This was underwhelming at best. Honestly felt like I wasted my time reading as the big reveal at the end was so not worth the pages flipped. Romantasy needs to be well done from plot to paper and this was not. At many points I was left questioning the magical elements.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVE Allison Saft. Her magic systems are always so unique. A Fragile Enchantment was so romantic and so angsty! I love a moody romance, and Niamh and Kit really came through. This is also a great example of complicated family dynamics, as well as class difference/disputes, with regency vibes and a secret gossip column, giving it some Bridgerton vibes.

This book left me dreaming of magical clothing, but it also left me thinking about how to make the world a better place.

I can’t remember what it was I read, but I do remember loving the way story just sucked me in and would not let me go. There was suspense, intrigue, adventure, and romance all rolled into this story and it kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen next.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for this e-ARC of A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft in exchange for an honest review. This book was charming and I honestly wished I had kept this until after the Bridgerton season 3 premiere because this would have helped the hangover.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, though there were a few odd things about its pacing, especially towards the final quarter of the book. But let’s start with the all of the good stuff. First of all, I love Saft’s style of writing. It’s approachable, engaging, and I very quickly felt attached to the characters and plot. The dialogue was also capable of delivering laughs just as much as conveying the more emotional, romantic scenes. It was a very smooth reading experience, and, like I said, for the first 75% of the story, I was zipping along without a care in the world. I also enjoyed the world-building and magical elements. Nothing was overly complex here, but it also all felt complete enough that I felt solidly placed within the world and understood how the magic worked.

This book is really delightful. It's Regency romance meets magical fantasy, and it's a perfect combination. A plucky seamstress who sews magic into the clothes she makes is hired to make the wedding clothes for a prince who's about to enter an arranged marriage. He's grumpy and she's sunshine, and they're a really fun couple. There's also magic and political intrigue and it's a really great story. I highly recommend it.

I received a digital ARC from the Publisher via Netgalley though all thoughts are my own.

I was really excited when I first heard about this book and overall, it was an enjoyable read. It was a meet disaster of sorts with Niamh and Kit as Kit came across as being very arrogant though over time, it's revealed why Kit acts in such a way.
I love that Niamh and Kit's magic is unique and also complements each other. I also loved seeing their friendship blossom and how supportive they were especially during difficult times. I found it sweet that Niamh was able to make friends with Kit's friend group, including someone his big brother is determined to have him married to.

I would love if there was a sequel though it ends in such a way that I can see it being a standalone as well.

Trigger warnings: illness, death of loved ones

This was a cute book! It’s not something I would have picked up at the bookstore but it was still a really cute story!

This was so magical and whimsical and unique! I absolutely loved their romance and the characters. Read through it in one sitting.

2.5 stars.

A Fragile Enchantment is a book following our FMC Niamh using her tailor magic to earn a better life for her family. The description really appealed to me and I liked the idea of her magic flowing into her gift of tailoring and stitching emotions into the items, totally intriguing premise! Niamh was just a little too bland for my liking and the pacing for the first half, 2/3rds of the book was really slow so it made it really hard to get into the book.

Although I didn’t love this book I do have high hopes for this author and I’m excited to see what else she comes up with!

I went into this not sure how I was going to like it because it came off very "magical realism" to me but not a sort of regency novel. That made me nervous but honestly as I started it this became a book that I just wanted to read.

Niamh was such a powerful character because she was doing what was best for her family by taking the job that had been offered for her. Despite being from the part of the kingdom that had been oppressed by the crown she went into it with hopes that it wouldn't be that bad. As she gets to know Kit (who she's making the wedding wardrobe for) she begins to see that the royals have just as much to lose as Niamh.

I found myself rooting for Niamh and Kit early on and I loved that she was wanting the best for the troubled royals. She saw them as people and not just these people who have done her wrong nor did she see them as these great people who were just looking out for Niamh's people. It felt like she saw them for who they actually were and that was refreshing to see in a royal's type book. I enjoyed the magical realism aspect of this with people having gifts but them not being hard magic. It made the magic feel so believable.

I want to thank Netgalley, the publisher, and author for my advanced copy of this book.

Special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Content Warning: This book includes: on-page alcohol consumption, sexual content: (Insinuations and jokes, tension & loads of pining, and romantic and sexual thoughts and scenes). A several on-page swears, lots of familial issues and referenced child abuse, mentions of murder, war, grief, and panic attacks.

I was super excited when I saw this book on NetGalley because the vibes sounded immaculate and I was NOT disappointed. This book is definitely Bridgerton with magic. The characters are funny and relatable. The story kept me captivated and overall I was very entertained. Historical fiction is something I’ve grow up reading and Saft did a fabulous job creating a realistic and intriguing court.

The cover alone sold me on the book, but Niamh and Kit kept me there. I loved the banter and chemistry between these two and everyone else. The found family and various friendships in this book are also some of the best I’ve read in awhile.

I would recommend A Fragile Enchantment to anyone who loves Young Adult romantasy. Recommended reading would be Saft’s other works, like A Far Wilder Magic and Down Comes the Night. I would also recommend Belladona by Adalyn Grace (Historical fantasy), Once Upon a Broken Heart series by Stephanie Garber (Fantasy/soft & romantic heroine), for older readers Bridgerton by Julia Quinn would obviously be a great rec too.

I wasnt as obsessed with this as I wanted to be. It is definitely more of a cosy fantasy feel and I was expecting more of a fantasy book. I also didnt really like the romance. Definitely seemed very toxic. I just had a hard time getting into the story. It wasnt bad, just not what i was in the mood for.

I love Allisons writing and this book was another amazing read! She writes such unique characters and sweet romances in her books! I can't wait to read more books from her in the future!

I loved the whimsical vibes that the book gave me and it was totally what I was looking for! One of my most anticipated releases of 2024 and it did not disappoint!! I was looking for something easy to follow along and overall really enjoyable and this book did exactly that for me! I loved the writing style and the cover was so cute!

A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft was fun, but overall forgettable.

The good: I liked that Niamh knew her boundaries with Kit. She loves him but isn't willing to ruin her life and dreams for him. Slay, queen.

I appreciated that Niamh has a chronic illness that isn't just magically cured. I thought Niamh's illness was a good representation and felt like a breath of fresh air compared to the typical representations of illness in fantasy and romance novels. Because of Niamh's illness, there are several poignant notes in A Fragile Enchantment that hit home for me, such as her life view that she needs to cram as many experiences into her life as possible before her time runs out.

I also enjoyed reading the complex characters, especially Jack and Kit. Jack, who is Kit's brother and the crown prince, is not a likeable character. However, because of his background and obvious love for Kit, I couldn't help but empathize with him, want him to do better, and care for him.

The not-so-good: The first glaring, not-great thing was that I really wasn't buying into the relationship between Niamh and Kit. And this may be because I found Kit to be annoying, especially towards the latter part of the novel. Without spoilers, Kit makes several decisions later in the novel that feel rushed and poorly chosen by the author. It felt like Allison Saft had to find some drama for the climax of the book, so she made Kit make poor decisions. The theme of the last 30% of the novel was Kit making stupid decisions and then Niamh racing to clean it up so he doesn't die. The ending, summarized: guys being dudes, causing problems. Once the guys are done being dudes and Niamh has solved the problems, the novel speeds up. Like, things happen QUICKLY, and nothing is left to the imagination.

That being said, A Fragile Enchantment was not bad. If you want something light and fun, go ahead and read it. I gave A Fragile Enchantment 3/5 stars. Thank you Allison Saft, NetGalley, and Wednesday Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Fragile Enchanment is everything I want in a romantic fantasy. This book was fantastic and kept me glued in the whole time. I finished this in one sitting! The romance? amazing. The magic? fascinating. The tension and banter? UGH TO DIE FOR. Allison Saft has been and always will be an auto buy author for me. 5 stars all around.

A Fragile Enchantment was one of my very highly anticipated books. I love anything Regency England inspired with magic, and this book delivered on that premise.

A Fragile Enchantment has a lot going on. Niamh is from a poor country neighboring Avaland, and all she wants is to provide for her family. She gets invited to make the prince’s wedding attire in Avaland and goes there with the intent of making enough to bring her family with her after the wedding. She doesn’t anticipate being embroiled in scandal. There’s the backdrop of a social uprising regarding the treatment of the citizens of Niamh’s native Machland, an anonymous social columnist (a la Lady Whistledown in Bridgerton), and there’s clearly something going on in the palace. The book does not lack plot points. It made it a very easy read - there was always some reveal which the characters seemed to be rushing toward throughout the whole story.

The strongest part of A Fragile Enchantment is the characters. Nuanced and frequently flawed, I really did love all of them. Were there moments when I felt like Niamh was being idiotic? 100% yes. However, what young adult fantasy female main character doesn’t suffer from a little bit of stupidity? But she was so focused on her family and willing to risk it all for those she loved. And Kit was a delightfully grumpy hero in contrast. It was fun to watch him slowly morph over the book from a grumpy jerk to a character with depth and understandable demons. Also, the side characters are so well drawn out. I felt like I knew them, and even though some of them were barely on the page, their personalities were so distinct that I don’t have trouble recalling them as I write this review (not always the case, let me tell you).

I do have one quibble about the book, however. The setting was very clearly inspired by our real world, and I felt like the world building suffered for it. It very clearly was leaning on the reader’s knowledge of the world to fill in blanks. For example, the prince’s fiancé was from Castilia, but they speak Spanish. It just felt like countries and religions were given new names and that was that. Additionally, the magic was never really explained - it’s just thrown in there. It honestly didn’t even feel that necessary, and it almost would have been better if Niamh had been invited as a dressmaker as a result of her dressmaking skills, not her magic skills.

Overall, A Fragile Enchantment is a delightful Regency-esque standalone fantasy with amazing characters, and an interesting plot. I would recommend it to those who want a grumpy/sunshine pairing, enjoy some political intrigue in their magical romance or love a Cinderella-style plotline.

Content notes: Homophobia, references to alcoholism

3⭐️

<b>“I like beautiful things, and I like making things that make people feel beautiful.”</b>

This book was interesting and cute, but overall a little dull. It took me a while to finish it because I wasn’t super into the story, and I can’t really remember what happened. The magic system was unique and refreshing, but could have been better developed. This would be a good book if you’re into regency style romance with a little magic thrown in.

<b>Her, heart twisting itself into lovesick knots. Him, impossibly out of her reach for a hundred different reasons.</b>

How can I describe how much I loved this book? It was so beautiful, beautifully written, had wonderful characters, and was just all around a joy to read. This book is for someone who wants a very soft fantasy and is generally here for the vibes. It was a romance and that aspect of it was very pleasant to read. There was a political side and a Bridgerton-style secret writer but I found that part of the story to be the least compelling. The world-building was also a little too vague at times so, again, this is for someone who is not looking for a complex high fantasy. Overall a great read.