Once Upon Stilettos (Enchanted, Inc. #2)
By Shanna Swendson
ISBN: 9780345481276
320 Pages
Synopsis:
Click your heels three times and say,
“There’s no place like Bloomies!”
Katie Chandler’s life is pure magic–literally. As an executive assistant at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., she’s seen more than her share of fantastical occurrences. A mere Manhattan mortal, Katie is no wizard, but she’s a wiz at exposing “hokum” pocus, cloaked lies, and deceptive enchantments. And she’s fallen under the all-too-human spell of attraction to Owen, a hunky wizard and coworker. Owen, however, is preoccupied. Someone has broken into his office and disrupted top-secret files, and it reeks of an inside job. CEO Merlin (yes, the Merlin) taps Katie and her special ability to uncover the magical mole.
Keeping her feelings in check while sleuthing alongside Owen, Katie is shocked to discover that her immunity to magic is waning, putting her in grave danger. Soon she’s surrendering to the charms and enchantments of everyone and everything around her, including a killer pair of red stilettos. Katie must now conjure up her natural instincts to get to the bottom of the break-in, regain her power, and win the wizard of her dreams.
My Thoughts:
After reading the first book in the Enchanted, Inc. series, I was addicted and could not wait to read the next installment. I needed to know what was going to happen to Katie and Owen! (And Ethan, I guess...) I immediately checked out a digital copy on my local library's app and started reading. I liked that the writer made a point to do a recap of information on important characters and plot points as they came up. It's definitely better to start with the first book, but even if you had not read that one, you would not be completely lost.
Once Upon Stilettos opens up with the girls shopping and immediately points out the titular red stiletto shoes - also seen on the cover - so you are given the feeling that they will be an important plot device. I suppose that you never know - some books name themselves after one random word or phrase mentioned once in the 600 pages *cough*Twilight*cough*. But I understood that they were going to be significant. (I mean, they were mentioned in the synopsis too, so....) With the weight of focus on those shoes, I would have been confused by the fact that they are left and not mentioned again for many chapters, were it not for the fact that the first book utilized the same slow intro method before it got to the main course. This serves to give you time to get to feel the characters and the world. The writer is good at what she does.
And having time to get to know the characters is important because, as might be expected of any chic-lit book, Once Upon Stilettos is largely about platonic and romantic relationships - Katie's differing relationships with Ethan, Owen, Merlin, and Rod, as well as her other coworkers, her family, and her roommates. And of course the relationships between Trix and Pippin, and most confusingly
Trix and Ethan - I didn't get that at all. I mean, I DID, but also, it was weird how she was SO attached to Pippin and then just dropped him like a hot rock and stopped trying as soon as Ethan expressed interest .
At its core though, Once Upon Stilettos is all about mystery. There is a spy within the company, and it's up to Katie to figure out who it is. I love a good mystery. I have made no secret of that. So it was fun to watch all the clues and try to solve it - which I did well before Katie did. Go figure. I was relatively sure of my suspicions when
Ari kept trying to keep Trix and Pippin apart for no discernable reason and knew I had a lock on the culprit when
Ari was casually reading the book of love spells that she secretly "borrowed" from Owen's books .
Then there is the second mystery, which is that Katie appears to be losing her immunity. The why (and even the who) of this one was obvious to me, thanks to a bit of FORESHADOWING, though the exact how took a little longer. Once several other parts clicked, it made more sense. This book is actually a good example for the fun and effectiveness of foreshadowing, as it utilizes the literary device multiple times.
Honestly, I felt like Once Upon Stilettos wasn't as strong as the first book. The pace was okay, maybe a little slow. I think that maybe at times there was just too much going on? You were being pulled a lot of ways, trying to keep up with Katie's relationship and dating troubles, immunity issues, family drama, apartment problems, etc. It was just a lot to keep straight and I think that maybe it had an affect on the delivery of the main story. It's wasn't bad by any stretch, just busy at times. Overall, this book was another fun read and I plan to keep reading the series.
Parent's Guide:
Like the first volume in the series, this book is very easy to read and the story is fun. There are points that focus on sexuality and attraction, and one scene that borders on assault. Some of the humor is environment based and will probably go over the head of the younger teens, but in general this book is upper teen friendly in complexity and entertainment value.
The Oz Counter: Three! Four if you count the included synopsis. After the surprising lack of references in the first book, I didn't know what to expect, but this one redeemed the series. Of course the references were regarding the shoes because the symbolism there is obvious, despite the fact that the shoes really were more tied to another folk tale. But I love a good pair of ruby slippers.
(The Oz Counter is explained in the "Anatomy of a PBG Review" link at the top of the page.)
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