Enchanted

there's a sequel coming, with Sunday's sister, Saturday!

Enchanted is, like its namesake, enchanted.

In the beginning, I hadn't really known what to expect from Enchanted. I was intrigued by a pretty cover, and a new name with endless possibilities. Alethea Kontis doesn't disappoint. Enchanted is a magical experience that incorporates many fairy tales. I personally, love fairy tales, especially the ones with a different spin on them.

Enchanted starts off mostly as a different spin on The Princess And The Frog, but more tales show up the longer you read. As expected after the first couple of pages, the rhyme, Monday's Child, is incorporated into the story. The main character, Sunday, is the seventh child, and her older sisters are named after the previous days of the week, respectively.

I hadn't expected to enjoy Enchanted as much as I did, mostly because of the book and not the novel itself. The novel is brilliant. But, the way the book is bound, and published, is almost laughable. The header, and the font size almost discouraged me from reading the book. But, I made it to the end very happily.

I will be checking out more books from Alethea Kontis.

To Sum It All Up: Check out Enchanted if you can. The writing is beautiful, the characters are interesting, and the plot has unexpected twists.

I adored this book.

It's no secret that I love fairy tales. But do you know how few retellings of The Princess and the Frog there are? SO FEW, GUYS. I was so pumped when I finally heard about this one (and also that cover? CAN WE DISCUSS MY NEED FOR THAT DRESS?).

This is such a unique spin on it, too. There's so much more to the "princess" than we'd ever expect and I really came to adore Sunday and her family as we learn about them. And then it's still not so simple to get the happily ever after. There's so many layers to the story and family history and drama and intenseness. It was really incredible.

And then the world itself was so richly built. It was different and full of a very intriguing royal family and Sunday's awesome family and tradition and magic. It was really well crafted, but I still look forward to learning more about it in future books.

I adored Sunday and Rumbold. On their own, they were both adorable and sweet and lovely. And then when they were together I just wanted them to kiss each other and be happy because they were so perfect for each other. I cannot with how wonderful this romance was. Just...so endearing and awesome.

And Alethea's writing is so wonderful. It was fun and light and just...so unique from anything I've read before. She has such a strong voice and sense of herself as a writer and it lead to Sunday and Rumbold really knowing themselves.

Not to mention, this book is technically a stand-a-lone. While Alethea's sold two more books about two of Sunday's sisters, it was a good while after this book was released and it's totally capable of being read on it's own. (But I'm still jazzed for the sequels.)

Honestly, this was a really well written, totally unique spin on an underrated fairy tale and I loved it. Enchanted is definitely a book for the fairy tale lovers of the world.

I have read quite a few fairy-tale re-tellings this year and it was a very pleasant experience.All of them were so good that I felt that it would be cruel to say which one was the best among the type.Enchanted was one of these books.In Enchanted, the author took parts from different fairy-tales,whether it be ideas,concepts,or simply incidents and molded all of them into one beautiful tale of her own.While reading the book,I felt nostalgic,as it reminded me of the times when I used to curl up in bed at night and listen to my father recite similar tales to me.Everyone wants to be drifted off to their own imaginary land of fairy-tales once in a while,and this book is the perfect getaway!It's the kind of book which has its cheesy and adorable romance,the type which you know is a bit silly but still makes you feel giddy all over.The characters were wonderfully portrayed and perfectly synchronized with the storyline.The words of every single line had a poetic effect to the story,and they made it seem as if the story itself was a lullaby.Oh,and there's more.The book has fey in it!*Squeals*,ever since I've read The Iron Fey series I've fallen head over heels in love with their kind.In Enchanted,one particular fey,namely Trix,caught my attention.I found him really adorable and felt like kidnapping him and taking him home with me.But then reality hit me and I remembered that he was a fictional character.Oh,how unfair could life be!?Rumbold was quite a gentleman,even when he was a frog.His formality towards Sunday made me blush.It was as if he were directing his words at me instead of Sunday.But then again,that's just wishful thinking.Sunday is one lucky girl to have such a wonderful prince.I'm really jealous of her.
Even though this book is marked as a YA novel,I think that children from the age group of 9 to 12 can read it as well.It has romance in it,but no mushy stuff.It doesn't have any slangs or cussings in it either.Though I'd especially recommend it for tweens(or pre-teens,in other words),teens and anyone who loves fairy-tales.This is a book definitely worth having in paperback/hardcover.

I do love my fairy-tale stories and when I come across a retelling of not one fairy-tale, but a few of my favorites all entwined into one book - it is a must read for me! And because of that, I am going to have high expectations for it - and I'm happy to say, Alethea Kontis delivered an exceptional and enticing whimsical tale that swept me off my feet!

For me, this story flowed quickly and beautifully... I really enjoyed the way Kontis was able to string so many fairy-tales together... The Frog Prince, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Peter Pan, Jack and the Beanstalk... while keeping the story going with what I would traditionally expect - the lessons to be learned, unforgettable characters, good versus evil and the innocence of true love.

I loved all of the characters, even the 'evil' ones, lol! Their descriptions and personalities all shined through enough to make them individually memorable - and that was so important being that there were so many to keep track of. I applaud Kontis for being able to pull this off.

Sunday is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, which means, that she will possess great magical powers and destined for many good things. She is the youngest of 10 in the Woodcutter family, who loves to write stories, but limits herself to only writing about her family in fear of writing new stories that eventually come true... Sunday befriends Grumble, The Frog, and her three kisses turns him back into a man, Prince Rumbold. Unbeknownst to Sunday, the Prince returns home to gather his strength and creates a plan to meet Sunday again, and have her fall in love with him for his true self. And the quest begins with balls, fairy godmothers and dark magic.

It does help if you are familiar with the more popular original tales. And even though the ending is somewhat predictable, it did not keep me from reading this book in one night.
If you truly believe in fairy-tales, this is definitely a book for you!