Saturday, September 17, 2016

Review: Charming: A Charming Book One by Andi Lawrencovna

Once upon a time...

Prince Christophe can’t die. Or, more precisely, if he dies, so does his country. But that hasn’t stopped the King from hosting a ball. And it hasn’t stopped Kit’s enemies from seeking a quick end between the quadrille and the waltz.

The Children of the Wood hold out hope that their Assassin Queen will fulfill the prophecy and end Kit’s life. But when Ella vies for the prince’s attention, it’s not a knife that pierces his heart, or her own.

One waltz at a ball. One trip of a slipper. One Prince. And one Assassin.

In the world of the Never Lands, Fairy Tales aren’t quite like you remember.

Goodreads     |     Amazon


My Review:
4 stars

I greatly enjoyed Charming. To start, you are thrown straight into the story, skipping the get-to-know-you between Ella and Christophe, which I wasn't expecting. The action keeps rolling from there and never lets up until the end. While the pacing was a bit rough and awkward at times, overall the story worked. The plot was thought out and engaging. I couldn't put the book down while reading. The best part for me was how the romance between Ella and Christophe is a slow boil. We really get to see those two deal with their inner struggles (and some cringy interactions), which made me feel like I really got to know those two. The story does have a cliffhanger/HFN ending which will be continued in the second book, so you definitely need to read the books in order.

While I enjoyed Charming and the way it is written, it unfortunately doesn't always work. Due to the nature of throwing people straight into the action with no setup, books like this sometimes run into issues with having a lot of confusion or a lot of telling rather than showing. Unfortunately, that ended up happening here. Different countries, races, religions, etc. are mentioned at times in the story, but not explained in the story. There are extensive appendixes at the end of the book explaining the different countries, religions, peoples, etc. While I did like having these appendixes, it was a huge info dump at the end of the book. Details in the appendixes would have been helpful to know while reading the story, and I would have liked to see the author include more of that information in the story in a more organic way (showing) rather than just telling us in an info dump at the end of the book. There are also sections where the author inserts herself and her thoughts into the story. I'm divided on my overall feelings about that, but it was very interesting and unusual.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this story and highly recommend giving it a try. While the book did have its flaws, the story is engaging and fun, the characters are a blast, and the worldbuilding is gorgeous. As for me, I cannot wait to read book 2 to find out what happens to Ella and Christophe next.
I greatly enjoyed Charming. To start, you are thrown straight into the story, skipping the get-to-know-you between Ella and Christophe, which I wasn't expecting. The action keeps rolling from there and never lets up until the end. While the pacing was a bit rough and awkward at times, overall the story worked. The plot was thought out and engaging. I couldn't put the book down while reading. The best part for me was how the romance between Ella and Christophe is a slow boil. We really get to see those two deal with their inner struggles (and some cringy interactions), which made me feel like I really got to know those two. The story does have a cliffhanger/HFN ending which will be continued in the second book, so you definitely need to read the books in order.

While I enjoyed Charming and the way it is written, it unfortunately doesn't always work. Due to the nature of throwing people straight into the action with no setup, books like this sometimes run into issues with having a lot of confusion or a lot of telling rather than showing. Unfortunately, that ended up happening here. Different countries, races, religions, etc. are mentioned at times in the story, but not explained in the story. There are extensive appendixes at the end of the book explaining the different countries, religions, peoples, etc. While I did like having these appendixes, it was a huge info dump at the end of the book. Details in the appendixes would have been helpful to know while reading the story, and I would have liked to see the author include more of that information in the story in a more organic way (showing) rather than just telling us in an info dump at the end of the book. There are also sections where the author inserts herself and her thoughts into the story. I'm divided on my overall feelings about that, but it was very interesting and unusual.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this story and highly recommend giving it a try. While the book did have its flaws, the story is engaging and fun, the characters are a blast, and the world-building is gorgeous. As for me, I cannot wait to read book 2 to find out what happens to Ella and Christophe next.


*Review copy provided via Reading Alley in exchange for an honest review.*

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