Review: Enchanting part one of Disenchanted & Co.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 12, 2013
I was fairly enchanted with part one of the Disenchanted series. Lady Diana Walsh hires Kit to rid her of a curse that carves words into her skin at night. Kit was determined to stay away from the wealthy Hill dwellers thinking them nothing but trouble yet she takes pity on Diana. Someone is this household wants to stop Kit investigating and she soon finds her reputation and life at risk.Kit is an independent feminist and a thoroughly no nonsense heroine. She doesn't believe in magic and even set up her own detective company to uncover charlatans hoping to prey on the gullible. Throughout this novel she is forced to admit, albeit unwillingly, that perhaps there are things out there that logical reasoning cannot explain. If you judge a person by the company they keep then Kit is quite unusual. She counts the wife of a lord, a brothel madam and an eccentric inventor as her closest friends.Romance is not at the fore of this novel but Kit is pursued by death mage Lucien Dredmore and Chief Inspector Tommy Doyle. Dredmore by name and nature stole pretty much every scene he appeared in. He is fascinated by Kit and can't seem to leave her alone, especially when her life is threatened. I wanted a little more foreshadowing of their relationship as it develops rather quickly.Viehl has built her world in a meticulous fashion so that it comes to life on the page. America has not only lost the Revolutionary War, magic and machines lurk just around every corner. The steampunk aspects are very well integrated and range from Docket's inventions to the role of the scrammers. I have read quite a few very light steampunk novels lately so it was refreshing to see the steampunk take more of a central role. I enjoyed watching the plot unfold even though it stopped on a massive cliffhanger. We were presented with one mystery which Kit solved fairly quickly only to have new elements emerge. Kit's past and her investigation threaten to ruin her. I appreciated the glossary of terms.My biggest criticism of this novel is the abruptness of the ending. I can see why Viehl did it as I'm now itching to find out what happens in the next novel but a little more of a (temporary) resolution would have been nice.*I received a copy of the novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*