Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
Reviewed by: Jill Hart, Radiant Lit
Genre: YA / Fantasy
Publisher: Harcourt Children’s Books
Publication Date: May 8, 2012

Sunday Woodcutter has always been a dreamer … and a writer. The problem she faces is that what she writes comes true. After a few mishaps with things she’s written actually happening, she learns to keep herself busy by writing about the past, things that have already happened. This way she can’t change what has already happened and no one gets hurt.

When she meets a frog in the woods where she loves to do her writing, she thinks nothing of it when he asks what she is doing. Little does she know that this meeting with THIS frog will change the course of both her life and his. When Sunday’s frog friend disappears she mourns the loss of her first true friend. In the midst of her suffering she is summoned to a ball at the palace, along with all of her sisters (names after every day of the week) where she meets a rather charming prince.

Unfortunately, this charming prince is hated by her family. The royal family was the reason Sunday’s older brother Jack had died and even befriending the prince was forbidden by her father. So, why is Sunday so drawn to him?

Sunday’s story mixes and matches various fairy tales along with a fresh love story to make up one of my favorite books this year. Enchanted is just that … enchanting. From the very first page you enter a world of fantasy filled with fairy godmothers, talking animals, enchanted people and even a giant beanstalk.

The mixing of fairy tales from my childhood got a little confusing at times as my brain tried to make this story fit what I thought I knew. However the author, Alethea Kontis, uses familiar parts from our childhood stories in new, exciting ways. The book kept me reading late into the night.

Rated PG-13

Book provided by the publisher. Thank you!