2013 YALSA Hub Reading Challenge - Update #17

Oh, the excuses never end. I intended to get significantly more reading done this week than I actually did, especially since Thursday was the last day with students. A new exercise program and some quality time with the hubby turned out to be more engaging than reading this week. We are starting the summer off right, even though it's looking ever more unlikely that I'll meet my goal of reading every book on the list by the end of this month. I'm now at 44 books, which is enough to have officially finished the challenge, but only slightly more than half of the 85 titles. I've also been working on one book, Pure, all week that I just can't seem to get into. It's got all of the elements I love, but it's not grabbing me. Maybe I'm finally fed up with dystopian fiction. Hmmmm, I'll keep going and review it next time. Meanwhile, I did finish one this week.

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis


As the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, Sunday has a whole lot of magical potential, but feels inadequate and overlooked compared to her dashing and daring elder sisters (all also named for days of the week). Her brothers are pretty interesting too, but Sunday feels like her talent, writing stories that have a strange way of coming true, pales in comparison to those of her many siblings.

One day, she meets an enchanted frog in the forest who is fascinated by her stories. Gradually the two become friends, and yes, something more. However, when the frog is finally transformed into his former self, Prince Rumbold, Sunday is not there to see. He slowly regains his memories and realizes that Sunday and her family blame him for the death of her brother, Jack. 

As always, there is more to the story than first appears. Rumbold and Sunday, along with the rest of their families, are soon caught up in a struggle to renew the balance between light and dark.

Fairytale fans will enjoy picking out the references to many different tales and seeing how they come together in one new tale. I will be interested to see how the rest of the series plays out. A fun read!