[Book Review]: An Enchantment of Ravens by Margeret Rogerson
Review: An Enchantment of Ravens by Margeret Rogerson
“A skilled painter must stand up to the ancient power
of the faerie courts—even as she falls in love with a faerie prince—in this
gorgeous debut novel.
Isobel is a prodigy portrait artist with a dangerous
set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake
bread, weave cloth, 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 and devastated, Rook spirits her away to the
autumnlands to stand trial for her crime. Waylaid by the Wild Hunt’s ghostly
hounds, the tainted influence of the Alder King, and hideous monsters risen
from barrow mounds, Isobel and Rook depend on one another 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.”
Okay, first of all, isn’t the cover gorgeous! That was one of the reasons why I bought it
on the first place; the main reason being the intriguing synopsis. I went through a lot of trouble buying this,
it was an adventure haha, but that aside, ‘An Enchantment of Ravens’ is set in a
fantastical land where the faefolk roams the earth along with us.
One thing I did not know about this book when I bought
it was, it was more geared towards middle-grade readers. I was expecting a complex high-fantasy and
did not get what I was expecting to get.
This book feels like something that Studio Ghibli might pick up one day,
a fantastical story with whimsical elements and quirky characters (I am looking
at you, Rook and Lark….. and the goat sisters!)
There are a lot of funny scenes and I definitely laughed
my heart out while reading this book. If
you are looking for A Court of Mist and Fury-esque book, you are looking at the
wrong place. This is more like a light,
short read, the one that you pick when you want a break from emotionally
daunting books.
There are some details that can be quite unbelievable. Rook is the autumn prince that has lived for
like hundreds, if not thousands of years and even for someone detached from
human, it is kind of impossible for him to live that long and not know human’s
basic needs. And their first encounter
with the Alder King was pretty anticlimactic.
That being said, I did enjoy this book.
Out of love for Rook, I am giving this 3.7/5
hearts!
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