a character. It was interesting getting to know him through his interactions with Niamh and Sinclair.

Overall, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book, but I do think that some people will really like it, especially those who like slower paced fantasies.

There's something lovely about embroidery-based magic, and A Fragile Enchantment really captures that. As the title suggests, the whole book has a delicate - *fragile* - quality about it, not unlike the embroidery at the center of it. The romance is tender, the characters soft underneath their thorny exteriors, and even the handling of the central conflict has a gentleness to it.

Niamh Ó Conchobhair has spent her whole life working hard to repay what her family has given her, and so she takes a job across the sea in Avaland as the seamstress for an upcoming royal wedding, hoping to make enough money to ensure her family's comfort for the rest of their lives. But the court is a hornet's nest of gossip and cruelty, and maybe worse, she finds herself drawn to the groom, Prince Kit Carmine, who is not only prickly and rude, but also the youngest son of the family that destroyed Niamh's homeland. All the while, her countrymen are fighting for reparations, and Niamh finds herself caught in the middle.

This book is, very obviously, a fantasized take on English-Irish relations, with the addition of magic. That setting worked really well most of the time, adding some historical weight while still allowing for some freedom for change. That said, with such a weighty portion of history as the basis for the book, there were times when I felt like the story went a bit too easy on the royal family, considering the horrors that both the real English crown and their fictionalized counterparts inflicted on Ireland/Machland.

That said, this book is still a lovely read. Niamh is a strong central character, with obvious stakes and a journey that allows her to evolve and change. Kit is a prickly but lovable male lead, and the unapologetic queerness of both characters - and most of the characters, honestly - adds an extra element that works well. I really loved all of the secondary characters as well, particularly Miriam and Rosa, who sparkled together. The magical element is creative and also has a cost, which all the best magic systems do.

Basically, occasionally a little idyllic, but generally very enjoyable!

4/5

Recommended: sure
for a lightly magical tale of court intrigue and romance, for a concise cast of characters

Thoughts:
Overall this is a nice story with an interesting cast of characters and slightly varied plot. Most of the visible characters show some kind of growth over the course of the story, and there's more than just "falling in love" as a plotline.

I didn't expect the amount of political discussion in this novel, but it's actually a central conflict for the majority of the book. Niamh is from a marginalized group of people who are disdained in the central city of the other country, and there's unrest around the way her people are being treated. Protests and blackmail and such abound throughout this story and drive some of the conflict in it.

The other main element, of her having to make the clothing for the wedding, is there but... not a lot? It's odd that her magic is so important and central to what's happened, but is also almost an afterthought. It comes into play in important moments, but there isn't actually a ton of scenes discussing or witnessing it. It's a world with magic, but I could only name three powers that exist which is pretty underwhelming. I would have liked to see it integrated more naturally into the lives of people, or given more of a backstory and explanation. That's just not really the focus of this book, though.

There were a few things that made me a little prickly towards Niamh, and though they weren't HUGE issues, they were things that stuck in my head a bit after the book. First is that she barely thinks about her mom or grandmother other than "I sacrifice my happiness for them" which is pretty underwhelming of a relationship. She writes a letter back to her friend Erin, but never once to her own actual family... including towards the end with some key events and information. :l

The second thing was more of an intentional point in the book but still caused some frustration: she constantly gives advice to others that she herself should be taking! She's a massive hypocrite! Thankfully this is a thing other characters call each other out on and force responsibility for, but boy, at the start I was just like "girl do you HEAR yourself right now??" and had some annoyed annotations at point. xD

Some LGBTQI+ rep is in here but very lightly. Some characters mention at times dallying with other men or women and have lovely little "we're the same" lines, but there are no labels or much focused conversation around it. It's a side note, and additional part of who they are without fully defining them. Honestly I'm not sure it added much to the story besides I guess a kind of softness for their short moments of acceptance with each other. It didn't take away though, either.

Overall I enjoyed the story and did get some smiles and some teary eyes in it. It didn't blow me away, but it was a pleasant evening to read and finish out my 2023 new year's eve with given that I'm sick and won't be doing much else tonight. 😊

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a free advanced copy. This is my honest review.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

This story weaves together magic and class politics. Niamh has the ability to embroider magical enchantments into the clothes she makes, and she is selected to tailor the wedding garments for the prince of Avaland. This is her opportunity to provide for her family. But not all is as expected in the Avaland kingdom.

I quite enjoyed the various kinds of magic that appeared in the world. Niamh could help people feel calm or remember the joy of a summer evening through their clothes. Others could manipulate plants and weather.

I also appreciated the social commentary on on the plights or workers and on the aftermath of wars. There was great depth to these aspects of the plot.

I did not find the romance aspect as interesting. I felt it was paced faster than I found realistic. Thus, I ended up rooting for the main characters individually more than as a couple.

Rounded up to 4 stars

I realized at some point that I mentally categorize Ava Reid, Allison Saft, Charlie Holmberg, and Rebecca Ross in the same general group of soft, vibes-heavy romantic fantasy, and I’ve read a book by each this year. I liked A Fragile Enchantment more than A Study in Drowning and The Hanging City, but it was ultimately just a very light, fluffy read when it could have been a lot more.

One of the biggest problems for me is how incredibly tone-deaf this book is regarding classism and financial privilege. Niamh is a poor girl from a devastated land who has come to work for the ruling elite of her country’s oppressors. The two fictional countries here are based on Ireland and England, to be clear. This is certainly acknowledged, yes, but any political exploration is 1) vague and wishy-washy at best and 2) severely undercut by the tone deafness. We’re supposed to think it’s sweet of Kit (a prince) and Rosa (a princess) to tell Niamh to stop stressing about work, take time off to go to the park with them, and like, enjoy her life, you know!!! <3 :), but that just doesn’t land for me when they are literally her wealthy employers who have been incredibly disrespectful about her work and are currently requiring her to do massive amounts of labor for them. Like, we’re supposed to find it a charming personal foible that Rosa requires twelve hours of sleep a night, but this is contrasted by Niamh actively getting sicker in her terminal illness due to stress and forgoing sleep for days at a time to work on the extremely complicated dress Rosa has demanded of her. It is a little difficult to buy that these people are her true friends, given all of that.

The political aspect of the story is made equally strange and implausible because it requires us to buy the premise that Jack, the prince regent, is the only person who knows that Avaland is actually in a state of catastrophic financial ruin. He is just inexplicably the only one who knows that this is happening, and he is somehow able to keep it a secret from his advisors and Parliament???? This is made even more confusing by some early exposition that states that the royal family is not truly leading the country anymore and Parliament is now in charge. So…huh?

I’m not a massive stickler for anachronisms, but they are fairly notable here. Saft sometimes tries to make characters sound in-period by having them say “sir” and forego contractions, but they say “wow” and “what the hell, man?” just as often. In general, the writing is smooth and pleasant to read, but I did notice some repetitiveness in Saft describing golden beams of light a few too many times throughout.

With all that being said, I really enjoyed Niamh as a protagonist who is soft, kind, emotional and occasionally silly and scatterbrained. Definitely avoid this one if you can’t stand a YA protagonist who is just soooo adorkably clumsy, though!! Kit’s whole thing is that he is supposed to be charmingly uncharming underneath his asshole exterior and *kind but not nice*, but he never really won me over and just remained somewhat unpleasant, if understandably so, throughout.

I did appreciate the parallels between them learning to see themselves as worthy of happiness and deciding to live for something other than duty. The romance is cute but moves fairly quickly; at the end of the day, all I can really say is that I never felt for them as a couple the way I do with my favorite romances. There are still some lovely moments towards the end, especially when Niamh reveals Kit’s wedding cloak in the ceremony and all the flowers bloom in response. I will absolutely read more by Allison Saft, but I hope my next choice is a bit more substantial.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy, upon which this review is based.

Bridgerton meets Celtic folklore?

I don't know, this wasnt really for me.

I felt like the message the author is trying to communicate isn't new/unique. Even though I basically agreed, it was still overt and preachy. I prefer to have themes and messages be subverted and persuasive, rather than being pulverized by them. It was off-putting.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this complimentarily ARC

5 Stars

Once again, Alison’s writing and world building and romance has BLOWN ME OUT OF THE WATER.

This book is as if Bridgerton met with fantasy, meaning it’s essentially a regency romance set is a world that has simple magic and is somewhat based on real world politics.

We have the grumpy sunshine trope mixed with a bit of enemies to lovers mixed with forbidden romance and even a healthy dose of I DONT WANT HER I WANT YOU AND WILL IMPLODE MY LIFE FOR IT. It’s perfection.

I don’t want to give much away, but I will say this is INCREDIBLY satisfying and one of my favorite reads from the year. And if you enjoy audio, give this audiobook a shot!

I adored this standalone fantasy - it had a fairly simple but intriguing plot, multiple romances, and a Bridgerton/Lady Whistledown-esque element that added to the story. Allison Saft does a great job of crafting interesting fantasy plots in immersive worlds, but her real talent lies in her ability to craft characters that feel real. I slowly but surely fell in love with this group of uncommunicative idiots.

I am super excited to pick up more of Allison Saft's novels!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e -ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Fragile Enchantment is the type of low stakes historical fantasy where courtly intrigue and forbidden love reign supreme. It combines the glamor of Bridgerton’s social season with captivating magic in a way that feels wholly original.

The story focuses on the relationship between talented seamstress Niamh and Prince Kit as she prepares the garments for his upcoming wedding to a foreign princess. Niamh and Kit start out as enemies but soon find themselves enthralled in an irresistible forbidden romance. Niamh and Kit are both incredibly developed characters. They are each dealing with separate traumas but find common connection through their hurts and fears. It was beautiful to behold their growth journeys and to watch them let go of their pretenses and lean on one another. In addition, all of the side characters were crafted with the same tenderness. I was even rooting for Kit’s older, misguided brother Jack as he navigated the hardships of ruling a nation.

The magic in this story was also delightful to explore. Niamh’s ability to weave enchantments and memories into her clothing pieces provided many charming moments and Kit’s flora magic acted as an extension of his emotions. These individual magics complimented the characters nicely and helped me understand them deeper.

Thank you to Wednesday Books, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the ARC!

Allison Saft the woman that you are. This book is so SWOONWORTHY. The romance!? THE ROMANCE!? It was so perfectly encapsulated. I love this era of regency romances that is booming and Allison's adding one to upper YA sphere with a hint of magic is just so perfect.

Aspects I loved:
The portrayal of Niamh's chronic illness
The bisexual rep!!
The complexities of family
Kit and Niamh's relationship and growth

I know readers are going to be eating this up. Saft continues to write beautiful, complexly layered stories and cannot wait for what's next in the Saft line up.

In A Fragile Enchantment, the story takes inspiration from Irish and English history to sketch a story about a pair of star-crossed lovers in a historical romantasy context.

Niamh is a Maclish woman (Macland here is rather like Ireland) hired by the Avaland throne to construct wedding finery on behalf of the prince, Kit, and his soon-to-be bride, Rosa. Niamh is gifted with a sort of magic that grants the garments she makes special powers of emotion and influence. To provide for her struggling family in a war-torn nation, Niamh accepts the commission and travels to Avaland. While there, she’s embroiled in romance, scandal, and political stakes with wide-reaching consequences.

Overall, the writing here trended towards lyrical and sweet. Niamh’s dedication to her craft and the tension between the physical toll it takes on her was quite interesting to read about. She was easy to like, though I often found myself frustrated when she put her own experiences and emotions totally aside to give members of royalty the benefit of the doubt when they had not earned it.

My primary issue connecting with the book was that I was more interested in the human rights issues than the romance. The parallels to real-world history drew me in, and the portrait the author sketches of this world was quite compelling! I wanted more of it!!

I’d have liked to see more Maclish issues on the centerstage. Given how significant their protest is, I was hoping to see this unpacked with more nuance. For much of the book, multiple significant characters appear to have a fully apathetic response to the Maclish people’s very real grievances, and that made it difficult to take the rest of their characterization in stride. It's harder to empathize when we see central characters struggling to see the people around them as deserving of equal rights.

Kit, our MMC, was a bit difficult for me to connect with as well, and while he starts to wake up to certain things a bit more (or at least demonstrate something of a start), certain aspects of his relationship with his brother and with Niamh were left murky. Finally, I’d have liked to see a bit more active decision-making from Niamh. Much of the story happened to her. Though, when she did start making more active choices, the story picked up quite a bit! It feels like where Niamh goes from here will be an entirely new story, and I sort of wish I'd gotten to see what she becomes now that she's learned and grown to communicate more and self-advocate.

Special note for Rosa, because she was one of the coolest characters: She had a lot of complexity, and her motivations were three-dimensional.

If you enjoy:
-Victorian or regency romance
-the forbidden love trope
-sad boys with a dark past
-grumpy, antagonizing acquaintances to lovers
-arts and crafts with magic
-heroines who must learn to balance care for others with care for themselves
-teenagers making wildly rash choices
then this might be a good pick for you!

Highly recommend to fans of Bridgerton and Regency romances but wanting magic! Grumpy/Sunshine romance, slow burn. Queer rep. Found family. A good addition to our collection!

This was a cute cozy read. It did take me awhile to get into it. The pacing at the beginning didn't quite pull me in. As Niahm and Kit has more interactions, I became more invested in their story. I did love Niahm and Kit's relationship. It fits in with the grumpy sunshine trope, and there were so many cute moments. I liked the progression of their relationship. It wasn't too fast or forced. There are many parallels to Bridgerton, which at times sort of disappointed me. I wanted it to be a little more original. The addition of magic helped the novel become its own little world. Without that, I would have said it would have been too close to Bridgerton for me.

Allison Saft's A Fragile Entanglement is like a true Bridgeton love story with a spice of mystery and unforgettable side characters! I felt like this novel was fast paced and easy to read just like Allison's Down Comes the Night which was enemies-to-lovers with really good banter as well. She very good at setting up the story and background and then sweeping you in for entire duration of the story. I love the cover and name of the characters. You can tell the author invested a lot of time, research, and love into this story. I think readers will be hooked from the very first chapter! Thank you so much to the Author, The Publisher, and Netgalley for letting me read this beauty!

i’m submitting the reviews for books by you that I already have, but I will never request another one. In October one of your employees made a horribly racist statement and you have chosen to do nothing about it. People have continuously asked you to say that you don’t stand with what the employee said, and you refuse to. This is not someone who I want to promote ever because you are sending the wrong message. These reviews will not be posted on social media because you don’t deserve the promotion. I hope that all of your authors move to other publishers because you are standing with a genocide. Watch this video for more information https://www.tiktok.com/@vivafalastinleen/video/7288407369313307947?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7211704101519296042

The beginning was a bit slow but I really got into it. Kit is so prickly but Nimeah was able to get under his skin and see the real him. Their romance was just really sweet and I had a good time.

I will not be publicly reviewing this book until SMP takes accountability for recent racist actions by a member of their marketing team.

This was an interesting read. I wanted to read this story entirely because of the cover, and was so excited when NetGalley approved my request.

The cover really does capture the vibe. It’s a historical fiction fantasy vibe, think Bridgerton, but with magic. I liked the idea and thought it was entertaining it was a little slow in some places, but I really loved the slow burn between the MC’s. For some reason the MMC reminded me of Cardan from The Cruel Prince. If that’s a selling point, check this one out!

I also liked the different sort of magic that the FMC had. She wove magic into garments, and I loved the whole idea. The end was beautifully written.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a chance to read and review this book!

◆ 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3.5/5 ⭐️
◆ 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 1/5
◆ 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬: standalone, royal family + political tension, complex family relationship, witty banter, slow burn romance, enemies to lovers, grumpy x sunshine, forbidden love, regency-inspired setting, mental health issues, chronic illness, marginalized communities, civil unrest, queer representation
◆ 𝐂𝐖: drugs/alcohol mentioned, mild violence, mild self destruction

Allison Saft weaves a delightful tale that reads like historical fiction with magic and whimsy. The story begins with Niamh Ó Conchobhair as she enters the neighboring kingdom of Avaland and tries to navigate the throngs of high society and the arcane intrigue that comes with being the tailor for a royal family wedding. But Niamh is no ordinary seamstress... taking after her grandmother, she can weave magic and emotion into her creations, which exhibit an otherworldly quality that can turn heads and hearts. Even capture the eye of the Prince Regent himself.

When she meets the younger prince and groom, Kit Carmine, however, he seems less than impressed by her abilities. She is struck hard by his abrasive nature and second guesses her decision to take on such a lofty endeavor. But Niamh has a duty to her family and she will see it through no matter what. That pisspot prince be damned.

Safe to say, their relationship definitely starts off on the wrong foot. Kit regards Niamh's presence as nothing more than an egregious inconvenience. The disdain flows in ripples and poor Niamh is left feeling hurt and vulnerable in the wake. But bless her, she doesn't back down from the challenge and proceeds to go toe-to-toe with Kit despite her people-pleasing nature. The push-pull dynamic has its ups and downs but primarily takes hold midway, when their relationship unfolds, and continues to thrum a steady beat. Especially after facades begin to crack, and feelings are realized, and the weight of that forbidden prospect becomes seemingly unbearable.

As the two navigate around one another, they rely heavily on the buffer that is Kit's best friend, Sinclair. Who is worth mentioning and an absolute delight. And with the addition of Princess Rosa (the bride to be) and company, it really creates an interesting dynamic within our group of characters. I almost wish they had a larger role in the story. It's yet another layer to the many interconnected relationships we see as the story unfolds and I found it to be quite charming as they each add their own distinct voice and complexities to the plot that otherwise might've fallen flat had it just been mainly focused on Niamh and Kit alone.

And in the midst of all this, Lovelace, the anonymous scandal sheet author, is wreaking havoc amongst the royals and the people of the aristocracy. Just like Lady Whistledown of the Bridgerton show or book series, you ask? Yes, exactly like that. Which gave the story a bit of a familiar and somewhat predictable air. I figured out the "twist" early on so the reveal didn't have quite the impact it could have. But even so, that didn't do too much to detract from the overall story which was heavily invested in its character development and I appreciated that. Another strong point was the writing...it was very poignant and atmospheric and lets you fold into the world like a breeze. Like hot chocolate on a cold wintery day. I found it rather enjoyable.

There are also secondary plot points present within the book that provide additional support to the story; I found myself a little more interested in the history of the kingdom, its fading magic systems, and the political strife amid the marginalized Machlish community fighting for their rights. Granted, while all those contributed to the plot at some point, I imagine they aren't exactly conducive to a fantasy romance novel. Still, the story managed to leave me intrigued with the writing and character development of the two mc's. I just wish the pacing would've been more consistent and that certain plot points and backstories had a little more depth. Otherwise, I found it to be a delightful read despite my personal preferences.
(PS: If there is a campaign for Princess Rosa to get her own book, sign me up)