An Enchantment Of Ravens

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Manufacturer: Margaret Rogerson
Brand: Fantasy, Young Adult
Brew: Paperback
Steeping Time: 320 pages
Tea Service: Giveaway Win
Strength:

Synopsis: Isobel is an artistic prodigy with a dangerous set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake bread or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and Isobel’s paintings are highly prized. But when she receives her first royal patron—Rook, the autumn prince—she makes a terrible mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes—a weakness that could cost him his life.

Furious, Rook spirits her away to his kingdom to stand trial for her crime. But something is seriously wrong in his world, and they are attacked from every side. With Isobel and Rook depending on each other for survival, their alliance blossoms into trust, then love—and that love violates the fair folks’ ruthless laws. Now both of their lives are forfeit, unless Isobel can use her skill as an artist to fight the fairy courts. Because secretly, her Craft represents a threat the fair folk have never faced in all the millennia of their unchanging lives: for the first time, her portraits have the power to make them feel.

Give me a land of enchantment any day, danger and all.

If you love a good story that leads you through the wilds of a mysterious fae world, then An Enchantment of Ravens is a book you should seek out. We start in Whimsy, a land of perpetual summer, but we are quickly drawn into the forest and an entirely different world. It doesn’t start out as a fun romp in the woods, though. Rook, the Autumn Prince, is stealing Isobel away so she can stand trial for a deadly grievance against him. But they don’t make it very far before they are fighting off threats left and right.

I found the pacing of the book pretty spot on. By the time I started to think a scene was going on a little long, or I was ready for a chapter break, POOF. There it was. Like magic. I also loved all of the characters. Each individual is so different and unique, which can be challenging to do without being outrageous. But I think that’s where the fairy courts lend their hand. They have the freedom to be outrageous, and it doesn’t work against them. Instead, it creates a colorful, magical world, even as it hides a darker underbelly.

An Enchantment of Ravens was full of suspenseful moments that kept me glued to the pages.

They ranged from ‘are they going to die’ moments to ‘are they going to kiss’ moments with perfect balance between the two. I wouldn’t particularly label this a romance novel, but it is definitely a love story, and I am all about that.

A few characters that I couldn’t get enough of were Isobel’s sisters, who were originally goats but had been transformed by magic into human girls. Their antics are silly and lighthearted and bring levity where it’s needed. Aster and Lark, two women that we meet in the Spring Court, also stole my heart. Lark is a bundle of energy that never stops, and poor Aster is a reminder that getting what you want may not bring you the happiness you thought it would. I loved the contrast between these two.

Honestly, there were so many elements of An Enchantment of Ravens that I enjoyed.

The facade of the fae courts, the four different seasonal courts, the inability of the fae to do the simplest of human things, like cook or paint. All of these details come together to create a deep and exciting world that I was not ready to leave when the book ended.

I was confused on a few points while reading, and my major confusion was about the Good Law. I deduced what it ultimately meant, but I don’t know why it exists. There is one short sentence that explains what the Good Law is toward the beginning of the book, but by the time the Good Law really came into play, I’d forgotten about it and had to search back through to find out what it was. I couldn’t find it while reading, so I gave up and finished the book anyway. I found the sentence I was looking for a few days later. It wasn’t something that made me hate the book or anything, but it was an annoyance while reading. I’m not sure why that vital piece of information didn’t stick in my brain, but it was in one ear and out the other, unfortunately.

The other huge downside, that did not play into my rating, is that this is a stand-alone novel.

I so badly want a book two! I loved this world and would happily dive right back in, especially with the way it ended (no spoilers). I’d love to see where these characters go next, and I’m so bummed that there isn’t another story to whisk us off into the fae world again. Maybe someday…

Have you read An Enchantment of Ravens? Leave a comment and let me know what you thought about it! Want to read it for yourself? Click here to get a copy of your own.
Cheers,
Lydia