Growing Disenchantments by K.D. Berry

By: Anonymous on Friday, February 22, 2013

Title:  Growing Disenchantments

Author:  K.D. Berry

Published:  June 26th 2012 by Bluewood Publishing

Page Count:  372

Genre:  Fantasy

Shelf:  Review Copy

Rating:  ★★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Just when he'd been looking forward to another quiet night delving into mind-bending arcane lore and mentally wrestling with the deepest magicks, along came this mysterious thief to disturb him. Why was it nothing in Ragonnard's life ever went to plan? Rather than turn her in to the law (or into something else), the young sorcerer offers Ganfrey a deal – steal a portrait from the palace for him. But it's no ordinary portrait. For 500 years it's been a magical prison for Syranax, the most powerful sorcerer in history. His enchanted Amulet was entombed with him, and Ragonnard wants it. More than anything. In releasing the Amulet, Ragonnard unleashes a devastating sequence of sorcerous events, the like of which has not been seen for hundreds of years. And, no, things definitely don't go to plan. Ned Merrivel is a time traveller from the future. His job is to sort it out when it all goes wrong and save the world somehow. If only he can find a pair of trousers first.

My Review:

Ok, so somehow I missed the fact that K.D. Berry is actually a writing duo until I read the “about the author” section at the end. I must say that I am amazed. I generally find that there is a discrepancy in writing styles between multiple authors writing together, however, while reading this book I didn’t once guess that there was a second author. Everything flowed together so seamlessly.

This story was very unique. It had the weirdest version of time travel ever, but it was also so cool. I’d love to be able to do so, regardless of the unpredictability of it. The different disciplines of “magic” are also quite unique. Berry takes a variety of existing notions and tweaks them to create a unique world for their readers.

The writing style adopted by the authors is ideally suited to the story. Everything is given the appearance of being slightly comical and always larger than life. The writing style suits this. Everything is easy to picture. The writing also remains concise and clear through the process. There is a logical progression from the beginning to the end of the novel. It is very difficult to beat this. It was such an enjoyable, fluffy read.

The characters in this story were great. They were all off the wall and larger than life. But they were also well developed, suited to the role that they were to play. I love the fact that some of the characters actually read and tried to do things “the way they’re done in the books”. It was priceless. They even tried to look and act the part. Philosophical animated inanimate objects are also brilliant. The household fixtures were also absolutely adorable. I would love a household full of them. Everyone was quite unique, even if they did bring a Disney movie to mind. And yes, when picturing this book, I did picture everything as a cartoon.

This book is one of those novels that will be loved by readers of all ages. It is upbeat and gripping, without any extreme violence, language, or relationships. To top it off, it all takes place in such a fantastical world. You feel like you’ve stepped out of a picture and right into it.

Buy your copy online here today!