A Fragile Enchantment is a fluffy but harried romance fantasy that wasn’t to my taste. I am shocked to say this, especially after enjoying Allison Saft’s A Far Wilder Magic last year, but this story constantly found ways to prick me with needles as it tried to force me into an ill-fitting, semi-magical suit.
A woman wearing a dress imbued with the memories of early spring catches the eye of a prominent duke, and now everyone wants a creation from Niamh the Machlish dressmaker. Her abilities are so coveted that the Prince Regent requests her services and asks her to make wedding garments for his brother and future bride. Niamh boards a ship and arrives at a deserted palace enduring strikes from the Machlish staff and a stressed Prince Regent barely holding himself and the kingdom together. What’s worse, her client and the groom-to-be, Prince Christopher, is a prickly and rude young man not interested in his kingdom, his wedding, or the dressmaker and her enchantments.
This story is a flighty thing, and it can’t decide where it wants to invest its attention. Is the story about a magical dressmaker who influences the prince through her enchanted creations? Or is it about liberating the Machlish population suffering prejudice in the kingdom? But don’t forget there is major family drama happening between two traumatized royal brothers. The dressmaker is struggling with a strange, generational illness. Oh, and she also begins to develop feelings for the prince as she prepares him for his wedding. Normally these elements could all contribute to a well-rounded story, but the problem here is that each one tries to be the star of the show. With the story trying to focus on ALL the things, it skims the surface and fails to develop into a balanced or meaningful plot. I just realized that I don’t remember if there was a conclusion to the illness storyline, and now I’m even more annoyed. What is happening in this story and why? I honestly couldn’t tell you.
The story was lacking, but then I also struggled with the dialogue because it was awkward, stilted, and juvenile. I gave it a pass at first when I had the book’s early momentum on my side, but it started to grate on me by the end. It was further limited by the one-dimensional characters who couldn’t expand into anything other than the strict confines of their trope-like box. Niamh is typecasted as clumsy and scatterbrained, and oh, won’t it be funny if the dour prince constantly tells her that she’s incapable of anything because she is such a clutz? I hoped the characters would at least keep things interesting, but there wasn’t a lot of heart in the conversations or connections between people because everyone felt robotic and restricted by the role they were playing.
However, my biggest disappointment with this story has to be the lack of magic, especially when it’s Niamh’s magical ability that embroils her in the royal drama. I wanted to see what clever enchantments Niamh imbued into the prince’s clothing, whether it was to support his upcoming wedding or thwart it. It turns out this particular part of the story was a dud. Although Niamh is tasked with creating several clothing items for the prince, once the first clothing article is made with a subdued enchantment, this seemingly large part of the story is abandoned. Ultimately, Niamh just needed an excuse to be at the palace, and once she was there, her entire purpose as a magical dressmaker became secondary.
Read A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft if you’re looking for a romance that is light on the fantasy and heavy on the fluff. I wanted to entertain the unique and interesting elements of this story, but they were stunted by the demands of the plot. Ultimately it didn’t do anything different to stand out from the slew of romantasy books on the shelves, so I will keep searching for something a little more magical.
Rating: A Fragile Enchantment – 4.5/10
-Brandee
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The thoughts on this story are my own.
