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An Enchantment of Ravens, by: Margaret Rogerson

10/29/2017

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       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 among them. 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, violating the fair folks’ ruthless Good Law. There's only one way to save both their lives, Isobel must drink from the Green Well, whose water will transform her into a fair one—at the cost of her Craft, for immortality is as stagnant as it is timeless.
       Isobel has a choice: she can sacrifice her art for a future, or arm herself with paint and canvas against the ancient power of 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.
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My Rating: ★★★☆☆ (1/2)

       I was very intrigued when I received An Enchantment of Ravens in the October Uppercase Box. The overall feeling I got between the blurb and the cover was that it was going to be the perfect book to get me into a fall mood. As a book, it definitely didn't standout to me as one of the greats, but I still liked it and was very glad I got a chance to read something I otherwise wouldn't have.
       When I started this book, I was so excited to see that the main character, Isobel, was an artist! If you didn't know already, I am someone who loves art as well as reading, so to be able to connect with a character through that same love was very fun. Although I understood everything that Isobel mentioned about her art, I could see how another person might not share that same connection and find the painting scenes boring or confusing. It's just something to keep in mind before you dive into this story.
       Isobel's story started out when she was commissioned to paint a portrait of Rook, who was the Autumn Prince. As the story progressed, they ended up falling for each other (Which, of course, broke a forbidden law that had been in place for thousands of years. Didn't see that coming.). I felt like their story had the potential to be really great, but wasn't executed as well as it could have been. Everything that happened between them felt unnatural and very cliche. They started falling for each other in the beginning, he got mad and kidnapped her, but it was all okay because they love each other. Sorry, but I couldn't buy into that. 
       I did enjoy the story more as it progressed, and the building of the fae world was very well done. There were a bunch of little details that made the world very vivid. I liked how human craft played such a big role in the folklore of this story as well. It added to the entire plot and made Isobel's story that much more interesting. As Isobel enters the fae's world, a few more minor story arcs started to appear and added more overall appeal to the book. There was also a fantastic plot twist towards the end that (sort of) made up for all the cliche in the beginning. (But, you know, #spoilers.)

       Overall, this book started off cliche and got better as it progressed, so if you are willing to stick it out for the first part of the book, you are in for a good read. Have you read An Enchantment of Ravens? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

As she gets bundled up to go outside,
​Ashton
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When the world failed me, I could always lose myself in my work.

― Margaret Rogerson, An Enchantment of Ravens

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