Fantastical

I swear that no one but Kristen Ashley can make me fall head over heels for every man that she writes. It just isn't possible for anyone else to do. And I really thought it was going to be a challenge for her with this series. I could not have been more wrong. This series is the one that I honestly felt I would have no interest in, because I had never before had the urge to read of other realms, elves, dragons and witches. But this is KA- I should have known better than to doubt the Queen. If anyone can make me want to devour a book of this kind- it is this woman!!That said, Tor Hawthorne has been the hardest for me to like so far of the series. Yep, I said it. I actually had issues with one of KA's men. How can that be possible, you say? Well, because from the beginning of the book- Tor treated Cora worse than a bug on the bottom of his shoe. He was blinded by his hate for his "other" Cora, so much so, that he refused to see that this Cora was absolutely nothing like the last, and could no way be of his world. He refused to even entertain the possibility that magic could be at play, even as he knew that it existed in his world, and that it surrounded him daily. So, he treated Cora like dirt. He was cruel to her, he was physical with her, and even relished in the times that he made her cry, even when deep down- I think he knew it was wrong. He only thought she was playing a game with him, in order to please herself, and accomplish her own selfish goals. And that, well that hurt my heart. I couldn't stand to see one of KA's men be cruel to the woman that I knew he would grow to love, to cherish, and to ultimately vow to give everything for.If there was ever a man that had some 'splainin to do- it was Tor. He had so much to redeem himself for- he may as well have decided to make himself a permanent statue on his knees at the alter of Cora.But Cora, in all of her gracious beauty and kindness, could not make him suffer as he should've. She opened her heart, not only to Tor, but to his world and his people- even if they refused to do so to her, as the "other" Cora has treated them no better than Tor had treated her. So, not only did Cora have to teach Tor how to learn to love her- not the former evil Cora, but she had to teach an entire kingdom to as well. Luckily, she was one of the most determined heroines that KA has ever written. And for that, I loved her. She is definitely one of my all time favorites. I think I cried every time that she did, and my heart hurt as much as hers every time that Tor was a jerk, or they were ripped apart, as well I rejoiced when he finally redeemed himself (in a freaking HUGE way), and when they were ultimately reunited.This series, as much as I originally thought it bizarre, is now one of my faves of Kristen Ashley's as it is so unique, so unreal- yet genuine, and so damn beautiful. I am now doing re-reads, just to get ready for Midnight Soul- something that I CANNOT flipping wait for!! So, next up for me, a re-visit with the luscious Apollo and Ilsa, and then on to Noc-- yippee!!!

I got some real Sleeping Beauty/Disney princess vibes from this one but tailored for a more, eh, mature audience. Lol. Cora wakes up in a true fairytale land full of bright color, sweet talking birds, and a handsome prince sworn to protect her, but it all comes crashing down as she unwittingly unleashes a cataclysmic curse leading to the kidnapping of her sister, the evil cackling of a powerful witch, and a prince who wants nothing to do with her. All of this is made worse by the fact that Cora is not in fact the cold-hearted, lazy, manipulative girl they think she is, in fact she's an innocent snatched out of her world and dropped into one that makes her eyes wide as she takes in the enchanting beauty around her even while the people in her path make her gnash her teeth angrily at the injustice of being treated as someone she isn't. But how can she convince them she's a doppelgänger from another world and innocent of the other Cora's crimes?Honestly if you've been enjoying this series so far then you'll love this book too. Not as violent and rough to read as book 2/The Golden Dynasty (for those of you who did not enjoy that one) but still just as swoony as the others while following the enemies-to-lovers theme. This one though has the bonus of witnessing a fairytale prince having to absorb our world for a time and that was just as much fun to read!

I have read the first three books in this series, and this was pretty good. (GOLDEN DYNASTY is the best.) FANTASTICAL is a bit more complicated than a typical Kristen Ashley book. In this case it seems to be due to setting up future books in the series.Characters, plot, romance, and style are all typical for this author.For me, Kristen Ashley's best books are KNIGHT and GOLDEN DYNASTY, and those were three stars. Unfortunately, I have never rated an Ashley book higher (although I like her stories) because the punctuation, dialogue, grammar, and wrong words knock me out of the story constantly. Examples in this book include 'tracks' when she means 'tracts', 'tanner' should be written as 'more tan', and the typical horrendous punctuation.

I really enjoyed book 3 of the Fantasyland series. Tor and Cora were both really likeable and I was quickly invested in both of them and their story. Once I started Fantastical, I couldn't put it down and ended up reading it in one day. It wasn't my favorite of the series but well worth the read. It's probably my 3rd favorite, with Book 1 my absolute favorite. It was awesome to see a brief glimpse of the main characters from the first two books. I'm super anxious to see what happens next. The biggest let down for me is that the end pretty much leaves us hanging for what happens next for all of them with the new drama that came about in the epilogue. I just love this series and these characters so much, I need everything for all of their futures.Overall, I give Fantastical 4-4.5 stars. Probably only because books 1 and 2 blew it out of the water and were easily 5+ star books and this one just didn't achieve that level of rocking my world.