The Amaranth Enchanment by Julie Berry: Review

 The Amaranth Enchantment

By: Julie Berry

Synopsis (From Goodreads): When Lucinda Chapdelaine was a small child, her parents left for the royal ball and never returned. Ever since, Lucinda has been stuck in perpetual servitude at her evil aunt’s jewelry store.

Then, on the very same day, a mysterious visitor and an even more bizarre piece of jewelry both enter the shop, setting in motion a string of twists and turns that will forever alter Lucinda’s path.
In this magical story filled with delightful surprises, Lucinda will dance at the royal ball, fall under the Amaranth Witch’s spell, avenge her parents’ death, and maybe — just maybe — capture the heart of a prince.

My Review: This book was on the verge of being something I totally loved, but for some reason it fell flat. I really can't figure it out.  There wasn't anything horribly wrong with the story, the writing or the characters, but there were little flaws in each that added up to something that came very close to being a favorite book.

First, the dialogue was a little strange. I found it switched from being old-style english to modern-day slang too often. It probably would have been fine either way, but the combination of the two was really weird for me.

Second, the characters weren't quite engaging enough for me. I didn't really like the prince, and it didn't seem believable to me that Lucinda would like him. It seems like the only thing she liked were his looks. And she didn't seem like the type of girl that would only care about that.

Characters I did like: Dog and Peter. Peter was so much fun. I liked his boldness and the way he instilled confidence in Lucinda. He was very charming and interesting. Much better than Gregor if I must say so. Lucinda's goat, Dog, was so sweet and loyal you couldn't help but love him.

The ending wasn't quite what I wanted it to be. A lot of things happened that were a little hard to believe, and didn't quite flow with the rest of the story.  There were two twists in the story that I really liked, and one even made me audibly gasp.

Overall, it wasn't a bad book, just not a fantastic book. I think a younger audience might like it better than I did.

My Rating:
I gave this book 3 stars

Profanity: None
Drugs and Alcohol: None
Sexuality: None
Violence: Mild