Mere Enchantment by Alicia Rivoli, Book Review

Blurb from the book:


A World Like No Other…

When a newly formed group of friends finds themselves fighting for survival, little did they know that was just the beginning.

When Chloe, Megan, Jason and Zach are forced to take cover in a nearby cave from a violent storm they find their new friend Preston there as well. Zach guides the group through the cave but as they go deeper strange things begin to happen and they find themselves separated in a magical kingdom surrounded by unusual people and wizards. Things get even more dangerous as they travel the kingdom in search of the city of Mere and each other.

As their journey unfolds, Preston discovers that the bedtime stories he was told as a child are true and that his rightful place in time must be realized. The kingdom itself has gone under attack as Jacan, a traitor to the crown, forces his armies through the magical borders.

Looking back Preston should have recognized that it was all real. He should have seen the signs. But how could he have known? After all, Jacan was just a villain in a story that took place in a far off mystical land. How could he have imagined that the stories that his father told him as a child were true?

How could any of them have known that their destinies were already written, and that to discover who they really are would take courage that they never realized they had?


My Review:

So my first impressions of this book are that it is unique, interesting and a wonderful fantasy novel.  The cover is beautiful and that alone would make me want to read the book.  I liked the characters and enjoyed the descriptions that the author gave of them, so I could picture them in my mind.  The first part of this novel I loved and couldn't read fast enough.  However, once I got about half way through the book, the pace seemed to drag for me.  Too many unnecessary details that bogged the pace down, and the back and forth between the main characters was a lot for the reader to keep track of.  My biggest problem with this novel was the dialogue between the characters.  It wasn't believable to me, I kept thinking that no one talks like that, ever.  With edits, this and the many unneeded details could easily be fixed.  While I read this on my kindle, I realized at about 95% through that there was no way the author could wrap the story up and I was going to be left hanging.  I don't mind this usually, except I felt like I read a lot of pages and was left with no resolution.  On the bright side, the story and world that Alicia Rivoli has created is unique and magical!  The main theme of the book is great and I do want to read the next one in the series!  Three stars.


You can pick up Mere Enchantment via Amazon or Barnes and Noble.


Happy Reading!!!


Source:  Author for review