{Review Redux} ENCHANTED by Alethea Kontis

Join us on tour all week!
1/26 – Launch 
1/27 – Shadowskin by Bethany Cassel – Cremona @ Mythical Books 
1/28 – Beyond the Fortuneteller’s Tent by Kristy Tate – Amber @ Wonderings of One Person 
1/29 – Enchanted Fairy Tales by Cindy C. Bennett - Kathy @ I Am A Reader 
1/30 – Enchanted/Hero by Alethea Kontis - Bonnie @ A Backwards Story 
1/31 – The Fairytale Keeper by Andrea Cefalo – Lisa @ Bookworm Lisa 
2/1 – Grand Finale

I've previously reviewed Alethea Kontis' novella BLOOD AND WATER, her debut novel ENCHANTED, and her newest novel, HERO.

I've also interviewed author Alethea Kontis, and interviewed ENCHANTED cover designer Christine Kettner! Alethea has also written a guest post on "Families in Fiction" for the HERO Blog Tour and written a short story for last year's Splash into Summer event entitled "Well Behaved Mermaids Rarely Make Fairy Tales!"

Today, I'm DELIGHTED to have been chosen to take part in The Fantastical Tour and once again have Alethea here!

(And, super-duper secret?? Alethea is swinging back next week to take part in A Week of Rapunzel with a brand-new and awesome Fairy Tale Rant!)

O P E N I N G   H O O K:

Publisher's Weekly listed ENCHANTED as one of the top Great Beginnings of 2012.  Here's Why: 

My NAME IS Sunday Woodcutter, and I am doomed to a happy life.

(pg. 1, US Hardcover Edition)

This review was first posted at A Backwards Story on April 29, 2012.

Don't forget to check out my ENCHANTED designer interview with Christine Kettner, which is made of awesome. 

Whoever said "Don't judge a book by its cover" was obviously lying.  This cover made me want ENCHANTED immediately.  As soon as I saw it was a fairy tale, I wanted it even more.    I was lucky enough to be granted early access to the novel.  The first time I read it, I wasn't in the right frame of mind for a fairy tale, so I enjoyed, but didn't love ENCHANTED.  I just read the book for a second time last week, however, and was in just the right frame of mind.  I loved ENCHANTED in brand new ways the second time around and am so glad I re-read the entire thing and not just pieces.  It feels very much like a fairy tale as you read, and is easy to get swept up in (Unless you're being a cranky-pants and not in a fairy tale frame of mind, lol!).

One of my favorite things about ENCHANTED is the way Alethea Kontis mashes fairy tales together.  It's thrilling to see beloved tales twisted around in new ways, even as small asides.  I loved discovering these the most.  I also enjoyed the new take on The Princess and the Frog.  In ENCHANTED, the Sunday Woodcutter isn't a princess, but the frog is a prince.  Just kissing him won't remove the curse, however.  In the vein of true fairy tale magic, only True Love's Kiss can remove the curse.  But love isn't enough.  The frog is Crown Prince Rumbold, sworn enemy of the Woodcutter family.  Rumbold is torn apart when he becomes human and realizes that his true love can never be with him because her family won't approve.  He's desperate to prove his love and show everyone the way he's changed, but a deep, sinister magic may prevent everyone from finding a Happily Ever After if it descends upon the kingdom.

There are so many new directions Kontis takes us with ENCHANTED.  You think you know what's coming, but never quite do, especially when it comes to what becomes a passing tale.  While I wish there was deeper development between the characters over the course of a longer length of time, it felt like a traditional tale and read perfectly in that regard.  Kontis is working on Saturday's tale (Sunday's sisters are creatively named after the days of the week), and I hope Harcourt picks it up for publication.  In the meantime, Kontis has many short stories available to read, from online freebies THE UNICORN HUNTER (Snow White) and HERO WORSHIP (Little Red Riding Hood), which are both set in the universe of ENCHANTED.  Kontis has also published the short story BLOOD & WATER in the HAPPILY EVER AFTER anthology available in bookstores everywhere.  While BLOOD & WATER isn't from the world of ENCHANTED, it features the fairy tale The Little Mermaid in a dark way you've never seen before.

~*~

C O V E R   D E S I G N:

I love this cover.  LOVE!  So much that I interviewed cover designer Christine Kettner today.  Have you seen it?  You should, she's AWESOME.

I have wanted ENCHANTED since the moment I saw the cover.  It's gorgeous.  I love the swirls around the title, the banner it rests upon, the gorgeous "E," the way this font is used for the nested letters that begin each chapter.

I love the gorgeous dress the model is wearing (And I recently saw another cover [forget the title now] with the same dress and think it's from the same shoot, lol!)  I love the way she's sleeping, but doesn't look vulnerable like the model would on most YA novels.  She looks happy and at peace.  I never saw it until I was holding a finished copy (The images on the internet aren't as detailed), but I love the inclusion of the frog on the cover...and what a cute frog!  I also get to see, for the first time, the way the garden image continues on the back cover and the creamy, sophisticated nature of the spine and flaps.  When you take the jacket off, the cardboard binding mirrors this color palette beautifully.

I would pick this up at the store immediately and want to know more!!

  ~*~

O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title: ENCHANTED

Author: Alethea Kontis

Release Date: Out May 08, 2012

Publisher: Harcourt Children's

Received: Received for Review;
have also read my own finished copy!

SUMMARY:

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?

~*~

****Tour-Wide Giveaway*****

January 26 ~ February 10

There are FIVE chances to WIN!!

Winners will be drawn randomly, entries will be validated and the IP Addresses checked for shipping qualifications to award winnings in order of preference, if indicated.

See Rafflecopter entry.

Additional restrictions on Rafflecopter apply.

1 - Signed print copy of Shadowskin by Bethany Cassel plus a signed sketch of the Main Character by the author! (US Only)

2 - eCopies of both books in the Beyond series by Kristy Tate: Beyond the Fortune Teller's Tent & Beyond the Hollow! (International)

3 - eCopy of Enchanted Fairytales by Cindy C Bennett! (International)

4 - FIVE Signed paperbacks of Enchanted by Alethea Kontis plus swag! (US Only) (That's five winners. Woop!)

5 - eCopy of The Fairytale Keeper: Avenging the Queen by Andrea Cefalo! (International)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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