Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Enchanted Waters: A Magical Collection of Short Stories (Enchanted Anthologies)

Top positive review

Lovely collection, truly magical

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 30, 2023

Loving the water as I do, this book was a must-have for me. Luckily, I added the audio version to the text as well. My favorite story in this collection (although all were excellent) was 'Wishing Well' by Elena Shelest. I sat on my apartment balcony overlooking our pond and listened and imagined as the narrator told the story. The scenes and characters she writes are true to life and so well written. I enjoyed the book and hope more anthologies like this one will follow.

Top critical review

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Not A Bad Start

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 13, 2021

This review is solely for Daughter of the Selkie King, one of the short stories in this book. Delta is an eighteen year old girl who has never been in the water. The stories of creatures living in their depths has kept her away along with her mother's warning. After her friends convince her to dip her toes into a hot spring, everything changes when a selkie boy appears and seems to know Delta. When Delta's mother finds out it opens up past secrets and Delta must make a powerful decision. Since this was a short story I did expect there to be somewhat of an ending, but was left with a major cliff hanger instead. Maybe that was the author's aim, but unfortunately it wasn't what I was looking for in this read. I still gave it three stars because I did like what was written, although at times for being a short story it felt super rushed in parts and dragged on in others where it wasn't neccesary.

Thank you to Story Origin for a review copy.

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From the United States

Amazon Customer

A Treasure Trove of Beautiful Fantasy Stories

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 4, 2021

Verified Purchase

In this beautiful anthology, of which all proceeds go to the charity Oceana, dedicated solely to ocean conservation, we get TEN water enchanted stories! My favorites were (in no particular order) Daughter of the Selkie King - the ending had me wanting MORE, Merrily Merrily - because I loved getting a little backstory on Zane (from A Soul as Cold as Frost) The Arctic Mermaid - because I'm a sucker for love and Heartless Melody because it is the prequel to Silent Melody, which I am a huge fan of and we get an awesome, heartbreaking story on sweet Peter.
Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely. I am a dreamer and this book is filled with fantastic dreamy worlds that I myself wish I could write about. Filled with Selkie's, Pirates turned protector's of all things to do with tradition and Christmas, Kelpie's, Shido's, Princely Frogs, Sea Ghosts, Naiad's, Mermaid's, Pipers and water nymphs, Mavki and underwater Tsar's. The stories gripped me, the characters made me smile and had me cheering them on and a few left me wanting more as the ending was so abrupt, which was quite smart for those authors to do! Leave us needing more and needing to pickup the stories that follow.
I applaud these authors for putting their hearts and souls into such wonderful stories and giving to such a worthy cause. Definitely worth the purchase and was time well spent. Grab your copy today!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sara

Solid watery anthology

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 21, 2022

This watery collection included ten stories:

1. Daughter of the Selkie King
A girl learns her parentage and must decide whether she is meant to stay on land or sea.

2. Merrily Merrily
Zane should inherit his mother's ship and crew, but she has other plans. Will he find a way to win her approval or make his own way in the world?

3. The Kelpie of Loch Linnhe
A knight helps a maiden return to her home, but things may not be all they seem.

4. The Bridge
A woman learns a terrible secret and must decide if she will hold on to the past and her bitterness or move forward and accept good life for herself.

5. Kiss the Frog
When an enchanted frog tries to find a maiden to kiss him and break the enchantment, he ends up learning more than he bargained for.

6. Sea Ghost of the Isle
An American girl moves to Scotland and finds ghost stories coming to life around her.

7. The Naiad's Curse
This story felt like a fairy tale version of The Good Earth or The Golden Thread. A poor man makes a bargain that ends up costing more than he bargained for.

8. The Arctic Mermaid
A mermaid, an enchantress, and a king find their stories entertwined as the mermaid takes on an impossible quest and uncovers a story that could change the course of a kingdom.

9. Heartless Melody
The story of Peter Piper when he was a simple rat catcher, his first love, and how he got his enchanted pipe.

10. The Wishing Well
A girl of marriageable age makes a wish that affects her future in ways she doesn’t quite imagine.

I enjoyed most of the stories, but my favorites were Sea Ghost of the Isle, because of the way it delved into Scottish folklore and language, and Heartless Melody, because, well, I do love Peter and this explains so much of who he is. The Arctic Mermaid was also interesting and creative and I loved it until the ending. If you read it, we can talk, but I don't want to spoil anything.

All of the stories were well-written and engaging, and I would read any of the authors again. I was given a free review copy of the audiobook and have reviewed it willingly.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Lyn

Enchanted Waters anthology

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 20, 2022

I enjoyed listening to this collection of stories which included magical and mythical creatures of the water.
There are 10 stories in total that range from dark fantasy to light and fun.
The shortest story being 14min but most around 1hr plus.
Some stories were standalone and others were part of the authors continuing series.
My review is for - Daughter of the Selkie King, Lyndsey Hall
This story is about Delta, a young girl that doesn’t truly fit in where she lives.
Due to her mothers warnings of never setting any part of her body in the water Delta gives in and does.
In doing so this reveals her mothers well kept secret, and she is forced to tell Delta the true story of who and what her father really is.
I’m looking forward to the next instalment of Delta’s story and her upcoming quest in finding her newfound underwater family.
Lillian Rachel did a wonderful job as narrator for all these stories.
I received a free copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily posting this review.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Carmen

An Enchanting Collection of Short Stories

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 29, 2022

Enchanted Waters is a delightful collection of short fantasy stories from award-winning and up-and-coming authors. All proceeds from the sale of this book benefit Oceana, in order to help protect the world’s oceans.

The tales all feature water, which is perfect for fantasy readers like myself who happen love the water! I thoroughly enjoyed listening to gorgeous narratives of underwater worlds, ghosts, and mythical sea creatures.

The audiobook is well done and I really appreciate the emotion that was put into its narration.

I highly recommend this book to all fantasy readers who love the waters and want to do their part to help protect our oceans. Exploring these wonderful stories is also a great opportunity to discover some amazing writers!

Thank-you very much to the authors for the opportunity to review the audiobook version of Enchanted Waters. My views and opinions are my own.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Andra-homeschool mom

Wonderful Collaboration

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 18, 2022

Narrator did a wonderful job bringing the characters for each selection to life. As for the storylines, it's a great collaboration among the many authors to create this anthology based on different water creatures. The stories are filled with family, happiness, angst, regret, love, restoration, redemption.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Lydia

Beautifully Written Fairytales

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 19, 2021

I received an ARC of "The Naiad's Curse" in exchange for an honest review. So I'll mostly be going over that story as I haven't read all of the others yet.

"The Naiad's Curse" is beautifully written and has a whimsical fairytale feel that makes me reminiscent of the Grimm Brothers. I loved the depth of Nate's character and the descriptions of the world, especially the details of the religion and the descriptions of the nix.

However, I was disappointed by the ending. It feels rushed.

There are so many pages of excellent word building and increasing tension for it all to fall flat. This story deserved either a great tragedy or a great redemption for its resolution. And it doesn't get either one. Instead, we're told it's all so neat and tidy for Nate now, while the rest is left in the air for us to find out later.

I'm sorry, but the way this ended for the nix's character doesn't make sense at all. I should be able to look back and find clues for it, but there aren't any. I want to have that "aha!" moment where I realize the author was laying the groundwork all along under my nose. But that doesn't happen at all.

For just this story, I would give it three stars because I liked it (I loved the beginning and a lot of the buildup), but it didn't deliver in the end.

However, I'm giving the overall anthology four stars because this is an easy, fairytale read with depth and character. And some of the other stories I've read so far (like "Merrily, Merrily") are a solid five stars on their own.

Helpful

K.M. Conklin

Dive into a variety of water worlds

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 26, 2021

Enchanted Waters is a lovely collection of fantasy stories by eight different authors. Each tale dives into the magic of water, but not always in ways the reader would expect. Instead of taking place entirely under the sea, the book ranges from arctic oceans to the rivers of India to the marshlands of fairy-tale realms. Readers will encounter well-known mythical creatures, like kelpies and mermaids, as well as lesser-known figures, such as the Asrai of English folklore. The result is a wholly unique collection, spanning across cultures.

***I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for being part of the book launch team on Instagram. The thoughts expressed above are entirely my own.

Helpful

Amazon Author

Entertainment for a Good Cause

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 16, 2021

As a series of short stories, this book switches perspectives constantly to stay fresh while highlighting pieces of various other works. The frustrating thing about this is how I found myself invested in each story only to be swept away somewhere else after giving credit to the original work. If you don’t mind some of the stories not concluding and pointing to other books to read/continue, I recommend Enchanted Waters. It’s also worth noting that the proceeds go toward a worthwhile cause. The organization, planning, and final product are definitely worth the price!

Helpful

Kindle Customer

Fun collection of mythical sea creatures for a great cause.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 16, 2021

In this collection of short stories, you'll meet all kinds of mythical sea creatures. It's a fun collection of fantasy short stories from around the world, perfect for fans of mythology or folklore. The best part is that the proceeds go to support our oceans. Thanks for the ARC copy!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

NIKKI MITCHELL

Gorgeous book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 18, 2021

This is such a fun bunch of stories. It’s absolutely gorgeous and each short story is a fantastic read.

One person found this helpful

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