The Enchanted in Bound Together

Nov 10, 2014 Annet rated it it was amazing

Shelves: creepy, dark, crime, have-to-read-again, literature-pure, favorites, favorite-author, hope, wow-impressive

Been thinking about this book a lot since I read it. Truly exceptional. And definitely in my top ten ever....

This is truly an enchanted book, a wondrous story. I was thinking yesterday when I finished it that it compared with The Road, which made a big impact on me. That this is without a doubt one of the best books I ever read.
It's a sad, gruesome dark story but also, weirdly enough, one of hope and love. And, beautifully written, a poetic style, which is strangly contrasting with the topic of Been thinking about this book a lot since I read it. Truly exceptional. And definitely in my top ten ever....

This is truly an enchanted book, a wondrous story. I was thinking yesterday when I finished it that it compared with The Road, which made a big impact on me. That this is without a doubt one of the best books I ever read.
It's a sad, gruesome dark story but also, weirdly enough, one of hope and love. And, beautifully written, a poetic style, which is strangly contrasting with the topic of the story: death row. The story follows a mute inmate on death row who follows and observes developments on death row, which is deep down in the dungeons of the prison building. It's about York, an inmate on death row who wants to die; the lady, who tries to investigate York's case to get him off the death sentence; about a fallen priest in the prison. The lady and the fallen priest fall in love but don't know how to handle it... The boy with the white hair who is abused in prison, and one day decides to take fate in his own hands... The honest and troubled warden, whose wife is dying of cancer...All people with dark happenings in their lives. The mute inmate hears little men in the walls...And then the horses, the golden horses that run and run and run and make a real stampede in the prison at crucial moments. Fantasy or reality?
Well, I cried at the end... like when I finished the Road.
And the book, this is why I always want to read real books. A grainy book, the golden horses lay on top of the print of the cover, the bars are stamped into the book, the pages unevenly cut.. a real live, beautiful book. It will get a top spot on my shelves.

This is what the inside flap of the book says: 'The enchanted is a magical novel about redemption, the poetry that can exist within the unfathomable, and the human capacity to transcend and survive even the most nightmarish reality. Beautiful and unexpected, this is a memorable story.'

Rene Denfeld is an author, journalist and death penalty investigator, that all makes sense.

An extraordinary book. Highly, highly recommended. ...more

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Mar 19, 2014 Dem rated it it was ok

The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld. 2.5 Stars

Let me start my review by saying I wanted very badly to love this book like all my friends on Goodreads that have read it and have been seduced by it. To them I say.............I am Jealous of you all.
I pre ordered my copy in Hardback as this was going to be one of those books that would not be borrowed under any circumstances and would remain on my book shelf for many years to come.

But unfortunately I wasn't enchanted or impressed by it and was l ...more

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Jan 18, 2014 ☮Karen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, favorites, read-in-2015

From the first word, I was immersed, I was there in this old, stone prison, this dungeon, where the worst of the worst await their death sentences. The narrator is one such inmate, a lover of books and solitude, who sees beauty in this dark enchanted place. The lady, as she is known, comes to death row to get to know the men whose time is expiring, in hopes she can save some lives. This has been her job for a very long time. In hearing about the background of her latest lost soul, York, it is re ...more

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Jun 10, 2017 Chrissie rated it did not like it

Shelves: usa, audible-us, philo-psychol, returned, 2017-read, magic, mystery

I am not going to lie and say I liked this, or that it was OK just because everybody else praises it. No, I did not like it. I feel like I was played with. I feel like I was meant to feel miserable. I did feel miserable reading this. I feel manipulated. I detest those who try to manipulate me.

Grisly, gory details are easier to take than the implied horrors of this book. Innuendos are worse than specific details because our own imagination takes wing. We are delivered a mix of fantasy and horror ...more

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Apr 18, 2015 Melanie rated it really liked it

I don't really know what to say about this book that hasn't already been said....it always amazes me when an author can tell such a "big story" in such a short book. This is another book I don't think I will ever forget. The magical realism is a bit hard for me (what is the author trying to convey, am I not getting something). I recommend this book to everyone but there are very hard to read about issues. ...more

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Sep 22, 2015 Wendy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bound-together, 2013-2017

For me, reading this book was like driving by a horrible car accident. You don't want to look, you know you shouldn't look, but you can't look away. I attribute the fact that I couldn't put down a book about such a difficult subject to the skill of the author. Her imagery was well done, and I'm sure some of her symbolism went right over my head, as I always struggled with that in school. What can I say, I'm a scientist. ...more

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Mar 18, 2014 Glenda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2015

The Enchanted goes deep inside a decaying prison where we meet York, a death row inmate who is on the verge of execution, and "The Lady," an investigator who (against York's wishes) delves into his history in an attempt to have his sentence reduced. What she finds is far from pretty, revealing parallels to her own awful past. There are others, none without tragedy. But their morbid, often unrepentantly violent stories are balanced with moments of emotional escape--poetic beauty from outside the ...more

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Apr 18, 2014 Deb rated it really liked it

Redemption. Common human bonds. The power of imagination.
The writing in this book was amazing, every word savored and powerful.

I never read reviews until after I read the book and I have to take issue with the reviewers who seemed to rate this book lower when they were 'surprised' by the subject matter or the fact that it was just too dark for them. This book clearly states it's about death row inmates, not a light, cheerful topic folks. ...more

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May 03, 2020 Meera rated it really liked it

Shelves: 5000-books, contemporary, ebooks-i-own, bought2014

This is my third book by this author and now I think I will just pick up her newest without thinking about it. I have owned this for a while but haven’t picked it up because of the subject matter. But somehow this author makes it easy to read about difficult and complex people and topics with her beautiful and haunting prose. For me, I think the poetic and magical language gives some needed distance from the ugly and brutal things she brings up just like how the narrator does the same with his i ...more

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Nov 06, 2015 Pat rated it really liked it

The title is somewhat deceptive - enchantment found on death row??? But, in fact, it was there!

The author is a death row investigator, and she certainly made death row come alive (no pun intended)! A no name investigator and a fallen priest roam the halls of the underground death row doing what they do giving us insight into the lives of the inmates both past and present as she tries to save yet another one from execution. BUT, there are twists and turns that make this different from other such ...more

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Nov 03, 2015 Mary rated it really liked it

Magical realism that really worked (unlike Neil Gaiman's ) believable characters. Sometimes I thought she was aggrandizing her own role as an investigator through the Lady's character. Lots of tragedy but in the end hopeful. ...more

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