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.
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.*
No comments:
Post a Comment