Brianna Sugalski’s Disenchanted is a fun, ever flowing adventure

I didn’t quite know what to expect coming into Disenchanted by Brianna Sugalski, other than it sounded interesting and like the kind of book I would like, but I feel like it ended up being so much more.

The story follows Lilac, princess to a kingdom she is one day meant to rule. However, there’s one thing about Lilac that is considered a curse, that being that she can understand the Daemons of her world. For this reason she has been kept hidden in the castle for many a year, until the beginning of this book where she runs away to see what the wider world is like and to save her people by getting rid of the curse.

Along the way she meets Garin, a mysterious fellow she meets at a bar who unintentionally reveals something about himself he’d rather keep quiet from the princess of the kingdom. Together they set off (Lilac captive if Garin could convince her of this fact) to return to Garin’s people whose society he has been kicked out of, where he plans to use Lilac to prove this is the case.

Nothing convinces me more of the fact that I have some slight issues than when I fall hard for a character of a questionable nature. This moment of clarity came to me early on with Disenchanted with Garin, who very quickly after meeting Lilac has a rather, shall we say violent introduction, that immediately had me like “Yes, I love him already and I’m going to need him to be in all of the book going forward.” A new book boyfriend has entered the building and I love that morally grey vibe.

Lilac, for all her sheltered captivity for so much of her life, is a character I really enjoyed. She’s opinionated and doesn’t let the small minds of others dictate her own feelings and beliefs, and she’s not afraid to speak up for what she believes in. She is still naive as one would expect from someone so isolated from the wider world, particularly as far as Daemons are concerned, but she is also open minded and her naivety is never grating. She’s brave, not afraid to butt heads with dangerous creatures and never tempering her tongue which results in a lot of sass which I love. It also makes for such entertaining discourses between herself and Garin with such engaging banter. I loved every minute of the two of them together, talking and sassing one another.

The plot is always flowing, from one adventure to the next with a vast array of supporting characters that are enjoyable, and some that make you want to wring their necks. Despite the fact that it’s only over the course of a matter of days, so much happens and there’s plenty of character growth from Lilac and Garin both. I feel like the story gave a great opportunity to see a good chunk of the world, from the different creatures that inhabited it, all lumped together as Daemons by humans, to the differing opinions held between those with great hatred for Daemons, to those like Lilac who are more understanding, and even the hatred Daemons feel for the humans who have oppressed them.

The ending of the book wrapped things up nicely, while still leaving the story open enough for a sequel, and I cannot wait for more of this world because I really enjoyed this book.