Review: The Amaranth Enchantment

Title: The Amaranth Enchantment
Author: Julie Berry
Release Date: March 3, 2009
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Cover Designer: John Candell
Age Audience: YA
Genre: Fairy tales
Summary: 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 a mysterious visitor and an even more bizarre piece of jewelry both enter the shop on the very same day, 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 was a great book. While it is a retelling of Cinderella, Berry put in such a unique twist that it took me awhile to figure that out. The setting and time era was a little confusing, but I succeeded in not letting it bother me.

All the characters were loveable; you can’t help but like Lucinda, Beryl, Peter and even Gregor. Oh, and Dog. Mustn’t forget Dog the goat.
Lucinda especially was easy to relate to, although I found her to be naïve at times. I mean, how can letting a strange thief stay at your house ever seem like a good idea?

I was a little disappointed with the ending. I wish we could have found out what became of Beryl’s stone, and what Lucinda was going to do next. A sequel wouldn’t hurt. I also wish that Berry could have let us explore Beryl’s world some more. But otherwise, this was a fun, predictable read that I’d recommend to any fellow fairy tale lovers.