What a surprisingly fantastic book. Once I got into it I blew through it, unable to put it down. The characters are strong, yet vulnerable. The plot is full of intrigue and mystery. The world building is rich and enthralling. And the main character's suitors are both equally captivating—dark and brooding and thoroughly mysterious. I loved how the slow burn romance continued to tease and tantalize throughout.
I always worry about short stories, because they are so hard to pull off. But this story had elegant prose; and bold, visceral imagery that was both haunting and sublime. There was solid character development, great world building, plot, and some interesting subtext regarding the creatures we become in order to survive.
Such a fun and emotional story, with gorgeous and quirky art. This retelling of “Frau Holle” does a fantastic joy of conveying the burnout of everyday chores and the joys of relaxation after much hard work has been achieved.
I had some issues with the writing. Some of the paragraphs were split in strange ways, making it a bit confusing to follow who was doing what. Also, the prose were a bit basic.
An intriguing dark academia story about magic, friendships, and claiming identity. This book explores the misdeeds of our forefathers, and how the choices they made in the past can have a lasting impact, even generations later.
Bland and sterile—very mechanical. I was hoping for something fun, exciting, and tantalizing, but I just couldn't get into this one. It was a DNF for me.
I loved the first book in the series and I loved this one just as much. This one is deeper and darker—and it brought tears to my eyes—but it's still sprinkled with light and whimsy.
Beautiful, magical, emotional, and deeply layered. I really loved this book.
Wow. What a great read. This book had magic and curses, mystery and suspense, tenderness and brutality, failures and successes, diversity and love. It was unpredictable. I was so wrong about who had cast the curse. And it was emotional. I was repeatedly in tears towards the end.
Funny and lighthearted, with many laugh-out-loud moments. The characters are all quirky and unique. There is a lot of action and grand adventures. There are war unicorns and dragons, imps and demons, magic and Perverts...errr, I mean Pervects.
Vivid details, questionable characters, and lots of tension all made me feel fully immersed in Cruz's magical world of encantos. The whole book is rife with politics and intrigue, leading to a mysterious whodunit murder. I never did figure out who the killer was. My top contenders, while indeed suspicious in different ways, were innocent... Or were they?
This book made me smile so much. It's sweet. It's spicy. It's fast paced and cohesive. There is great character development. All of the characters are unique, interesting, and diverse. And their interactions and dialogue all felt natural and unforced. Eva is lovable and fierce—a great combination of compassion, approachability, courage, and confidence. And Ash was so much fun—strong, masculine, and manly in every way possible, but sweet and doting when it comes to Eva. I also loved that he was a bit socially and emotionally awkward. So cute and endearing.
