"Enchanted" by Alethea Kontis

Release Date: May 8th, 2012
Publisher: Harcourt (Thomas Allen and Son)
Pages: 305

From Goodreads: "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?"

The thing that resonates most with me after having finished reading this book is how seamlessly author Alethea Kontis was able to weave together countless fairy-tales, nursery rhymes and stories- from "Cinderella" to "The Frog Prince" to "The Princess and the Pea" to "The Old Woman Who Live in the Show" (and with arguably a "Romeo and Juliet" vibe going on). Not once did I find myself being overwhelmed by the plethora of said characters, in fact, I looked forward to their introductions to the storyline/ I welcomed each and every one of them with open arms.

Furthermore, I found each of the characters to be extremely well developed and complex, from Sunday, a young girl trying to find her place in the world, whilst trying to recover from a broken heart, to Prince Rumbold, who was simply trying to simply remember who he was, let alone finding his place in the world, to Trix, a young feyish boy who valued family above all, to Wednesday, an ethereal beauty with powers like no other.  

That being said, my largest complaint about this book was the 'insta-love' that took place- only within two or three days of meeting one another Sunday and Grumble were admitting their undying love to one another- however, being as this was a fairy-tale and as these sorts of things are quite common in them, I was able to forgive it. A bit.

All in all, this is an extremely cute and lighthearted read- after reading it you will be hard-pressed to not have a smile on your face and a happy heart. I think that this book would be perfect for younger YA fans (or older MG fans) or fans of the television show "Once Upon A Time"!

Rating: 7.5/10

I received this book from the publisher to read and review. I was not compensated in any way for said review.