This was powerful, raw, necessary, and tough to get through. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to properly express myself when it comes to this one. It hit me in such a way that I still stumble with all of the emotions I have for it. Jackson won me over many years ago with her powerhouse Allegedly and she’s only gotten better with every book she writes.
I’m sure you’ve heard there are Trigger Warnings for this and I’m here to testify that is true. I mentioned this was tough to get through and I mean it. It deals with several forms of abuse, sexual assault, violence (both verbal and physical), neglect, underage drinking, drug use, and much more. While those are very serious topics, they are all handled with the care and grace they deserve. Jackson did not throw them into the story just for the sake of it. They served a purpose and they were also discussed/addressed as they should have been. It was brilliantly done and my hats off to Jackson.
I have said this on numerous occasions but I connected with this story on a deep level as I am a survivor of domestic violence. Now I can only speak to my personal experiences but the abuse/neglect/violent scenes in this story felt believable. I had many, many similar situations/events in my life so I believed what Enchanted was going through.
There were other times when I felt like I was Enchanted. This tugged at all of the right emotions, feelings, thoughts, wants, hopes, and dreams. What little girl hasn’t had dreams of being in the spotlight or being more than her upbringing? I know I had big dreams of getting out of my small town, sadly I had to take some seriously rocky detours to get there but I made it.
The world building, the characters, the story lines are all magnificent. The characters are brilliantly flawed, the worlds are lush, and the story lines are captivating. I will always recommend Jackson books to readers. She writes the stories that need to be published. She writes real, relatable, believable, and relevant stories. She writes with magic in her veins because her stories are so fluid.
If you read this one, let me know your thoughts.
A Gingerly Review 