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Review: A River Enchanted

Review: A River EnchantedTitle: A River Enchanted
Author: Rebecca Ross
Series: Elements of Cadence #1
Genre(s): Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 480
Source: Own
For: Book of the Month
Rating:
Sexual Content: 1.5 Flames

Goodreads Amazon

There's a trigger warning for this book. See Trigger Warning section at end of review for more details.
Goodreads Synopsis

Jack Tamerlaine hasn’t stepped foot on Cadence in ten long years, content to study music at the mainland university. But when young girls start disappearing from the isle, Jack is summoned home to help find them. Enchantments run deep on Cadence: gossip is carried by the wind, plaid shawls can be as strong as armor, and the smallest cut of a knife can instill fathomless fear. The capricious spirits that rule the isle by fire, water, earth, and wind find mirth in the lives of the humans who call the land home. Adaira, heiress of the east and Jack’s childhood enemy, knows the spirits only answer to a bard’s music, and she hopes Jack can draw them forth by song, enticing them to return the missing girls.

My Thoughts

I’m so glad I chose A RIVER ENCHANTED as my February Book of the Month choice. As soon as I started to read the story of Cadence and its inhabitants, I was hooked. When I was reading A RIVER ENCHANTED, I didn’t want to put it down and I couldn’t stop thinking about it in between reads. I stayed up until 4am on Sunday night finishing it because I was that invested in the characters and the story. I haven’t done that for a very long time.

I loved that RIVER ENCHANTED was written from different POVs and that it wasn’t done chapter by chapter. The story was told from whoever’s POV it needed to be told from at that moment. (Don’t worry. It’s not confusing in any way.) I also loved all the characters and the slow-burn romances. I wish there was more kissing, but I’m glad the story wasn’t sacrificed for the romance.

I once thought home was simply a place. Four walls to hold you at night while you slept. But I was wrong. It’s people. It’s being with the ones that you love, and maybe even the ones that you hate.

I adored the mythology of A RIVER ENCHANTED. It was fascinating. The magical system with the spirits was fun to read about and experience.

I really loved the Scottish feel to A RIVER ENCHANTED and I think Ross could’ve pushed that aspect of the story a lot more. My guess is she didn’t want to make it hard for her readers to pronounce the names and places or dialogue between the characters. Because she didn’t embrace the Scottishness whole-heartedly, the story felt a little YA at times. (Ross states in her “review” on Goodreads that A RIVER ENCHANTED started out that way.) The YA feel doesn’t take away from the story. However, as a lover of adult high fantasy, I think A RIVER ENCHANTED could’ve been that much better if Ross had pushed the envelope a lot more.

I’ve been trying to decide if I want to give A RIVER ENCHANTED 4 or 5 stars. I finally settled on 4.5 stars. I’m so glad I finally got a chance to read it. It was a delight to read and I look forward to reading its sequel. It’s going to be a very long wait until December View Spoiler ».

Have you read A RIVER ENCHANTED? If so, what did you think?

Trigger Warning

There is a trigger warning for cutting, physical assault, mention of stillbirths, and loss of a child and parent.

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Top Ten Tuesday #13

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Authors I Haven’t Read but I Want to

This week’s prompt is a fun one. There are so many authors I haven’t read yet and want to. I could probably create a part 2, 3, 4, and 5 to this post. Narrowing down this list was really hard, but I did it. Here are my top ten authors I haven’t read but I want to:

Ali Hazelwood

Sally Hepworth

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Gabrielle Zevin

Ruth Ozeki

Colleen Hoover

Alice Oseman

Sara Zarr

Jaclyn Moriarty

Nicola Moriarty

I’ve heard such great things about all of these authors. In a couple of cases, I’m hoping greatness runs in the family (the two Moriartys are Liane Moriarty’s sisters). Either way, I’m really excited to read every one of these authors. Now the real question is which book by each of these authors should I read first? I already know the answer for half of them:

If you’ve read any books by the other five authors, please tell me which book I should read first in the comments.

What about you? Which authors haven’t you read but want to? Do we have any in common?

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Sunday News #13

Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, and showcase books and other things.
Feeling

I’m feeling a little bit tired. I haven’t been sleeping very well lately for some reason. I’m not sure why.

Blogging

This week on the blog:

Reading

I’m still reading my February Book of the Month pick–A RIVER ENCHANTED by Rebecca Ross. I’m about halfway through it. I haven’t had much time to read this week. When I do read, I don’t want to put this book down. So far, I love it so much!

Listening

While I was listening to my “Faves” playlist in the car this week, Daft Punk’s “Instant Crush” came on. I always forget how much I really love that song. Corey turned me on to Daft Punk some years ago and this is my favorite song of theirs.

Watching

I found another show on Netflix that is amazing. It’s called School of Chocolate. I follow Amaury Guichon on Instagram and think he’s an amazing chocolatier and pastry chef. I love seeing what he does with chocolate. When I found out that School of Chocolate was him teaching other chefs how to do what he does, I couldn’t pass it up. Even if you don’t watch the Netflix show, you should check out his artwork on Instagram.

Loving

I love my new hair color. It turned out darker than I expected, but I love how it looks in the sunlight. Unfortunately, I haven’t been feeling well again this weekend so I haven’t had a chance to take a picture yet. I’ll get one and share.

Wanting

I want this semester to be over. I only have three more weeks and it feels like this has been the longest semester of my life, lol.

Needing

I need to convince Corey it’s still too cold to turn the AC on. It’s so cold in our house. I’ve been wearing sweatshirts and sweatpants, cuddling up under blankets and with my cats, and I’m still freezing, lol. The funny thing is I used to get hot like him, but not anymore. Maybe he has thyroid issues like I did.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

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Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon Signup

I haven’t participated in Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon in a while. I wasn’t going to participate this time either because I thought I had a final on April 30th, but I found out my final’s on May 2nd instead. For that reason, I’ve decided to participate in the readathon and I’m really excited about it.

For those of you who’ve never heard of Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon, here’s some information about it from the official readathon blog:

For 24 hours, we read books, post to various social media: blogs, Twitter, Instagram, Litsy, Reddit, Facebook, Goodreads, and MORE about our reading. We also participate in mini-challenges throughout the day. It happens twice a year, in April and in October. We also have an extra readathon, the Dewey’s Reverse Readathon, which happens in August. The next event is our April Readathon scheduled for April 30, 2022.

The readathon starts at 8am Eastern Daylight Time on April 30th, which is 6am where I live. If you’re not sure what time that is where you live, there’s a time converter on the official blog. Just click Start Times in the menu underneath the header.

At this point, the readathon is too far away for me to have a proposed TBR. I’ll post one (probably on Instagram so be sure to follow me) the closer we get to the date. I don’t usually participate for the whole 24 hours because I need my sleep. I still try to read for as long as I can. Sometimes I’ll hang out with a couple of friends at Suey’s (It’s All About Books) house and we’ll read together for a few hours, which is a lot of fun.

Are you going to participate in the readathon? Are you veteran or will this be your first time?

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Wyrd & Wonder The Fifth Signup

I’d never heard of Wyrd and Wonder until I saw information about it on Curiosity Killed the Bookworm last Friday. I decided to look more into it because it sounded like an event I might enjoy.

This is Wyrd and Wonder’s fifth year and it’s hosted by Imyril (There Is Always Room for One More), Lisa (Dear Geek), Jorie (Jorie Loves a Story), Ariana (The Book Nook), and Annemieke (A Dance with Books). This is what Imyril says about the event on her blog:

Wyrd and Wonder is an annual geek-out of like-minded adventurers as we celebrate the fantastic on our blogs and social media feeds through May. Come share your enthusiasm and recommendations (book bags of holding highly recommended) with an amazing group of other fantasy fans. We’ll be reading and reviewing books, talking about movies and tv shows, playing games and sharing our thoughts on anything vaguely fantasy-related through blog posts, bookstagrams, booktoks, booktubes, Litsy posts and tweets galore – all connected by the #wyrdandwonder hashtag.

My last test for my current school semester is on May 2, which is perfect timing. I thought it might be fun to participate in Wyrd and Wonder since fantasy is my favorite genre.

I’m looking forward to the book bingo, readalongs, blog posts, and bookstagrams. If you’re curious about the event or want to sign up, check out any one of the five hosts’ blogs.

Are you going to participate in Wyrd & Wonder? Are you veteran or will this be your first time?

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