A beast. An enchantress. An unbreakable curse . . .
When her little sister is taken by the beast of the Forbidden Forest, Larkin does the unthinkable: she goes in after her.Deep within the sentient woods, Larkin uncovers a secret that puts her in dreadful danger. Worse, now that the beast has had his taste, he’ll never stop hunting her. But the forest has woken something inside Larkin; something … woken something inside Larkin; something that gives her the power to fight back.
Magic.
Using forbidden magic will get Larkin hanged. Not using it will leave her at the mercy of the beast’s enchantment. But there’s a third option; one that scares her more than anything.
She could fall in love with the beast.
Beauty & the Beast collides with The Pied Piper in this romantic fairy tale retelling. Fans of UPROOTED and A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES will be spellbound by the dark magic, forbidden romance, and daring adventure. Read Stolen Enchantress now to find out why readers around the world are getting lost in the Forbidden Forest!
“Moody, whimsical, & enchanting.” – Emily R. King, author of The Hundredth Queen Series
OTHER TITLES BY AMBER ARGYLE
Forbidden Forest Series
Lady of Shadows
Stolen Enchantress
Piper Prince
Wraith King
Curse Queen
Fairy Queens Saga
Of Ice and Snow
Winter Queen
Of Fire and Ash
Summer Queen
Of Sand and Storm
Daughter of Winter
Winter’s Heir
Witch Song Series
Witch Song
Witch Born
Witch Rising
Witch Fallmore
Stolen Enchantress was everything I didn’t know I needed and was missing from a Fantasy book. What a ride!!
Amber Argyle weaves a dark and dangerous world dominated by the Forbidden Forest. It’s the place every girl in town knows to stay away from, and yet is where we find our main character, Larkin, stepping into right from the first chapter (in order to save her little sister). I know I’m being super vague and not telling enough – and this was also one of my “complaints” after reading the blurb for the first time, that it should be telling me more, – but now I know that it really was telling me enough of what I needed to know so if you’re on the fence with this book (especially regarding content), and don’t care about mild spoilers, read the last part of this review. If not, just go and snag a copy! It *is* worth it!
Why? Let me tell you (just keep in mind that I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat):
This book was chilling, and yet I couldn’t get enough of it! The pace is fantastic and knows exactly how much to give away so that the reader will delve deeper (and understand bit by bit what world is it they’re stepping into) while at the same time keep them coming for more, wanting to know *all* the answers (beware of starting this book near your bedtime, you may or may not end up regretting it the next day).
The narrator did such a wonderful job . I loved all the voices and she nailed every single one, from Sela’s lisping the R’s to the druid’s menacing tone, to Denan’s at times soothing or patient one, she did a great performance of each character, transporting the reader right into the story, living everything alongside Larkin. Oh, and the emotions? The nuances? She nailed every single one, from fear to excitement to hope to anger. Seriously, I could give this audio 5 stars just based on the narrator’s performance of Maisy’s songs #chilling, and yet, there are some things that I’m choosing to overlook, but could bother other readers: 1. There are a handful of instances in the second part of the book where it feels like the narrator missed some sentences in her first recording of it and had to go back and add (or at least that’s my theory) since those sentences clearly feel out of place compared with the rest of the narrator’s flow. 2. I couldn’t distinguish the voices in the scene where Bane’s talking with his father (they both sounded the same to me – but when talking with others, then, yes, I could tell the difference). 3. Since I listened to this book in large chunks at the time, by the end of it, some of the voices where beginning to sound similar (especially between the male characters, like Garoth, Bane, Denan, and maybe others). However, the last 3 things notwithstanding, I can’t recommend this audio enough.
Great author-narrator duo and I can’t wait for the next one!! ~ 5 stars
CONTENT: there’s magic, there’s a forbidden forest one would never want to find themselves in, there are druids (and then there are black druids), there’s a love triangle(?); there’s mention of a father abusing his family (though it’s more in the past, what is shown is something brief); there’s mention of girls “rolling in the hay” with boys (though never shown), as well as the fact that doing so would end up in said girl ruining her reputation (- marriage is valued in contrast); there’s talk of periods/menstruation blood but in a neutral/positive light (if that makes sense); there’s also mention of past sexual abuse (but it’s more like implied in/deducted from a conversation).
Sometimes when I wander into a fantasy world, I want to move in and never leave. This one is a total mess, and I’m hoping our power couple can sort it out! The virgin sacrifice thing at the beginning of this book totally weirded me out at the beginning because I thought that the trees themselves were the problem. I think the real strength of this novel is the fact that the further you wade into this story, the more villains you find. Instead of taking the easy route on character, Amber Argyle keeps showing you other sides to her characters. Gotta warn you that this one has a bit of a body count, so if you are staying in the light and fluffy zone this is not your jam. But it was a wild ride! Happy Reading!
Thank goodness this whole series is out. I don’t like series and normally will only read the first book but this is different. It’s been a long time since I wanted to read the second book. Can I survive it? This book had me biting my nails. This poor girl is a danger magnet. I thought it would get old but this book is just all about a time of peril, it worked. I couldn’t put this book down and was pretty frustrated being interrupted, so you might want to start when you have few interruptions. The story is fast paced, well put together and just good. It is unpredictable and pulls you in over and over. This is a story that I will give my 19 year old to read. She will love it. I might even read it to my 11 and 14 year old changing somethings. There is violence everywhere in this book. It is not too detailed but you understand how awful the life is for some of these people. There is no sex but some kissing and mention of pregnancy before marriage. There is some frietning things like monsters and zombies. This has an older teen feel.
I will be reading more of Amber’s books after this.
Oh, WOW! That was an awesome book! I really can’t wait for the next one!