Much more than an exciting story, The Enchanted Castle is one of the best fantasies written for young adults. The writing styles range from colloquial dialogue to poetic descriptions of magical transformations in moonlight. Each of the main characters is given a distinctive style of speech. Nesbit is also skilled at evoking a scene with apt choice of concrete detail. One of the most effective episodes is the ingenious party the four young people throw for the Mademoiselle, creating make-believe guests out of rags, sticks, and brooms, but magic intervenes and the pretend figures come to life. These "Ugly-Wuglies" are truly terrifying in their non-human malignance. An equally effective scene that evokes beauty rather than terror occurs when the handsome statues of gods and beasts in the castle yard come to life in the moonlight.

Nesbit also uses elements of myth and fairy tale to add...