The more I thought on it, the more I decided that this book really wasn't all that great.  In fact, even though I sped through it pretty quickly, and even though there were parts that were enjoyable, it still didn't make up for the disconnects I had with the plot and the characters and the world.

 

Sometimes I feel like I'm maybe too nice and try to understand why certain books were as popular as they are... even though I'm sure I didn't really enjoy it myself.  I might have been conditioned my whole life to question if the problem lies with me rather than just saying straight out that I didn't like a book... for reasons.

 

Sure, the writing was decent and pretty.  Sure, the concept was pretty well designed (as well as you can design a rewritten fairy tale, I guess).

 

But well-written doesn't make up for poorly created and poorly developed.

 

One of my favorite fairy tales of all time is Cinderella.  This is mainly because it was one of my first fairy tales when I was a child.  It holds sentimental value.  And when I was young, I liked the idea of being whisked away from a common, dreary life into something as magical and wonderful as royalty with a Prince Charming and all.  As I got older, of course, I realized that Cinderella didn't so much as fall in love with the Prince Charming as she fell in love with the idea of having a better life away from her cruel step-family (I guess if you can even really call it love).

 

I mean, Cinderella and Prince Charming meet in one night and fall madly in love.  Prince Charming can't even be bothered to recognize the girl without a shoe to guide him.  This is insta-love at its best, obviously -- not that I want to poo-poo all over everyone's favorite happily ever after.

 

At least the fairy tale itself doesn't elaborate too much on the angsty romance part -- because you get your insta-love and then you get your miracle, and then you get your HEA, and then the story's over with few conflicts.

 

The Amaranth Enchantment however, slaps you in the face with insta-love within the first two seconds.  Lucinda sees the prince for the first time when he enters her aunt and uncle's jewelry shop, he smiles at her and makes small talk -- it must be love.  No, it doesn't matter that Prince What's His Face is engaged/betrothed to someone already.  He smiled at Lucinda, he talked to Lucinda... he might have flirted a little bit.  It MUST be love!

 

After that first encounter and the prince went away, I thought that maybe she would tone down the insta-love and maybe just turn it into a mild attraction.  Lust at first sight is a little more believable than love at first sight -- pretty people are allowed to be attracted to each other and it happens all the time (and we've established already that all YA characters will forever be extremely attractive even if they won't admit it themselves).  But when Lucinda and the prince meet again she acts like they'd been in this epic romance for centuries and, oh my God, he would NOT send her to her death for petty thievery against the crown because he lurves her... right?

 

They had two dances together.  They may have chit chatted and flirted while they were dancing.  The prince is STILL betrothed to a princess whom he claims he wants to impress with the most beautiful stone in the world.  But no, he's definitely in love with Lucinda... and so when she steals back Beryl's stone from right out of his jacket pocket and gets caught for it (not because she wants to help the Amaranth Witch, but because she wants to be rich again so that she can marry the prince... the prince who is betrothed to a princess of another land already), she feels betrayed by him when he and the King send her off to prison.

 

Apparently the prince was also losing sleep over the issue as well.  I'm not sure you're allowed to feel bad about it if you've just sent a girl off to her death for petty thievery without so much as an explanation.  Then again... historical times, monarchies, absolute rule... whatevs.  Behead first, ask questions later... You know.  Show those plebeians who's boss! 

 

But, you know, he hasn't been able to sleep and he seriously thought about rescinding his betrothal and all and marrying Lucinda instead.  He's the one who's been suffering because the girl he fell in love with is about to die.  And she lied to him.

 

You kids had two conversations and two dances!  This is NOT an angsty forbidden love!  

 

Geez.  Just beg King Daddy to take back his death sentence and bring the girl into the palace as a mistress or something.  With such an unbendable rule stating that thievery against the crown deserves death... you people can pretty much make up any rule you want anyway.

 

Moving along...

 

Lucinda is not the most likable heroine.  Even while she's down on her luck with no family, no money, no home... she still acts like she's a rich, entitled noble daughter.  The rest of the characters are flat.  Prince What's His Face (I don't even remember names now and I'm too lazy to look them up) has no personality, really... just like the Prince Charming of every other fairy tale -- he's just there as the love interest for convenience.  The street rat slash thief... What's His Name (I don't remember his name either) isn't even a commendable guy... then again, he's a thief after all and does whatever he wants to do even if his logic only makes sense to him.

 

The initial meeting of Lucinda and the thief is questionable and their "friendship" lacks any credibility.  I've heard of strong connections and relationships built around mistrust and crap like that (if that makes any sense, maybe), but this was just plain ridiculous.  I mean, the thief barges into Lucinda's bedroom at night, demands lodging and food, steals from her, gets her kicked out of her only form of shelter, but then he teaches her to steal from the prince (since he sold the stone he stole from Lucinda to the prince) and then abandons her when shit hits the fan.  He doesn't even have the decency to feel bad about starting this stupid chain of events.  And then he has the audacity to follow her around thinking that she'd forgive him if she knew how much trouble he went to through the night to figure out how to collect her corpse and give it a proper burial.

 

Real smooth.

 

And Lucinda lets him follow her.

 

**headdesking**

 

This seemed, also, to be a weak attempt at a possible love triangle -- you know, what with the gaping and blushing at Lucinda's wondrous beauty when she puts on her mother's dress to attend the Royal Ball with said thief.

 

Anyway, the story itself was fairly decent for a fairy tale retelling, though the world's logic lacks any sense.  The plot itself had some semblance of progression and the back story leading into the present day conflict was interesting enough.  I didn't like any of the characters.

 

Beryl, the Amaranth Witch, must come from a world of stupid people: Why send evil villains into another world so that they are allowed to continue being evil villains, even without their magic stones?  Why not imprison them?  Or execute them?  Why is it necessary to sacrifice a good person in order to send the bad guy away from their own world?  If your magic stones are so powerful, why hasn't anyone come up with some sort of magical binding thing to restrain the bad guys so that you can throw them into the well so that they can wreak their havoc in another world?  And why, oh, why did Beryl leave the stone in Lucinda's possession rather than taking it back to her world with her when she knows that someone in Lucinda's world is trying to get his hands on it and it would be disastrous if he managed to do so?

 

Anyway..........

 

Story events with lots of disconnect and logic fails.  Characters that are meh... and a romance that's just ridiculous.  To say that I'm disappointed is a massive understatement.

 

An interesting retelling of Cinderella.

This book was utterly delightful! A light-hearted fairy tale beginning on a similar path of the classic Cinderella story, but taking a turn somewhere along the lines, and ending with a fairy tale ending completely it’s own. In fact, if I hadn’t known beforehand that it was an interpretation of Cinderella, I doubt I would’ve picked up the subtle hints.I loved all the characters so much, but especially Peter. He reminded me of Sage from the False Prince so much, it not even funny (if you’ve read it, then you know exactly what I’m talking about). He was sly and smooth, plus goofy every once in a while. He was just great!The story wasn’t overly complicated, but still had a couple surprises up it’s sleeve! It flowed freely and smoothly, and went by just fast enough to keep the readers attention without skipping over detail.I’d highly recommend this book to fans of Jessica Day George and Gail Carson Levine. The writing, characters, and plot structure are both very similar, and yet clearly distinct from one another. Or if you’re just craving some yummy fairy tales, you need to try this one out.

Yes, this is another review that has been a long time coming, but this book got lost on my TBR bookshelf for the last couple of years and I only just got around to reading it! When I turned the last page, my first thought was that The Amaranth Enchantment was a Cinderella tale with a hint of the story of Anastasia Romanov (and of course, a paranormal element, as well). This was an easy read that wasn't overly involved, which is exactly what I needed this week with my limited time to read.That said, I do think this book would have benefited from a little bit more detail to the plot and attention to the characters. I enjoyed the general story, but I felt like it had so much more potential than what we ultimately got. I would have loved to have seen more of Beryl and her involvement, not to mention some real development with Lucinda -- she fell rather flat to me. And I admit I had a bit of an eye roll moment when the story wrapped itself up at the end... It was a little too pretty and borderline ridiculous, though I admit I did have some suspicions about what kind of person Peter actually was.Anyway, I still think The Amaranth Enchantment is a fun adaptation of the Cinderella story we all know and love. It will provide you with a great escape and you won't get too bogged down -- it's really a great read as we head into summer and vacation season.

Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner (Lord John Grey #3)
by Diana Gabaldon

4 out of 5 stars

http://angelswithattitudebookreviews-joelle.blogspot.com

In this highly-anticipated new novel, Diana Gabaldon brings back one of her most compelling characters: the unforgettable Lord John Grey - soldier, gentleman, and no mean hand with a blade. Set in the heart of the eighteenth century, Lord John's world is one of mystery and menace. Diana Gabaldon brilliantly weaves together the strands of Lord John's secret and public lives.
Hardcover, UK, 560 pages
Expected publication: October 25th 2012 by Delacorte Press (first published November 29th 2011)
ISBN
1409135195 (ISBN13: 9781409135197)
edition language
English
original title
Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner
series
Lord John Grey #3

My Thoughts...

I just love Gabaldons books. From the very first she made you love the characters that are in her books. Even though this series is separate from her Outlander series she mentions another characters from previous books all the time as Jamie reminisces about the people part of his life.This is Jamie and Greys story. Jamie is an indentured servant(do to the war ) and working for a Lord in England when Greys brother Hal the Duke has him brought to him in secret as he has a mission he wants him to accomplish with his brother uncovering a traitorous spy bringing him to justice.Working together is going to be very uncomfortable for both men. Grey has feelings for Jamie and Jamie knows it but, chooses to ignore them.Jamie is between a rock and a hard place and cannot say no. They own him at this point and he has no choice but to help. A Scotsman and a Lord in his own right living among the hated English with torn loyalties. Missing his wife and child Claire who he sent through the stones before the war.A son he has but, can't claim as his own ways upon his mind. He an Grey start there adventure wrought with danger and intrigue. No only do they have to dodge bullets but Jamie needs to watch Grey back carefully as someone is out to serious hurt him and his family. Learning to like one another and perhaps form a friendship and work together to catch the spy bring him to justice. But,that easier said then done. Nothing goes as planned as we all no with missions. Tons of twists and turns along the way. Surprise endings and secrets kept and not spoken. And you so felt Jamie's pain for his loses and most of all the love of his missing wife Claire was tugging at your heart strings.Looking forward to the next adventure.