A River Enchanted: A Novel

Lovely book! The story is rich with fable and myth. I enjoyed the multiple points of view. I usually don’t love books in 3rd person but after a little while I settled into it. Looking forward to reading the 2nd part of this story!

Enchanting, poetic, deep and beautifully heart breaking.
Narration is superb!

Lyrical, beautiful, and absolutely enchanting. The narrator is perfection and I will definitely be rereading this! I am dying to get my hands on book 2.

A verry good slow bourn novel, read it, absolutly do it.

This book was beautifully written and full of mesmerizing details. I absolutely loved the story and the characters. The only reason I didn't give it a 5 is because it ended on such a sad note. I was hoping there was going to be a happily ever after.

A beautiful book, very like a fairytale with a strong Celtic/Scottish feel and a slowburn love story. Gorgeous prose.

I enjoyed this book; it’s atmospheric, set in an isolated island community where nature spirits are very present and affect the residents and the world around them. The island is divided in half due to a past tragedy, and those on either side are sworn enemies. When young girls start disappearing from the east, Jack is called home from the mainland where he’s studying music to help figure out the mystery.

The romance is an important plot point, but it’s not the main focus like a SJM or Yarros book – which I liked! If you want spicy adult fantasy this isn’t it, but it was sweet and whimsical and I thought it was perfect.

I would have enjoyed a bit deeper world building and it was pretty slow paced, but I overall I loved this first book in the duology. I think a lot of people went into this expecting enemies-to-lovers, fast pacing, adult romance, and that’s why some people came out of it feeling bored or dissatisfied. If you want a softer, more ethereal story, something that’s a bit more focused and intimate, slow pacing and sweet relationships and romances, then this is perfect.

Pros: Cozy, whimsical, atmospheric. Magic is a part of their lives but doesn’t rule them. Scottish inspired, makes you feel like the Highland mist is creeping across the moor.

Cons: World building seems to stop at the island’s edge. Also, how big is this island? Big enough to house two competing clans/societies, but it feels like characters can traverse the whole thing in a day?

A bit predictable but a very cozy read with light romance. I’d give this one a 3.75/5.

This one was a weird one for me. It felt like the bones of a good book, but it wasn't fleshed out enough. It started out weak, with a main character who carried a big chip on their shoulders with no real reason for it to be there. His character grows and changes fairly quickly, but it seemed like the author had a list of things she wanted to include in the book, but everything changed as she actually started writing it, but the starting elements remained there at the beginning. For example, the main character, who has a chip on his shoulder and is grumpy and distrustful because of things that happened to him as a child, quickly changes into a fairly accepting and easy-going character because that flowed more naturally with the story. We have two separate romance plotlines, one that feels more adult and earned, and the other that has to happen for plot purposes, but the reasoning is never fully explained. We have an interesting magic system, in which characters can enchant items with powers, but it requires secrets to be told to the crafter or a physical cost from the person creating the object. We have a musician who can study music and play it perfectly without practicing. Basically, there were many elements that never quite gelled for me, but it did get better in the second half. I just think this book could have been tightened up after another pass at it.

Engaging story. Beautifully written. Great adult fantasy. Staring the sequel.

I actually really enjoyed this. Some things were predictable but I wasn't disappointed when they came out. The twist was a good one..I had suspected something, but not that. I liked this book.

I really enjoyed the audio version of this book! The accent was super fun.

Soo beautifully written, not heavy like GoT or LoTR! Not a quest or intense world building. Main plot to find girls that keep going missing with bits that keep building individual characters that piece it all together!

Bonus: Female author from NorthEast Georgia!

*Loved reading along with the audio book from Scribd, narrated by Ruth Urquhart! Her Scottish accent was perfect for the atmosphere and she read with different voices that made it easy to differentiate each character, too.

It's a beautiful, lyrical book for sure, calling to mind myths of the Celts, and it was immersive enough to keep me reading straight through from start to finish. I would have given it five stars but it felt like it wasn't quite sure what kind of story it wanted to tell, shifting between POV characters with a sometimes confusing fluidity and not quite achieving the emotional impact any of the plots wanted to make. The ending too doesn't quite hit the mark, with one of the main protagonist's choices feeling suddenly inconsistent and out of character. Overall it's worth reading but I'm not sure I'll ever reread.

Jack is from the magical isle of Cadence where the spirits empower the residents to create enchantments through their craft. Jack's mother was a weaver of some local fame but after Jack was born and no father was forthcoming, he grew up something of a social pariah. At the age of 10 he was sent away to the mainland to learn to be a bard. He came of age there isolated and embittered against his home, a place he was never fully accepted.

Now at the age of 20 he receives a summons from his Laird to return home. Once there he learns that young girls are being kidnapped and seem to be vanishing without a trace. Some fear that the faire folk have turned against the inhabitants of Cadence, but when it becomes clear that the abductor is mortal, suspicion turns to the age old rival clan from the West side of the island. Will Jack be able to help his old nemesis, Adaira, the Heiress of the East find the missing girls? And will Jack every be able to find a place in his troubled homeland? This is a beautiful and compelling story about secrets, feuds, bloodlines, and the true meaning of home.

The author has a rare gift to bring her characters to life. This is such a soft story about a people enslaved to their secrets. There is so much longing, regret and beauty in these pages. I found the story addictive even as I rolled my eyes in frustration at the character's inability to communicate. Although I can acknowledge some issues with the plotting, I still loved it and look forward to reading the next one. This would make a very satisfying beach read.

This was hard to get through, and the ending wasn't very satisfying

I really enjoyed this book! Although a little on the long side, the story was gripping enough to keep me turning the pages. I enjoyed the world building and how the author worked the magic and fantasy into a story that was nonetheless very ~real. It was a bit jarring the first time she changed perspective - it had seemed that the book was going to be narrated by Jack and only Jack - but it became more natural the more you read of it. I recommend this book to anyone who loves an immersive fantasy, and I am looking forward to reading the next one!

While this book started off slow, it had a gradual build up and I was hooked by the end. A bard is called back to the island that sent him away ten years ago. The island is magical and mainlanders stay far away from it. The island is divided into two halves, each side governed by a warrior clan that despises the other. The bard is summoned back by his childhood nemesis to help discover why some of the clans children have been disappearing - is it the neighboring clan or is it the faeries and spirits? Magical, romantic, and beautifully written. This is the first in a new fantasy series that shows great promise - I can't wait to see how the next book unfolds!

Listened on audiobook. I really, really enjoyed this novel. It reminded me quite a lot of Juliet Mariller and I am always looking for similar writers to her. It does have some issues - one of the romances is a bit instalove and seems unlikely in the time frame. But the older couple romance is really good. I wished the novel could have been longer in fact so that the background culture could have more depth to it. I also did not realise that it is part of a duology and the 2nd part is not out yet. But as I really enjoyed it, I guess I won't complain too much about that.

Very poetic and atmospheric - lots of focus on relationships growing and maturing of identities.

The story was good but it didn't really end. The same story line dragged on and on and although a couple things were resolved it was more like the author got tired or stuck so decided it was time to send it off to the publisher just to say it was done (kind of like this sentence). I hate leaving a book unfinished.

3.5 stars

I thought this was ok.
It had enough magickal elements to keep me reading til the end, but I found most of the characters rather boring and didn't really care for most of them.

I hated the main love relationship - I hope I never again here the words "old menace."

Was it colourful? Yes. Was it rich in lore? Yes. Was it slow moving? Oh my gosh, yes!
The picture of the island was very pretty but nothing really happens for the longest time.
The build up is so slow paced that when things finally go to get moving, it all feels a bit rushed and unbelievable.
Adaira and Jack are also not very interesting as main characters, which has something to do with the slow pace, their whole relationship is just not developing in a way that makes much sense for what they are ending up in.
I don't know what it tells about me, that I thought Torin and Sidra's story line was much more interesting than hero's and heroin's one.

Maybe the pace will pick up in book two, the island itself makes me want to come back to find out.

As I read this book I kept trying to identify why it seemed so much better than the run-of-the-mill fantasy I read these days. I can't put it in words, exactly, but this book is not pushing to prove itself. The pace is normal, not rushed, descriptions are normal not coruscating blam blam. The people seem normal, even with their unusual abilities.

It's a good book for a winter day like the ones we have had this week.

I received a digital review copy of "A River Enchanted" by Rebecca Ross from Harper Voyager through NetGalley.com.

This is an excellent book and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It is full of myth and magic. It covers friendship and romance. It shows how good relationships are based on mutual respect and how friendship can turn into love, sometimes without notice.

The story is set on an island that is home to two clans. Neither of them is allowed to set foot on the home turf of the other. We are shown life in the East of Cadence and how, for all its problems, it is a good life.

it is strongly hinted that life in the West is much more of a struggle on a day to day basis. I'm looking forward to the sequel and hoping it gives more insight into life on the other half of the island.

A River Enchanted is a beautiful tale full of history, magic and mystery. I was not sure what to expect but I quickly found myself caught up in it as if I were a character in the book. Well-written, not a quick read (but that is a good thing!), highly recommend!