I liked this but felt it was a little slow. Even though I enjoy YA books I felt like the characters needed a bit more tension. Solid 3. stars

A cozy romance that suffered from slow pacing and forgettable characters.

A Fragile Enchantment will likely find a home with the cozy reads crowd but for me the pacing and characters weren't engaging enough to make me care. The tale didn't really get any forward movement until the dead middle of the pages and by then the reading felt tedious and a chore. For me, it is hard to recover once you have hit that mark. The similarities to Bridgerton made the story feel unoriginal and set an expectation that was never met.

This was my first Saft novel and perhaps I had unfair lofty expectations, after hearing positive reviews from her previous works.

I was lucky enough to get the earc and the audiobook and it is worth noting that I do think the narrator in the audio-book was phenomenal and definitely enhanced the story!

This YA romance fantasy follows Niamh a garment maker, but what makes her different from other designers? Is the fact that Niamh can use her magic and put emotions and memories into the clothes that she stitches. Because of this, she is asked to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland. This is the perfect chance for her to make a better life for herself and her family.
Avaland is not what it seems, while young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. On top of that the groom, Kit is prickly as a throne, but it doesn't take long to realize that he is a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship arises which causes an anonymous columnist to start writing about them. But as Niamh tries to make the perfect wardrobe she soon finds out some royal secrets that can change everything.

Thank you to Netgalley and St.Martin Press for providing us with the ARC for this book.

As I do run a podcast this book was going to be featured on one of the episodes but due to the boycott to SMP we felt like it wasn't right to do so. This saddens us because Allison Saft is such an amazing writer who wrote an amazing book that my cohost and I adore. Hopefully, soon SMP will answer questions that us as a community are asking and we can properly give this book the review is deserves.

Niamh knows she will eventually die from an illness caused by the magic she uses to imbue the clothing she sews with emotions. With this knowledge ever present in her mind, she is determined to do everything she can to make sure her mother will be provided for after she is gone. Despite the injustice she's seen inflicted upon many members of society by the royal family, she can't help but accept when offered the chance to design the clothing for the prince's upcoming wedding. But the prince, who seems an enemy at first, begins to grow on Niamh. Even though the prince and his fiancee do not actually want to wed each other, there are deeper political machinations at play - and Niamh's growing feelings for the prince could jeopardize the peace in the land.

This was a sweet fantasy that also addressed inequity in class systems. While the story itself feels reminiscent of other fantasy enemy-to-lovers, readers will nonetheless enjoy the interplay between Niamh and the prince, and the characters of the best friend and the fiancee.

I adored this audiobook for both its story and its narrator. A cozy regency romance with fantasy elements that also doesn't shy away from subjects like political and class conflict. Also really appreciated the queer and chronic illness rep. A magical story in more ways than one.

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!

This book was so much fun. I'm so glad I'm getting the Fairyloot edition already. Thank you for the arc

I wasn’t sure what made me request this book, it’s not my typical read, but I’m so glad that I did. This was such a beautiful book and I love how they mixed Bridgerton and magic. I absolutely love Niamh as the main character and Kit, oh Kit, definitely made me fall in love.

Thanks so much to Wednesday Books, Allison Saft, and NetGalley for my early digital and audio arcs of this book!

4.25 stars

This book was incredibly charming. Niamh is our FMC who has a particular kind of magic that allows her to weave her emotions into thread, making her a sought after seamstress. However, as a Machlishwoman, she does not hold a respectable position in society. Insert Kit Carmine, the younger of the two princes and the absolute embodiment of “I hate everyone, even you… until I don’t” lol.

The audiobook was not my favorite to start — each character seemed VERY young — but it grew on me and I ended up really enjoying it.

I loved the forbidden love in this book, and how each character learned to believe they are worthy of love. How Niamh learned that she can occasionally put herself first and how Kit learned that he doesn’t have to make himself miserable to keep everyone happy.

I also really loved all of the side characters. Sinclair, Miriam, and Rosa all had complete personalities and brought so much to the story in their own ways. Sinclair was a complicated character but definitely the breath of fresh air and humor you needed.

I definitely recommend this one for a charming, quick read.

This was a really fun read, like Bridgerton with magic. The grumpy love interest was done well and easy to grow to love him. I also thought the magic of stitching emotions into clothes was really cool! As an educator, the spice level in this YA was too high for me to feel comfortable placing the book on my own classroom shelf, but any students already watching Bridgerton would probably love it.

I was a bit hesitant when I first picked up this book since I didn't feel like I connected with the characters, but then all of a sudden I would have died to see all of the characters did not have a happily ever after so to speak.

safe to say I ended up really enjoying it!

the romance had me SWOONING, like why can't we still dress up like this? I would give anything to wear a ball gown and fall in love with an attractive man with *manners*

anyways I'm gonna swoon some more, I 100% recommend


thank you Netgalley and the publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review!!

3.75 stars rounded up.

This book was half Regency half Fantasy in a way. I really enjoyed the plot of this book. It’s a quick cutesy book with magical elements, princes, and arranged marriages. This book took me a while to get through because I kept having to go back and reread or relisten to some parts I missed or didn’t make sense the first time, and this is probably no fault of the author, I don’t think I was necessarily in the mood for this type of story. However, I really loved the MCs and the mystery of Lovelace. The magical elements brought something new i’ve not seen before with the unique powers the FMC possessed. I also do love a book where the characters are going at each other and then inevitably fall in love. Overall a cute magical read!

A Fragile Enchantment is a very pretty book with a lovely magical plot. This title had a very unique writing style that Saft has created and the world was easy to melt in to and enjoy.

DNF @ 40%

the narrator was fantastic. i really enjoyed her voice and it helped to listen to this with the gaelic names. i was really enjoying the story overall, but then it got to a certain point and i realized that i’m just not the audience for this book. i also wouldn’t recommend this as YA. it’s definitely new adult and should be treated as such.

thank you to wednesday books and macmillan audio for advanced copies. my thoughts are my own.

This regenency inspired enemies to lovers is wonderfully magical and heartwrenchingly romantic. The audiobook took me straight into the world of Avaland. I would have never been able to pronounce some of these names otherwise. As a seamstress myself I absolutely adored reading this story. I'd reccomend it to anyone who enjoys Ghibli and Bridgerton.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫/5 (3.5 Stars)
Steam: 🌶️/5 (one scene with some description)

Out now!

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the early listening copy in exchange for my honest review.

Narration: the voice actress was amazing! I loved how they narrated this and it kept me so interested. I highly recommend the audio format for this book.

No spoiler review 👇🏻

I enjoyed this book! It’s a mix of Pride and Prejudice, Bridgerton, and magic. Lots of things I love so much.

It’s a YA romantasy read, following Niamh, she’s a dressmaker that threads magic into her creations. She’s hired to make the season and wedding attire of the Prince and his bride to be. However as she works, she grows closer to the Prince…

It’s romantic and full of amazing banter. I loved the magic elements it added a lot to it.
It has hate to love vibes, and LGBT rep in some of the characters.

Reason for 3.5 Stars- it was slow in the middle, and I wish the magic system was a bit more flushed out.
Overall it’s a good YA historical romance fantasy read!

CW homophobia, class system, mention of suicide (past), alcoholism,
Terminal illness.

First off, thank you to Wednesday books and Netgalley for the audio copy of this book!

I adored Saft’s A Far Wilder Magic, especially in audiobook form, 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.

One final positive I will say: I LOVED the audiobook narrator for this one. She kept me engaged in the story when the plot itself did not, and characterized everyone on the page so well.

Thank you to Macmillan, Wednesday, and Netgalley for this arc copy!

While there were some convenient elements within the story, especially the romance, this was beautifully executed. The audiobook was stunning, the storyline was riveting, and I highlighted so many passages.

I was utterly entranced and felt transported to an alternate England/Ireland/Spain and the magic only made it better.

I’d love to see a sequel or even a prequel. I feel like there is so much more story that we could read in this world.

Niamh, a talented magical seamstress who sews emotions into her creations, journeys from her native country of Mackland to Avaland, where she has been commissioned to create the wedding outfits for Prince Kit and Infanta Rosa. Kit is immediately portrayed as crusty and rude, although handsome, and Niamh struggles to not be attracted to him. Rosa is polite on the surface, but there is much more to her than she lets on. Neither Kit nor Rosa desire their union, but they realize it is a political necessity. Also, while not immediately understood to the reader, there has been some discrimination between the two lands, and Niamh is approached by the mysterious gossip columnist Lovelace to be a spy in the castle.
A lot goes on in this tale, but it was an enjoyable read and not challenging to follow. The little bit of magic, the rebelling against norms, the gossip and romance all flowed smoothly throughout the story.

4 Stars

Well, that was just delightful. This reminded me of the classic Regency romance novels that I love but with magic. I adored the characters so much and all the tension between them. The angst and the push and pull between Niamh and Kit were delicious. Saft had me rereading some scenes because of it. The court and kingdom intrigue were very well done especially since I knew going in that this was a romance-centered story.