A Fragile Enchantment indeed! I thoroughly enjoyed Allison Saft's fantasy adventure romance. Saft does a lovely job of encorporating class issues, social roles, and magic into this tale.

The audio version is beautifully performed by Fran Burgoyne.

Absolutely not for me unfortunately. The British narrator was too monotone and I kept wishing this story would just fly by and it just wouldn’t. The material is too ya and yet wants to address to many issues. Also I just cannot do 3rd pov.

Alison Saft did not disappoint.

This story is a fantasy historical fiction about a world with wide social disparities, and a girl with a magical gift is plucked from her impoverished island to sew magical clothing for the royal family. I loved the unique ways she used her gifts and the magical world Saft built. There is a enemies-to-lovers plot here, with some betrayal by friends. You could feel Niamh uncertainty as she tries to identify friends and enemies within court politics.

Great audio narration! I never would've been able to pronounce any of those names.

Ultimately a cute story but just didn’t love it. The part about her magic killing her just felt like it was taking it a bit too far to me. I did think the romance was cute and I was super happy with the way that it ended.

🌀Synopsis
Niahm is leaving home to use her magic to the best of her abilities. She’s a talented seamstress who can stitch her emotions into her work. It can change the entire feel and emotions in the rooms where her pieces are worn. She’s chosen to see a bridal party outfit for a neighboring land, where she meets Kit.
Kit is initially very standoffish. He has no use for Niahm and just puts up with her. The two begin to grow very close though and eventually share very intimate secrets. Kit is supposed to be married though and their relationship is doomed by his marriage. The wedding day is full of excitement though as Niahm and Kit’s futures play out in front of them.

Overall, I enjoyed myself while reading this book, though I didn't always feel compelled to pick it back up once put down.

Niamh was a pretty bland FMC, and Kit was your typical YA broody MMC. There wasn't really anything special about them and I found it hard to care about what happened to them. The side-characters were far more interesting. I think following the likes of Rosa, Miriam, or even Sophia would have made for a more interesting read.

The plot was enjoyable, but again, bland. There were some promising storylines that were just dropped (Lovelace, the Macklish vs the Avalish) in favour of a grumpy x sunshine love story. The ending also felt... incomplete. There was a lot left to be resolved (and those resolutions could have been very interesting indeed), but it seems like Saft rushed the conclusion.

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.