45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
I really wanted to like it, but..., May 31, 2010
A very loose retelling of the Cinderella tale. Lucinda's parents died in a carriage accident when Lucinda was a young child. Since then, her aunt (cruel) and uncle (nice) have raised her in their jewelry shop. Lucinda's life was fairly ho-hum until a mysterious woman known as the Amaranth Witch drops off a gigantic jewel in need of a new setting, a beggar boy steals the jewel, Lucinda's uncle dies, and Lucinda is kicked out of her home after her aunt accuses her of theft. Does that sound like a bit much to believe? Wait, it gets worse.
I could swallow all of the above if the characters were good enough to carry the story and the suspension of belief didn't require much more than your average fantasy/fairy tale (or at least made some sense). However, the characters weren't good enough to carry the story. Lucinda was almost the tough and spunky, but not in that annoying way, heroine, but she didn't quite get from character storyboard to endearing and memorable. Beryl was just so sad and desperate it was pathetic, wallowing around instead of either trying to fix her situation or move on with her life. The prince was cut from the same cardboard early Disney princes were cut from, but with a dash of "annoying" thrown in for good measure. There was also zero chemistry between them. Peter had the makings of a good character (and much better love interest), but he never reached his promise and the conclusion of his storyline was over the top silly. The goat named Dog was the best character in the book, and even he was completely random and never explained.
And then we get aliens. Yeah, aliens. This brought the book from "Ok, but nothing memorable" and into the realm of "What was the author thinking?" Instead of remembering the book as, "What was that one about again? I think it was ok?" I'll now remember it as, "Oh, isn't that the one with that alien well thing thrown in?" Not the best lasting impression.
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26 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A New Kind of Fairy-Tale, March 10, 2009
This review is from: The Amaranth Enchantment (Hardcover)
My 15-year-old daughter, Bailey, recently wrote this review of The Amaranth Enchantment:
By R.Bailey Scott
Original, relatable, humorous, and fantastic do not begin to describe the fresh, yet masterful, prose of Julie Berry, author of The Amaranth Enchantment. The story grabs you within the opening lines:
`Someday, Lucinda," she says,"these jewels will all be yours.
"They smile, kiss me and hurry down the hall warning me to be good for Nurse. Papa so tall and handsome. Mama sparkling and trailing perfume
"They leave for the ball.
"But, they never come back."
When it ends 306 pages later, you will find yourself asking for more.
The Amaranth Enchantment follows the captivating story of fifteen-year-old Lucinda Chapdelaine as she struggles to find herself and replace the sense of family she lost when here parents died.
Sent to live with an evil aunt, Lucinda works as her house servant until one day when a mysterious stranger arrives at her uncle's jewel shop and sets her off on a magical journey full of astonishing twists and turns, temporary disappointments and joy.
The story line is fast-paced and exciting, and the plot unique and intricate, something rarely found in fairy tales. While headed toward a happy-ever-after-ending, the book entertains and amuses with many laugh-out loud moments, while still revealing a depth of understanding about loneliness, home, and discovering one's sense of purpose.
While the focus is on Lucinda's adventures and victories, Berry inserts the character of a predictable prince, for, as she puts it, "What's a fairy-tale without a prince?"
However, Berry deliberately did not let the prince get in the way of developing the female protagonist, Lucinda, who is both strong and independent. "It's not like other fairy tales where the heroine is destitute until the prince comes to save her. Lucinda's victory did not depend on the prince," Berry said.
"I saw Lucinda as having a lot of strength, character, and grit, which she uses to reclaim her home and identity. I hope that upon reading this girls will know that they have the ability to build their own future homes and identities by choosing the life they want to live and pursuing their dreams through education and experience. Love, while wonderful, doesn't have to come along to achieve happiness."
Along with creating a strong and independent character, she wanted to develop a heroine whom adolescent girls could relate to. Berry insists that that Lucinda could be any girl, for she is neither excessively brave nor exceptionally brilliant. "She is a very believable person whom I hope girls can see themselves in," she said.
As Lucinda searches for self and home, Berry breathes life into fantastical settings, people, and creatures. Many female Mormon authors who write for teenagers -- Shannon Hale and Stephanie Meyer, for example - create worlds within best-selling novels, leaving teenage girls hungering for more.
Such electrifying fantasy added great strength and originality to their works. Now, The Amaranth Enchantment takes magical imagery to new heights. She "paints" settings so vividly that readers will find themselves entering her imagined world instantaneously.
Berry said, "my religion has given me perspective of life and love stretching beyond this world to the afterlife and really helped in shaping my creation of Lucinda's world."
"I hope that young people will think of me as someone who produces works that are exciting and fun," she said. But The Amaranth Enchantment , while amusing, also beautifully illustrates and brings insight to complex themes and emotions such as loneliness, home, and identity.
Berry says: "It is my hope that at least one girl will read The Amaranth Enchantment , love it, and be swept away by the fantasy and adventure."
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Short of the mark, August 12, 2009
This review is from: The Amaranth Enchantment (Hardcover)
The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry is a very loose Cinderella story. Lucinda was the prized daughter of wealthy and influential parents, but when they die, she is left penniless and sent to live with her uncle and evil step-aunt. Now she's fifteen, her life is bleak, and she doesn't see a way out. All of this changes in a matter of hours when three strangers separately enter her life - a mysterious lady, a handsome thief, and a prince (princes don't need adjectives).
Strengths: The evil aunt is given a reason for being evil - not an excuse, but the reader understands a bit better why she behaves the way she does. She's also not entirely irredeemable. Basically, she's a villain with a little bit of depth. Nice to see, and not something required of a Cinderella retelling. So, points for that.
Lucinda was interesting. The plot was compelling - I did want to know how it turned out (ok, mostly I wanted to see the bad guy vanquished and find out what boy she ended up with). I laughed in a few places. I was invested.
But.
Yes, but. You knew this was coming.
I have to question if any fantasy elements were even necessary. I honestly don't think they were. This could have been written as a simple historical fairy tale (minus the, er, fairy bits) and, frankly, I think it would have been a stronger story for it. Alternate realities? Preternatural goats that that verge on magical, but are left without explanation whatsoever? There was a whole secondary world built up here, and very little need. It's like normal evil wasn't evil enough and needed to be ramped up with magic evil. And, ok, if magic was needed, why the alternate reality? Why go to the trouble? It's not like the powers were all that special to require that. They were pretty typical magical powers.
It was just too complicated. Which is a pity, because Berry did a good job with giving a known entity (Cinderella) a very fresh turn. I just, in my humble opinion, think she went a bit too far, straying out of my ability to suspend disbelief.
And, seriously, WTF was with that goat?
(a modified version of this review appeared at [...] )
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