Everything in this world works on the magic of stones. Charms (wizards) and half-chars (non-wizards) live in Enchantment. It is not known in advance what you were born as; you can find out only by trying to pass the Higher School exams. All the children in this world try to pass, but not all of them pass. You can fail any test, but if at the last, most important stage, one of the magical stones dormant in the Rock Garden wakes up when you appear, then you are the chosen one, to be a wizard! The lucky one takes the pebble, in the company of which he will now have to work miracles throughout his life.
The main character, the girl Elda, lives in a castle with her relatives; her real parents disappeared many years ago. Elda's life cannot be called terrible, but her relationship with her aunt and cousin is quite tense, so Elda cannot be called happy either. Everyone around is sure that the girl has no magical abilities, she herself thinks so, but still, according to the rules, she must pass these exams, albeit without any hope of success. Will it pass, what do you think? 
A beautiful, bewitching world, where precious living stones choose their own owner, where they fly on dragons, where at any moment a fold of space can rise, releasing something ghostly from itself. The book pays a lot of attention to details: descriptions of exquisite outfits, jewelry, hairstyles; the reader is immersed in the atmosphere of a kind of generalized European medieval city with its narrow streets, castles, shops and taverns. There will be a love story, intrigue, terrible secrets, and many twists.
In general, the influence of “Potteriana” is obvious, but still Enchantment is an independent, very logical and verified world with its own surroundings. The story is complex, but written in a simple, good style, the plot is extremely fascinating, the characters are lively.
Who is it for? For all fantasy lovers: both for girls and boys, just like “Garik”. And although the publishing house sets the age range from 10 to 14, it seems to me that we can safely expand the boundaries: from 8 and up. (again like “Garik”). We recommend taking it for primary, middle and high school age.
Fantasy has replaced adventure literature. If Soviet-style schoolchildren read Jules Verne and Mine Reid, then for modern children such a way to immerse themselves in another reality is “Harry Potter” and Comrades. Despite the fact that the fantasy genre is by no means new, it is thanks to the influence of Harry Potter that it is now experiencing a rebirth. And in Russian-language literature, perhaps, the first, because there was trouble with translations of “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “The Lord of the Rings” until the 90s, and in general this genre remained almost unknown in the Soviet Union.
And so the universe of JK Rowling inspired writers to create new fairy-tale worlds. It is difficult to say which modern book of this genre would not feel its influence. And “Secrets of Enchantment” by Yulia Ivanova is no exception.
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