This Has Been A Fairytale After All

I recently finished reading A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft. This was OwlCrate's January '24 YA book.

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT

  Rating: 3.5/5 stars

"Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into every dress she makes is the same one that will kill her—sooner rather than later—and she’s determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family. When she’s commissioned to design the wardrobe for a nearby kingdom’s royal wedding, she knows this is her one chance to make something of herself.

Niamh arrives in Avaland, where young nobles are making their debuts into society during the candlelit balls and elegant garden parties that fill the social Season. The only damper on the festivities is the groom himself: Kit Carmine, prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a desperate political act. Beneath Avaland’s glittery façade, unrest is brewing, and an anonymous gossip columnist has been spreading rumors about corruption within the royal family. As Niamh grows closer to Kit, an unlikely friendship begins to blossom into something more…until the columnist starts buzzing about her chemistry with the prince, promising to leave her alone only if she helps uncover the royal family’s secrets. Niamh discovers that the rot at the heart of Avaland goes far deeper than she bargained for—but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible."

When I started A Fragile Enchantment, I wasn't sure I was going to like it. The market has been flooded with Regency-style romances since Netflix's "Bridgerton" series exploded into cultural popularity.

A Fragile Enchantment is very much a romance-first book. And while the world was as LGBTQ+ friendly and tied up with tensions around class, race, and nationality as her previous works, it is very clearly a re-skinned European drama set in the early 1900s. This isn't necessarily a bad thing — in fact, I'd argue that Saft is at her best when she takes inspiration from real-world issues and historical events. But the England-to-Avaland change makes it, at points, that much harder to believe in the plot that's happening.

Of course, because A Fragile Enchantment is a romance, you have to read it like a romance, which can, at times, mean "critical thinking need not apply." Like, for example, why is Niamh so worried about her reputation when caught at the ball alone with Kit, but suddenly they're fine going to the greenhouse unchaperoned? Why is a commissioned tailor hanging out with a prince so much anyways? And what's going on with the B-plot of the Machlish protests, which only pops up as safe and convenient when the plot needs it to be? 

I also found the craft in Saft's work to be lacking. This felt like a return to "Down Comes the Night," where things are fixed merely with the power of love, dialogue is clunk and heavy-handed, and we get far more telling than showing about how characters feel. 

To finish up my round of "this could have been better" list: While I think Niamh is a wonderful ray-of-sunshine character, her near insta-love (or at least insta-attraction) for the rude, taciturn prince who represents the oppression of her people was weird and off-putting. 

Saft has an incredible way of creating complex characters who suffer from real, relatable issues — discrimination, chronic illness, familial pressures, and abuse. She weaves all of these characteristics deeply into the characters themselves, making them feel alive and nuanced. And while I poked at her re-skinning of Europe, I thought it was exceedingly clever. I loved the way she managed to build personal tensions that reflect (or inverted) national ones. 

All in all, this book was okay. While I do think this was a step back in terms of craft, Saft still managed to capture my attention.

Check out A Fragile Enchantment, and discover what happens when you fall for the hated prince.

Happy Reading :)