Esther's Ever After: Teen Review: Enchanted

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
Release Date ~ May 8, 2012
Harcourt ~ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN-13: 978-0547645704
Review copy received from Thomas Allen & Son Ltd.
Goodreads Synopsis
It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?

I really enjoy fairytale retellings, so I was really excited when I found out about Enchanted. While it can take a little bit to really get into, and the writing can be a tad strange at times, this book is a very enjoyable experience. This novel has already gotten a lot of good reviews, but here's another one nonetheless.

Imaginative Fairytale World:
The one thing that you should know about this book is that this novel is basically a fairytale retelling of a whole bunch of fairytales. There are aspects from tales such as Cinderelle, Jack and the Beanstock, and even the Frog Prince. The way that the author weaved together all of the fairytales so seamlessly was amazing. There were so many aspects of other tales crammed into this book, that I'm sure that I probably missed some. Even if you are not familiar with many fairytales, it doesn't matter at all. You don't need to have any previous knowledge of fairytales in order to understand this book. The rest of the world that was not based on fairytales was also very interesting. All of the rest of the book that is not based on fairytales still feels very fairytale-like.
Surprisingly Dark Plot:

I was not at all expecting such a dark, and pretty disturbing plot. I found that this was a really refreshing twist on fairytale retellings. A lot of the story was light, but there was a lot of emotion, too. The dark plot I found added a lot of dimension to the characters. The dark plot also managed to fit in with the fairytale world, which I thought was fairly impressive.
A Well Done Dual Perspective:

I don't read a lot of dual-perspective books because I sometimes find that they can be really confusing. For instance, The Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater by the end had almost 5 perspectives; it became really very confusing, and I didn't think that it added anything to the storyline. I have read some other good dual perspectives, and Enchanted has just made that list. Sunday's and Rumbold's perspectives were very different, and I did find them very effective in telling the story.

The only complaints that I have about this book are that the storyline was a bit complex, and nobody really explained it too fully. I'm still a tad confused about what happened, but I did get the gist of it. I also found Rumbold to be kind of whiny at times, although he did have his good moments. I thought that the romance between Rumbold and Sunday to be surprisingly realistic, considering this was a fairytale retelling. If you are a fan of fairytale retellings, I think that this is a book for you.