Review: Enchanted

Title: Enchanted
Author: Alethea Kontis
Series: Woodcutter Series #1 Published: 2012 by Harcourt
Version: Hardcover
Obtained: Library

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?

First Sentence: “My name is Sunday Woodcutter and I am doomed to a happy life.”

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This story is a giant mash-up of many, many fairytales. The obvious one is The Princess and the Frog, as Sunday Woodcutter grows to love a frog and kisses him, turning him human. But Alethea Kontis has given the reader a new and more in-depth look at this story. Not only does the frog turn human, but he has to THEN make Sunday see that it is him.

I really enjoyed everything about this book. Ms. Kontis has a quirky way of writing, and I loved the random information she decided to throw into her story. It helped the whole world have more depth and the characters have more intricacy (many of Sunday’s sisters represented famous fairytale characters). Even though there were many characters, each one possesses a uniqueness and charm.

But by far, my favorite character is Rumbold. Starting as an adorable talking frog, he then turns human and has to decide how to best woo Sunday. It’s a bit of a problem though because her family hates him; yet, somehow he manages to get her attention. As for Sunday, she tries to understand why she actually does like this man that her family has disliked for so long. Their courtship sort of takes off from there…with other speed bumps.

I will most definitely check out the next two books in the series, which come out Fall 2013 and Fall 2014. Hopefully these will further explore the other character’s lives and more of this fantastic world.

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Content Warning: None.

Rating: