The Enchantment Emporium
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
Edition: 1
Format: Bargain Price
Label: DAW Hardcover
Manufacturer: DAW Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: June 02, 2009
Publisher: DAW Hardcover
Studio: DAW Hardcover
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Editorial Review:Product Description:The bestselling author of the Blood Books delivers a masterful new urban fantasy. Alysha Gale is a member of a family capable of changing the world with the charms they cast. Then she receives word that she's inherited her grandmother's junk shop in Calgary, only to discover upon arriving that she'll be serving the fey community. And when Alysha learns just how much trouble is brewing in Calgary, even calling in the family to help may not be enough to save the day.
Average Rating:
Rating:
-
This book had a lot of promise and the plot really intrigued me. A strong female character from a family of witches is my kind of reading...usually. The problem is that the storyline bounces around and the reader is left to decipher too many family secrets that are never really explained. I found myself waiting to be grabbed and I just never was. And, um, how do I bring up the whole "relatives with benefits" subject tactfully? Just a tad too freaky for me with the central character having to avoid too much physical contact with her brother lest they get carried away, but apparently cousins, male or female, are perfectly okay...I'm no prude, but it kinda made me raise an eyebrow. All in all a real disappointment. Still, I would give a sequel a try.
Rating:
-
This book is not as funny as her Keeper books, but it's done in a similarly entertaining style. Easy to read and fun, it's the kind of book that's good company when spending a lazy day day in bed.
I agree with a few of the earlier reviews: the incestuous thing got rather weird and off-putting at times. And sometimes details got confusing, or it wasn't clear which character was which (especially in the first few chapters). I did find myself wondering what she meant by certain terms, since she introduces characters and her world as if you already know them. However, since I wasn't expecting (nor did I want) a deep, thought-provoking book, it was easy to just brush off these quirks and get caught up in the story.
In other words, if you're looking for just a fun story, this book is worth a try.
Rating:
-
This was a fun romp, and definitely one of Huff's more frivolous pastries. The story is lightly set in Calgary, and we get to visit Banff along with some of the parks and interesting buildings around town. More importantly, Huff uses that wide open feeling to work the much older magic of what happens when someone smothered by too much family gets a chance to get away and claim some space of her own with the family she chooses to keep. The dragons aren't so typical as to be ho-hum, and the running gags actually got funnier at times. For example, the magic mirror in the hallway was quite cute, in an attitudinal kind of way.
The Enchantment Emporium is currently a stand-alone book, and had only one obvious "borrow" from Huff's previous work (a line about waxy buildup) that I could recognize. Even though it was well done - fun, cute, sweet, funny - I'm kind of sorry that sexual attraction was the pivot point around which much of the plot (and a great deal of the banter) rotated. I must be in a prude mood with my reading these days. But never mind me. Go out and enjoy it. This is perfect "beach" reading for someone with adult understanding and fairytale humor. Everyone gets their guy (or fey, or dragon, or...) in the end, just like s/he is supposed to, and even the final draw-the-line stand is just the right salt and sugar mix.
Rating:
-
I have only started reading Huff's other books, but the description of this one sounded so good, it jumped the queue. And it was WONDERFUL. I like the BLOOD books a lot, but this one was simply fantastic: imaginative and completely original, funny, beautiful and you fall in love with every single character (except one). I couldn't recommend it more if I'd written it myself!
Rating:
-
Allie Gale is wallowing in gloom after her job ended and there are no prospects of friendship or employment forthcoming. Her multi-member family of witches is about to take some action when Allie receives a letter from her Grandmother which opens with:
If you are reading this, I am dead...
Grandma's left her Calgary-based shop to Allie and says it's essential that she care for the emporium because it's critical to the local residents. Allie quickly comes to realize caring for the shop includes stewardship over some pretty dangerous artifacts including a monkey's paw as well as non-human residents including a leprechaun who's hiding out from an assassin.
If the situation wasn't interesting enough, there's a new man in her life and dragons are invading the town. Allie and her family are going to have to fight it out to keep Calgary safe.
"Enchantment Emporium" is an interesting entrance into a new world and family for Huff, who does a splendid job of serial urban fantasies. This story is not as action-packed as the "Blood" books or as witty as the "Keeper" stories, but the foundation is laid for a lot of strong characters to emerge.
Rebecca Kyle, January 2010
Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.
