Enchanted

The Woodcutter Sisters, Book 1

By: Alethea Kontis

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Best Teens Category, 2013

Sunday Woodcutter is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. Not only does that come with an enormous family, but the things she writes in her journal also have a tendency to come true. When Sunday meets a frog in the Enchanted Wood who asks about her stories, the two develop a unique and precious friendship that quickly deepens into something quite magical.

One night, Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold—rebellious crown prince of Arilland and a man Sunday’s family despises. The prince returns to his castle and announces a royal ball, inviting every eligible young woman in the country. Rumbold hopes to make Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is and not the frog he was.

Sunday does feel a strange, strong attraction to this prince she barely knows. But what other twisted secrets might lie hidden in his past…and hers?

©2012 Alethea Kontis (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

For the young & young at heart

This teen labeled book is certainly different from the what teens are reading now. With it's beautiful peasant girl, a frog prince etc.. it's a refreshing change from darker vampire & werewolf stories. The author did a nice job adding entertaining twists to well know stories. While I would suggest buying the book to read to the littles for bedtime, the narrator does such a wonderful job with the story telling that you might just want to play it for them. So I would recommend this lovely story mostly for pre-teens & under.

As wonderful as I remember

I first read this book as a digital copy from my library. I have since purchased a digital copy of my own and was delighted when I discovered it was available as an audio book as well.
I love fairy tales and have become quite the fan of retold fairy tales. having read many, this one definitely ranks among my favourites and I eagerly await the release of the others in the series.

a must for fairy tale lovers

fun and easy read an absolute must if you love fairy tales. Katherine K is my favorite reader

A fairy tale for children

I love retellings of fairy tells, but this one was more juvenile than expected, and I didn't enjoy the narration very much. It does have some clever moments, and begins well, with Sunday Woodcutter shaped as a compelling character. But the thread of the story drops several thoughts/revelations that are not expanded on later, I felt. Many things were unexplained or confusing. But I think 9-12 year olds would enjoy it.

All my favorite Fairytales rolled into one...

I am a sucker for a good Fairytale. This book was very kid friendly as I listened to it with my 12 and 9 yr old. I enjoyed how the fairy tales that we know and love are rolled together into one story. Sunday is an amazing character and is fearless when it comes to loving her family. It is only when she meets the prince that she struggles with her willingness to love and her commitment to her family.

Seven Daughters to a seventh daughter ... Seven Days of the week and fairies all around.

What a great adventure... I would have given it more stars, but it was written so that it was more the speed of a preteen. I thought the Narrator performed the parts well, but it took me a while to get used to how she phased the passages.

A Fairy Tale Lover's Dream

Would you listen to Enchanted again? Why?

Yes. Its a beautifully written story that makes you remember all the wonderful fairy tales you grew up with. The nitty gritty ones so many parents won't read to their children anymore. Every chapter was filled with magic and all the different fairy tale references was like being in on a secret joke.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Probably Thursday, Sunday's Pirate Queen Sister. I find myself very much hoping Thursday gets a book later. She never actually appears in the book itself, is only mentioned, but she seems awesome. Second favorite is probably Tricks because he's so adorable!

What about Katherine Kellgren’s performance did you like?

She has a lovely voice. Her accent is just right for fairy tales.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I really enjoyed the first couple chapters where Sunday is writing in her journal about her family and you get to hear about them. Each is unique and has their own story, you can tell, which is highly impressive that Alethea could balance them all so nicely.

Any additional comments?

I've been seeing a lot of reviews, both negative and positive describing this book as a fairy tale retold. That is not what this is. It is a whole new fairy tale.

The biggest mistake anyone can make when opening this book is to think you know the story already. This is an entirely new creature.

What Alethea Kontis does in this book is bring to like our favorite tales from the Brothers Grimm and a touch of Hans Christen Anderson to weave the magical rules of this world.

This is a world where, if a girl meets a talking frog, she easily figures out its a man because her world is full of enchanted frogs turned men, full of Kings with no name, full of fairy godmothers baring magical gifts.

I quite enjoyed this read. It sets up a beautiful world and Alethea's writing voice is perfect for it. She captures the true essence of fairy tales and makes them her own.

I grew up with Brothers Grimm and every once in a while, Alethea would make a reference to apples and you knew they must be poisoned, or to any other number of things and if you're a true fairy tale lover, you understand the rules of them.

She doesn't spell it out for you but if you pay enough attention, she leaves you enough clues to make an educated guess. Like so many people having violet eyes. I think this says how much magic is in their blood. Purple and violet always seem to be a reference to magic.

This was a lovely start to what is going to be an enchanting series.

Just remember, when you open the book, let Alethea weave her magical tale. She's not retelling you a story you've heard a thousand times. She's using the age old fairy tale references and rules to create something entirely new. She's setting up a world that I can't wait to visit again to find out what happened with all of Sunday's sisters and, hopefully, her brothers too.

A lot of fun

Any additional comments?

This was a charming and interesting take on the frog prince story. I really liked the main characters of Sunday and Rumbold, and the secondary characters - who apparently take centre stage in later novels in the series (I wish they were available on Audible!) - were also great. I did find myself confused in a couple of places, where I thought the backstory of exactly what was going on could have been explained better,. Overall it was a lovely book, with excellent narration by Katherine Kellgren.

Fun twisting of fairy tales

I have been wanting to read this book for a while now. This was an extremely fun read. It twists a number of fairy tales in a way that is fun, heartfelt, and clever. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The second book in this series will be titled, Hero, and is expected to release in October of 2013.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. They voices were all very distinct and portray emotion well. My only complaint would be that some of the female voices were a bit shrill. The narrator has a wonderful English accent that suits the story well.

Sunday is the youngest of seven daughters all named for days of the week and all cursed to characterize the epitome of their weekday name (Monday’s child is fair of face...you know that old poem). However Sunday is unhappy and her only refuge is stories. One day she meets a frog in the forest named Grumbold; they become friends, swap stories, and fall in love. Sunday kisses him but nothing happens...until the next morning when, unknown to Sunday, Grumbold turns into Prince Rumbold...who just happens to be a dreaded enemy of Sunday’s family. As you can imagine hilarious antics ensue.

Sunday was an excellent character. She is a bit dreamy, but still fun and feisty. All of her sisters have very distinct personalities. The family dynamic was very interesting to read about and I enjoyed it.

Rumbold was an interesting character because he is missing a lot of his memory for most of the story. As a result he gets to start life afresh without any of the baggage people normally accumulate as they grow up. It’s an interesting idea and thought-provoking...who would you be if you didn’t have any of your previous life experiences to shape you?

What makes this book really fun though is how cleverly all the different fairy tales are tied together. There are references to numerous fairy tales woven in here and it is fun to try to spot them and place them. This book has references to The Princess and the Frog, Jack and the Beanstalk, the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and many many more. I absolutely love fairy tales and really enjoyed seeing them all twisted together like this.

Overall this was a wonderfully fun read, I really enjoyed it. The characters are easy to engage with and very sweet, the plot is well done, and I loved how many different fairy tales are twisted into the mix. Highly recommended to fans of fairy tale retellings...this was just such a fun read! I can’t wait to see what Hero will be like!

I liked it. . .

This was quite a few fairy tales rolled into one. It takes a little bit to get into the story but it's very engaging once it starts going. There are a few holes in the story but nothing that is a deal breaker. Kellgren is a good narrator. She's a bit over dramatic at times but it's a YA book. All in all, entertaining. The next book in the series comes out in October, if it's on Audible, I'll buy it.

Fun story with references to a lot of fairy tales!

I enjoyed this story a lot! It was a quick enjoyable listen, Sunday’s family was a delight, and the pace was nice.