4.8 / 5.0

A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft is a masterpiece of beauty, intrigue, and love. I thoroughly enjoyed this at every moment of reading it. The characters are superb, the world building is exquisite, and the plot will leave everyone satisfied.

Overall, if you like A Far Wilder Magic (also by Saft) or Sorcery of Thorns (by Margaret Rogerson), you will enjoy the magic, mystery, and romance of this too.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for access to this eARC.

Until Next Time,
MC

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A Fragile Enchantment was so fun! It is a regency inspired fantasy romance that was very whimsical and dreamy. I really enjoyed it and thought it was a fun quick read. The atmosphere is very cozy, while still covering topics like oppression, addiction, and chronic illness. I enjoyed the characters and their banter and I think they made the book really fun. The magic is sprinkled into this book, but not a very large element. At times the book was a bit slow, but overall I would recommend this to anyone who likes regency vibes or a cozy romance.

Niamh Ó Conchobhair lands the job of a lifetime stitching the wardrobe for the royal wedding, but winds up in over her head.

Oh man, I was really let down by this one. This book feels very much Bridgerton but add magic. The season, the romance with an ulterior motive plot. Not a bad thing, but just not quite what I expected, I guess. The book was okay.

The setting of the book was pretty standard. Kingdom with smaller outer lying territories in strife with the kingdom. The disparity between this places made sense in the grand scheme of things, setting up how Niamh was treated by those within royal society. I wish there was something more unique about the setting, other than standard but add magic. Getting into the plot of the book, it had a lot of potential. The story itself is good, well written and I enjoyed it. But it just didn’t stand out. Again, very Bridgerton but make it YA.

My biggest pet peeve was the characters. Niamh is somehow meek but also strong, I was confused by her growth to where she ended up. Kit was just downright mean through the book and their relationship felt borderline toxic. I didn’t quite catch the cute, fluffy relationship that I expected. Loved the queer representation though.

I wanted to really like this one, but it just wasn’t for me. Neutral 3 stars.

I received an arc from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
Spice level:1/5-fade to black
I thoroughly enjoyed the books. It is a very beautiful magically world. I enjoyed the world building and the magic systems. The characters are very relatable. The main relationship was very beautifully written. It's a very nice and sweet romance. I'd love to see another book set in the same world.

Review withheld until Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press responds to the reasonable demands of the boycott. Even though as a bookseller, I still will suggest to customers, as an influencer, I feel it important that the boycott works.

Allison Saft has a knack for writing romantic tension and complicated character relationships, which is evident in her latest novel, A Fragile Enchantment.

The forbidden love and enemies to lovers tension between Niamh and Kit is exactly what I expected for a romantic fantasy, and the build up of their relationship was well paced for the story. The banter between these two, as well as with a full cast of secondary characters, was a lot of fun and truly kept the story together.

The pacing of the story itself, however, was lacking. It took a while for anything to happen aside from the quick-witted dialogue and obvious pining, and while the concept for the magic system was cool, there were times I felt confused by the explanation and wanted something a little more. In addition, the political drama served merely as a backdrop to the romance and much of the conflict was glossed over near the end and easily resolved.

I’m also not sure how I feel about how terrible Kit acted throughout the book. There were times their relationship felt more toxic than adorable, and I wish there had been a bigger moment of change for both of them.

Based on Saft’s other books, I expected the fantasy aspects to come into play more, but instead, this story is very focused on the romance above all else. Fans of romantasies are sure to enjoy this book more than I did.

I love Allison Saft so much and A Fragile Enchantment was absolutely freaking amazing!!! I seriously could not put this down

Ahh, I really enjoyed this Romantasy book! A great read for vacation. I devoured it very quickly. I liked the characters, the world building, and magic system. I did get annoyed with the main character constantly apologizing but so did the love interest and it was acknowledged within the storyline.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love literally everything about this book! The enemies-to-lovers, the regency romance, the fact that it’s written by Allison Saft! I’ve never read regency era books before and I think this has opened up a whole new world for me. I absolutely love the relationship between Kit and Niamh and I will probably be thinking about this book for way too long. I will forever recommend recommend this book to everyone I know.

Bridgerton + magic + garden vibes
1/5 in spice

Loved the cozy, enchanting, regency era vibes. Our main girl Niamh has the ability to embue emotion into her sewing and embroidery and I thought that concept was so neat. The relationship between Niamh and Kit kept me on the edge of my seat. I love the emotional connection that they quickly built, and gave the foundation for the romance. Niamh and Kit, and even some of the side characters, felt unique and unlike characters I've read before- even if I didn't always fully understand their actions.

I would have loved to see the magic system built up a little more, and some parts of the plot felt choppy (like her friend Erin??). Also I felt that the regency-era setting wasn't committed to enough. Every once in a while the characters would express concern over reputation/status/purity, but then it would be thrown out the window in the next scene. Overall this wasn't quite a 5-star book for me, but it was a very enjoyable and cute read!

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review :)

This story transports you to a regency era England filled with magic and romance. I really liked the magic system and Niamh’s powers. She was also a great mc, she was strong, talented, and full of love for those she cares about. One of those being Kit. I loved their relationship so much. They had the great banter of a hate to love with the longing and tension of a forbidden romance. You couldn’t help but root for them and scream at them to admit their feelings and get together. I also really liked the glimpse of Avaland politics in this book and how Kit and Niamh are both pawns in this larger game. But their love is bigger than that.

Overall, I loved the story and the romance and highly recommend!

Read if you like…
•regency era
•forbidden romance
•hate to love
•Bridgerton with magic

A Fragile Enchantment had a lot of potential and the blurb had me very interested, but sadly the story fell flat for me. This young adult fantasy had a bit of everything - magic, mystery, political intrigue, and of course romance. Unfortunately, the characters weren’t especially compelling and I didn’t feel truly invested in the romance between Kit and Niamh. The writing was good and I liked the magic in the world, but the overall pace of the story felt too slow. The big reveals didn’t pack any punch because it was obvious what was going to happen. The ending wrapped up very neatly and a lot of the previous problems our characters faced were glossed over/resolved quickly. There wasn’t anything terrible about A Fragile Enchantment, but there also wasn’t anything amazing about the story either.

The highlight of the book was the narration by Fran Burgoyne. Her performance was fantastic! She voiced each character distinctly and I didn’t have any issues differentiating between characters thanks to the variety of accents and tones used.

Audiobook Review
Overall 3 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 2.5-3 stars

CW: financial issues, political turmoil, war (past), alcoholism/recovering alcoholic, child abuse/physical abuse (past), disowned by parent/family due to sexual orientation (past, secondary character), classism, homophobia, chronic illness

*I voluntarily read and listened to an advance review copy of this book*

Allison Saft is an autobuy author. Everything from her lush, beautiful worldbuilding to her lovable characters is so perfectly my vibe. I'm not usually a historical girlie, but I loved this Bridgerton-inspired world. Kit was such a prickly, interesting love interest and the entire cast of charcters was so compelling.

**3.5 STARS**

Content Warning: self harm, alcoholism

+ Okay I said maybe I’m over historical romances, but I think if it’s a historical fantasy romance like this particular book then I’m not over it at all. I definitely like how this story had the drama of a gossip sheet (like Bridgerton), the balls, a royal wedding, a romance and a rebellion going on.

+ There’s magic in this book and Niamh’s craft is sewing. I thought it was pretty cool how she could create fashions that evoke emotions. Other characters have magic too like but not everyone has it. It definitely made the story feel enchanted with the element of magic that certain characters could wield.

+ This story has a strong cast of characters from the main ones Niamh and Kit to the rest of the group which consisted of Kit’s future wife, his best friend and his family. I like the LGBT+ representation, Niamh and Kit are both bi-sexual, and other characters are queer as well.

+~ Speaking of romance -I love a good enemies to lovers romance and there is a lot of tension between Niamh and Kit which for the most part I enjoyed. But there was something about their romance at times that frustrated me also maybe it’s the times he’s being rude – but his grumpiness is supposed to be attractive? I just felt like he was being a brat at times.

~ The political conflict in the book didn’t feel solved at the end, and honestly I think Jack and his wife could have their own book where they fall in love with one another and he figures out how to become a better leader.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this book and loved that it was historical romance with magic elements I thought the writing was very lyrical and made the story enchanting.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought Niamh was a really lovely, and relatable, main character. The regency setting with the unique magic system made for a really fun read. I thought the pacing got a little slow in the middle of the story, but I really liked how everything played out.

Allison Saft, you can do no wrong. This is your third book that I've gotten and devoured, the prose is whimsical - I've been reading what feels like more contemporary novels recently and forgot how beautiful writing can be. Saft's writing is immersive, suiting the regency-fantasy world it is set in. I feel like I'm so used to Saft's characters being relatively alone that this friend group caught me by surprise but the dynamics were so fun! I fully thought Rosa was not going to be an enjoyable character considering she's engaged to Kit but she was!! I really wanted more from the book, I felt the ending was a little rushed (or maybe I just felt like that because I didn't want it to end), but that isn't enough for me to round down to a 4/5, maybeeee a 4.5/5 or like,,, a 4.8/5. But I wholeheartedly enjoyed and loved this book. This recurring theme of doing what is expected of you vs what you want to do was prevalent in all of the characters, everyone felt fleshed out. Kit and Niamh you deserve the world.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Quick Summary: A fantastical NA regency experience

My Review: A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft is a "Regency England-inspired fantasy" novel. It is marketed toward teens and YA.

About the Book: In a tiered class system, a magical dressmaker finds herself caught up in a struggle between the haves and have nots. All is not as it would seem, as more is at play. Relationships, political machinations, scandal, brokenness, and heavy burdens weigh the leads down. Love lifts them up.

My Final Say: This was a highly interesting story. There was so much more to it than I expected. It had diverse characters who shared a sameness, in a sense. It also had an ugly-beautiful quality to it, in terms of the oppression of some (although it could be said of all), the dysfunctional society of people, the need for justice, the embracing of the forbidden, and the individual moments of growth and actualization. There were dangling threads, however, in the scheme of things, it did not lessen what ultimately transpired between Niamh and Kit.

Other: Because of the nature of much of the content in this book, I would suggest it be marketed as a NA versus a YA/teen read. It would be more appropriate.

Special Remarks: I had the pleasure of being able to read a digital copy of this work, as well as being able to listen to an audiobook of it. While I enjoyed both experiences, I preferred the audio. The e-ARC dragged a bit in some spots, which made my interest wane at times. The audiobook kept the character play fresher, which caused me to be more engaged with the process.

Rating: 3.75/5
Recommend: Yes
Recommended Audience: NA
Status/Level: 💬

Appreciation is extended to the author, to the publishers (St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners), and to NetGalley. Thank you so very much for providing access to this title in exchange for an honest review. The words I have shared are my own. I am grateful for the opportunity I was given.

This slowly grew on me the more I read it. I sometimes struggle with Romantasy because I always wish there was more fantasy than romance, but this one is one of the best that I've read. It's very cozy and the magic vibes were well thought out. I'm really hoping this is actually the Jan pick for Owlcrate!

Not giving a star rating. (Unfortunately with NetGalley, I have to leave a rating. I won’t rate the book elsewhere.)

Use of modern slang in a fantasy world.
DNF for me as it completely takes away from the world building.

Thank you Wednesday books for the e-ARC. I’m sure it’s a great story for those that can get around the slang.

4.5 stars! I absolutely adored this book!

A Fragile Enchantment is a heartwarming historical fantasy that will captivate you with its tenderness and charm.

The regency-esque setting and grumpy x sunshine romance is perfect for fans of Bridgerton and Pride and Prejudice, complete with a magical twist.

First and foremost, I loved the characters. Niamh and Kit will forever have my heart. Their banter and repressed pining gave me life and I loved them together from the start. Their enemies to friends to lovers relationship was so perfectly crafted - it had me feeling all of the feels.

I also enjoyed the side characters (Sofia, Rosa, Miriam, Sinclair.. even Jack). They were all well developed, and each had their own perfect place in the tapestry of this story. The friendship group that formed was a sweet touch as well and I loved seeing them all interact.

Secondly, I greatly enjoyed the magic in this. It felt very whimsical and fairytale-esque. Niamh's ability to weave emotions (enchantments) into clothing was unique and just overall super cool to read about. And Kit's plant powers reacting to his feelings involuntarily? /swoon. The magic system itself wasn't gone into in depth, but I didn't feel like the story suffered because of it.

And for those of you looking for more than just a romance, there are various levels of politics prevalent in the story also. These affect all of the characters at one point or another (in different ways) and add a layer of realism to the world.

This was my first time reading something by Allison Saft and it has fully convinced me that I need to check out her other work! I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.