This is the second book I read by this author, and same as with A Far Wilder Magic, I feel it had a lot of potential it just kept dragging on.
I did like the FMC and her backstory, but not enough to be truly invested.

I do not, however, think this is a bad book. Allison Saft has consistently been a NYT bestseller for a reason and I think a ton of people will like this book, I am unfortunately not one of them.

Thank you to net galley and the publisher for this ARC

A seamstress falls in love with a rejected prince; apparently, there’s magic somewhere, too. The premise of this book sounded right up my alley–it started strong but ended up losing me. The magic system was severely underdeveloped, and many of the reveals at the end felt pushed as a reason to wrap up the plot rather than being genuine parts of the characters. That said, I did enjoy the banter between Niamh and Kit, and the overall world, with its political quarrels, had a lot of potential! This one might be a good read for historical romance lovers because it’s certainly a slow burn, and several friends I talked to said it gives strong Bridgerton vibes.

Thank you, @stmartinspress and @netgalley, for the review copy!

"Love is what makes life worth living. Love is what makes us act when we most need to. That's what your legacy is. It's how you love the people around you, not how much you've sacrificed for them."

I'm between 4 and 5 stars for this one, mostly because the plot became a bit too drawn out and convoluted towards the end, but the ending itself was so warm and just exactly what I wanted that I think I will go with a 5.

Allison Saft just knows how to write about yearning, and this book is FULL of it. Some events are drawn out, like I mentioned before, but I never truly felt bored. The plot flowed nicely, and offered enough turns to keep me wondering. And I loved all the characters - Niamh was headstrong, Kit was infuriating and then charming, and the rest of the cast balanced each other out nicely. The writing was magical without veering into superfluous, and as this is the second book I've read (and enjoyed) by this author, I can confidently say that she is one of my new favorites.

I would have liked to see more about her chronic illness and how that will effect her new career and relationship with Kit. Also, based on the book's description, I had expected the gossip columnist's proposal to be a bigger part of the plot, but it wasn't really. I enjoyed the plot for what it did end up being, in any case.

This was a nice read that has left me with a warm feeling inside. Beautiful prose, loveable and understanding characters (except Jack?), and a wild story...what's not to love?

This was a cute regency romance. A grumpy/sunshine relationship. The consequences in this book felt real, but they were kind of ignored at the end for the sake of wrapping things up. I did not like Kit as a love interest for 30% of the book. I normally can live off of "bread crumbs" when it comes to enemies vs lovers, but I felt like I was getting nothing for a good bit. I loved Rosa. She is my goth Princess. Overall I give this book 3.5 (4 rounded up)⭐

~thank you to netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an advanced reader copy-

this one is for the girls who’s comfort movie is the 2005 adaptation of pride & prejudice!

a fragile enchantment is a fairytale, regency-era love story centering around our FMC, Niamh, a divine blooded gifted seamstress, and our MMC, Kit, a brooding prince.

This story was so whimsical and comforting and I ate it up! I personally love regency-era media in any format and this did not disappoint! Allison Saft has a gift for writing such beautiful imagery, and intricate characters. It was so easy to picture the setting and our characters because of their writing.

This book feels very bridgerton-esc and features a gossip collumn that stirs up trouble in our characters lives.

the romance was to DIE FOR!! the angst and frustrations between our two mc’s was delectable and the romance was so tender and sweet.

my only critiques of this story is that it felt like there was some unresolved conflicts, that were never resolved and felt important to the story. I also felt like towards the end it started to drag but picked up and finished very intensely!

just wanted to mention that I recieved this ARC a few days after its release which is why im posting this review late! either way a fragile enchantment is out now! go buy a copy with this beautiful copy!

This book was such a fun read, it’s such an engrossing read. Loved the regency Bridgeton fantasy spin. The magic system and characters were enjoyable. My only complaint is the ending felt a bit drawn out. Overall, would highly recommend this.

I will update with my review once the SMP boycott has ended.

In the meantime...
#SPEAKUPSMP has three demands:

Address and denounce the Islamophobia/racism from their employee.

Offer tangible steps for how they're going to mitigate the harm this employee caused.

Address how, moving forward, they will support and protect their Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab readers, influencers, and authors in addition to their BIPOC readers, influencers, and authors.

This book is everything! I was swept away with the magic and romance. The writing was beautiful and the pacing set up the story really well.

Of course I fell in love with the characters and the romance. Even the secondary characters were written so well!

Definitely gave me Bridgerton vibes set in a fantasy world.

Highly recommend this magical gem!

4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an electronic ARC of this novel.

Niamh has magic, which lets her put emotion and enchantments into the pieces of clothing that she creates. Her talents have taken her away from her family in a lower class much looked down upon country to the more affluent Avaland, where she hopes to make a name for herself and to send back money to support her family back home.

Once she arrives, she finds that things in Avaland aren't as stable as they seem. Prince Jack, who is running the country due to his father's illness, is acting as if everything is fine, even though the lower class is rebelling due to poor conditions. His brother, Kit, has recently returned from his travels to make a political marriage. But Niamh and Kit are drawn to each other, even though they aren't supposed to be together. .And Niamh is doomed - all of her relatives seem to die young because of their powers, and she doesn't feel like she will be the exception.

A Fragile Enchantment, by Allison Saft, is a fun and entertaining read. I enjoyed reading it and it was an interesting plot and well written. I think her fans won't be disappointed in this one!

It was pretty tough to get through the first half. The second half was better but that's a lot to get through for a standalone.

Pure. Delight.

A YA romantic fantasy set in the kingdom of Avaland. Niamh O Conchobhair is a common born dressmaker with an uncanny ability to weave enchantments into her work. Kit Carmine, the spare prince, is just back from a mysterious “break” and is being wedded off against his will. Niamh is there to make the wedding shine but there is a gossip columnist in town, Lovelace, who is making all kind of troubles for Kit’s brother, the King. Will this wedding go off without a hitch or will the dressmaker fall for the groom and ruin it all?

This was okay for me. It took me a while to get truly hooked on it & I wanted to like it more. The fantasy aspect of this book is where it kind of decreased my interest, I just didn’t necessarily understand certain aspects or really enjoy certain aspects, & I think it all came along with the plot.

I will say what helped grab me was the characters, I loved learning each of their stories & their dynamics. The banter was very very good, but I felt the plot just fell slightly flat for me. I will definitely read more of this authors books in the future though & recommend as I feel I definitely know others would enjoy it!

i really wanted to love this but unfortunately it didn't quite work for me. the premise sounded unique and fun and different. i was intrigued by the world. that cover is absolutely gorgeous.
i think we could have benefited from more detailed world building or explaining. some things felt inconsistent, i didn't really understand the magic or the consequences.

none of the characters really stood out to me. i didn't dislike niamh, though she was of course frustrating sometimes because she was such a people pleaser, but then would act in a way that contradicted that (being rude to the royal family who is giving you an amazing life changing opportunity to change your family's circumstances... i wouldn't be rude to them personally, even if they were rude to me first) though i wish we saw more of her actual magic/talent. i kind of thought that would be a bigger part of the story.

i never really liked kit, never really felt the love between them. i felt myself rolling my eyes a lot when we got to the declarations of feelings and whatnot. i love a good grumpy guy who is really a cinnamon roll, but this just kind of felt like we were told he's actually a swell guy, even though he acts like a little brat.

the pacing felt off for me too, it just felt so slow for how little happened. blah. i feel mean, but this was a bummer. perhaps i was not the target audience, and that's fine. it is probably more of a 2.5 for me, but i'm upping to 3 stars for that reason though. i hope this book reaches someone who would love it! it's just not me.

With the stunning cover, beautiful fanart, and the intriguing premise of a magic dressmaker I was incredibly excited to pick up A Fragile Enchantment. However, what I hoped would be a whimsical and fun reading experience was instead slow, frivolous, and absurd. Unfortunately, I really did not enjoy Saft’s latest release.

I did not care for the characters in this book. Niamh is not a compelling main character. Her only personality traits are being nice to everyone and tripping over air. Though she acknowledges her self-sacrificing nature, at no point in the story do we see her make any effort to grow or change. Kit is an asshole. Maybe in middle school, I would've swooned at the traumatized bad-boy prince character but he just annoyed me. I could have gotten over his icy behavior in the beginning, however, he has toddler-level mood swings throughout the entire book. Both Niamh and Kit have trauma and issues to work through. I enjoy when a romantasy book has a subplot of healing. But the conversations around their fears and pasts were forced, preachy, and repetitive

I could not have been less interested in the romance between Niamh and Kit. The instant lust Niamh feels toward Kit kills any tension between them. They have no chemistry and I cannot believe how quickly their relationship progresses. I also feel like their relationship undermines the anticolonial commentary in this book. Especially because it is presented as a reason for the Macklish workers to stop protesting.

A Fragile Enchantment has a relatively extensive cast of side characters. Some of these side characters, Sophia and Rosa in particular, were far more interesting than Kit and Niamh despite barely being in the book. My favorite character was easily Sinclair but he is a copy-and-paste cliche of the sassy, flirty male lead’s best friend that I have seen (and loved) a million times. Jack, Kit’s older brother, is a confusing character. His character development felt inconsistent and unrealistic. He flipped between being kind but overwhelmed to being cruel and ignorant. His impact as regent and his interactions with the Macklish were brushed aside as the reader is supposed to accept “the power of love” as a believable solution to the unrest.

The plot, pacing, and world-building did little to redeem the story. A Fragile Enchantment has a painfully slow start with nothing of significance happening until after the halfway point. Even once things started happening it felt underdeveloped. The two reveals were incredibly obvious and Jack’s “secret” did not make sense.

Throughout the story, there is a political subplot concerning the relationship between Mackland and Avaland. This is a fairly obvious parallel to the historical conflict between England and Ireland. Though I think this could have made for an interesting subplot, it is not properly integrated into the story. Niamh is a Macklish immigrant working for the Avaland royal family. Though the Macklish protests are repeatedly mentioned throughout the story, Niamh barely has any internal reflection on the impact of her work in the palace or her relationship with her home country. She spends more time learning to be sympathetic and compassionate for the two privileged princes than she does engaging with the Macklish.

The world-building in A Fragile Enchantment is very minimal and generic. The story is set in a Regency era but lacks any atmosphere. The royals don't act like royals and there is no sense of a court even though it is mentioned. I also wish the magic had been more important to the story. We barely explore how it works or the different forms of magic. It is just something in the background that adds dramatic flourish to their tantrums. These critiques are relatively minor but they made it even harder for me to take the book seriously.

To be blunt, A Fragile Enchantment feels recycled. The story is made up of a bunch of genre cliches strung together by the barest threads of a plot. Though I do not expect every book to be groundbreaking and unique, the cliches made the book incredibly dull and predictable.

Bridgerton meets Ever After with MAGIC! It would be a mistake to miss out on reading this beautiful book. “Speaking to him so often felt like walking into a room blindfolded and praying you didn’t find any sharp edges.” Some elements that made me fall in love with this book were the slow burn romance when both parties feel duty bound, magical enchantments are woven into clothing that can evoke certain emotions, and magical temper tantrums which cause plants to grow. I felt this book was so charming and I will definitely be encouraging people to read this!

This was such a sweet, lovely romance. The author
has the type of writing that just sucks you in and I never wanted to put this book down. For me, this was a great palette cleanser between heavier fantasy series!

3.5 stars, rated up. Allison Saft has become an auto-buy author for me. "Down Comes the Night" and "A Far Wilder Magic" were easily 5-star reads that I see myself re-reading someday in the future. While I didn't dislike "A Fragile Enchantment," it doesn't have the same re-readability that I have enjoyed from her previous books. Niamh and Kit are not relatable characters and their romantic journey felt forced and awkward. I have so many questions about the world of this story- who/where is Parliament? How are they so in-the-dark with all political matters of the country? What was Rosa actually planning on doing once she married? Why aren't the Machlish using their powers to better their country? Which countries are potentially fighting and what is their history?... and more.

Short summary of the plot: The story revolves around a wedding that is doomed from the start. Niamh falls in love with the future groom and befriends the future bride... and makes them emotion-powered clothing. Yep, you read that right.

My review sounds a bit harsh, but Saft's writing style makes up for any complaints I make. She has a beautiful way with words and overall, I found the book a light-hearted and fun read. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC read of this book. This book was published at the start of the year. Fairyloot is doing an SE for their YA book box, and I'm super excited to see the beautiful art that goes with it!

Ｂｏｏｋ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ
Holy WOW! I loved this book! It is the first book by Allison Saft and it was absolutely magical! I stayed up all night reading this gem!

Think Regency Gossip Girl…Niamh is not the typical seamstress…when she stitches a garment she stitches in her emotion into her creation! So if she is thinking happy thoughts, the person who puts that dress on will feel her happiness. She is requested at the Palace in Avaland to be the Royal Seamstress for Prince Christopher's wedding.

Prince Christopher (aka Kit) is a grump with a capital "G"! He is a mean bully to Niamh from the first moment they first met. Not only does she have to deal with him, but she receives a note from an Anonymous Scandal columnist, Lovelace, to find dirt on the Royal Family. She needs to decide whether or not to help dig for dirt or possibly be thrown into the gossipy mix.

Niamh was such a strong, lovely character. While I love how she works hard to help her family, she really needed to put herself first. Wearing herself down, getting sick while doing it was just hard to watch/read. I have someone in my life who does the same thing so it made it feel all that more relatable. At first, I didn't care for Kit but my feelings soon changed once I saw that he disliked everyone but her. His tender little moments and actions towards her were so endearing. I loved them!!!

I loved the ending. While I did find it to be a bit predictable - Lovelace's true identity, it didn't take away from my love for this book! I loved all of the supporting characters - especially Sinclair and Rosa! I have been recommending this book to all of my friends!

Ⓦⓗⓐⓣ Ⓘ Ⓛⓞⓥⓔⓓ:
✨️Beautiful cover
✨️Powerful writing
✨Bridgerton vibes
✨️Wonderful supporting characters
✨️Their sweet moments alone

Ⓦⓗⓐⓣ Ⓘ Ⓓⓘⓓⓝ’ⓣ
✨️How the help (especially those from Machland) were treated
✨️That Niamh put everyone before herself (even her health)

𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℍ𝕒𝕤:
Regency Romantasy
Magic
Forbidden Romance
Enemies to Lovers
Family Secrets/Drama
Anonymous Scandal
Tension/Angst
Found Family
LGBTQIA Representation
Political tension

Thank you to @netgalley, @stmartinspress & @allisonhsaft for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A story of passions and agendas clashing in the middle of a class war that has an optimist thrust in the middle of it without even realizing it.
Niamh Ó Conchobhair is a seamstress with ancient magic that lets her sew feelings into her work. She's so good at it that the ruling family of the country responsible for her country's ruin hires her to make an entire wardrobe for the crown prince and the wedding dress for the princess he is to marry. Niamh accepts because she wants to make sure that her mother and grandmother won't have to work as hard as they have to survive. She plans to show up, make the best outfits, build a reputation, and live a comfortable life thereafter with her family. But the reality of the ruling family and the situation in Avaland is not at all what she expected, with the crown prince being very different from the fairytale she'd imagined. Niamh must learn to navigate not only the intrigues of a foreign court at war with its people but also her feelings for a man who is not only completely out of her league, he's also the groom she's there to outfit.
It starts out feeling a little too familiar for my tastes, but the characters won me over enough to forgive the fact that the story has nothing new to add to the genre. I had trouble liking Niamh, but ended up really liking her once I realized that the whole point of the book is her realizing that she can do things for herself and that she doesn't have to sacrifice everything for everyone else.
It's a slow burn in that it takes a while for the story to really take off, but you get pulled in and it's impossible not to care for everyone's happiness and success.
Not exactly a book I'm going to be raving about, but enjoyable.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the romantic read!

A Fragile Enchantment is my first book by author Allison Saft. I couldn’t resist the invitation to read this young adult fantasy weaved with magic, politics, and romance, especially when I saw all the early glowing reviews.

This story about a magical seamstress hired to create the wedding attire for a prince’s arranged marriage is layered with several plot lines. Of course there is a romance, but it’s also a story about class, political intrigue, and familial relationships.

While I used to read much more young adult fantasy, it hasn’t been a genre I’ve read a lot of in the past few years. I’ve recently been trying to pick it up more often. And while I did enjoy this one, I did still find it a bit YA for me, with high drama and an ending that wraps up a little too nicely. I also found myself guessing all the “mysteries” at every turn.

But I can see why so many readers have loved it. Niamh is a compelling heroine, with her ability to stitch emotions and memories into the fabric of her clothing designs. Even though it’s an ability that will one day kill her, she has embraced her power and only wants to earn enough money to provide for her family back home. When she gets drawn into the political intrigue of the royal family—and falls in love with the prince—her life becomes even more complicated.

Kit Carmine, the prince she is designing for, seems like a royal pain in the ass when she first meets him, but he has his own magical powers that have complicated his life, too, not to mention a tumultuous relationship with his older brother Jack, the Prince Regent of Avaland and the man insisting on Kit’s arranged marriage. Kit and Niamh can’t resist becoming friends as they spend more time together, drawn closer by the impending wedding.

I also adored all the side characters, each one important to the plot, as well.

Throughout A Fragile Enchantment, I found myself drawing comparisons to Bridgerton and Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, mostly just certain plot lines or scenes, but if you’re a fan of either of those, you’d probably like this one, as well. Saft has created a unique regency era-inspired fantasy world with intricate magic, enigmatic characters, and a compelling story that kept me reading!