An Enchantment of Ravens

by Margaret Rogerson

An instant New York Times bestseller!
An Indie Next Top 10 Pick
A Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Winner

“A funny, action-packed, and sweet romance.” —School Library Journal (starred review)
“A phenomenal read.” —RT Book Reviews

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 bestseller that’s “an ideal pick for fans of Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater, and Laini Taylor” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

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.

• ISBN10: 1481497596
• ISBN13: 9781481497596
• Publish Date: 15 November 2018 (first published 26 September 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 20 April 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Margaret K McElderry Books
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Max Likes Mystery]

I started reading this book last summer. I really liked it but I got so busy with work and life I sort of stopped reading…and unfortunately, forgot pretty much for about the book. Recently, I read a few reviews of this book that was talking about how cool March and May are…and I had a huge deja vu feeling. After looking at my Ereader, I discovered that I was actually reading it and was on chapter 10. So crazy that I even forgot, but after resuming it, I finished in 1 day.

I really loved the scenery in this book. Calling a place “Autumnlands” already lends to a lot of visualization, but this author sweeten it even more with beautiful descriptions and language overall. I really feel like I could see and feel all these places. It fiercely made me miss Autumn…since it is my favorite season. I hope in the next books we can explore more of the Winterlands and Summerlands, I feel like I sorta missed those two after experiencing so much Springland in this book.

The characters in this book are superb. I really like Isobel. She was so witty and sarcastic. Rook was written well also. He did seem pretty square a lot of the time but I think that would be a good portrayal of a Fae…you know, if they existed. Gladfly, I mean Gadfly, just seemed like a super jovial guy and pretty trustworthy (for a Fae). You do get to know more about him as the books goes though. I like Emma, May and March too. I though it was interesting how different May and March are. March seemed so reserved and May was so outspoken. So interesting.

The plot is what I usually call a saga/journey story. The first few chapters set up the world then the other 90% of the books is a journey type story. Isobel and Rook are traveling to a specific place and their story unfolds as they get further from home. I did like the story overall but I think it may could have been a bit more going on. I feel like some of the plot was a bit slow going. I do think speeding it up would compromise its beautiful writing though, so maybe it was the perfect balance. The ending was great and I cant wait to read the next book.

[vagasker]

This is one of those books that is just comforting to read. Sometimes I just want to read something without needing to think much and just be entertained. This was one of those books and I enjoyed reading this immensely!

[layawaydragon]

An Enchantment of Ravens

I passed over this at first, thinking it wasn't for me. Not big into faeries, tired of the saturation of faery romance a la a certain someone, and just everything I heard made me go "no".

Then Sorcery of Thorns came. And I feel in love. Just deeply, madly in love.

So I decided that I'd give Enchantment of Ravens a shot. Fate would have it up as free to read on Rivetedlit.com this month. (Feb 2020).

I was pleasently surprised! Her writing is no fluke and gets me. Even if her next read doesn't sound like me again, I'll be trying it out nevertheless.

The former goat twins are a riot.
I enjoy the chaotic evil of these faeries.
I LOVE how Isobel is not swayed by their BS and this enternal life and powers stuff.
Rook being catlike.
Gadfly being...Gadfly.
Surprises and monsters along the way.
I made some connections before Isobel, but she cleverly manuvoured in the situations and saw the big picture in the end.
I read it quickly and enjoyed it the whole way.
It's a typical quick falling, dangerous-being lusty romance. Not my usual or sought after, but it's fun and cute.



Favorite Quotes:

Well, that simply wouldn't do. I hoisted my annoyance back up like a flag on a mast.

They looked like a pair of cupids who had decided they liked shooting people with real arrows betters. They were horrible. I loved them so much.

It feels like having a pair of shackles around our wrists, as light as spirdersilk but strong as iron.

Walking along a blade's edge was only fun until the blade stopped being a metaphor.

And yet looking at Rook I imagined a cat proudly bringing its master dead chipmunks, only to watch the two-legged oaf lift these priceless gifts by the tail and fling them unceremoniously into the bushes.

"Wake up and infuriate me, please."

"It may be cruel, but it is also fair."

While I puzzled over this, I realized why Rook hadn't been able to finish his sentence. It had been a lie.

She'd accepted that behaving correctly meant not being happy, because that was the way the world worked. She hadn't asked enough--of life, or of herself.

"You are like a living rose among wax flowers."

Through it all Rook wore an expression of aloof perplexity, as a cat might watching its favorite furniture get moved without its permission.

[moraa]

Why do we desire, above all other things, that which has the greatest power to destroy us?

2.5 stars

I've never read a book that embodies phrase: they had me in the first half. Everything was going well with the idea of the 'craft' and the fae's inability to grasp it (an important factor since most fae are depicted as perfect). I thought this would be one of the first to challenge the common depiction of fae, much like we all expected of Meyer and vampires in her Twilight series.

But then the wave of insta love crested and I wanted to yell.

So. Much. Insta. Love.

Ugh.

Then, as though that wasn't enough, the author threw in the plot twist with the Alder King towards the end. A person we've never heard of or been coaxed to care about (or hate at the very least) throughout the entire book.

It became clear to me that the author had tried for a character-driven novel but the characters were neither three-dimensional nor enthralling. The plot, which would have buffeted this at the failure of all else, did not help because there was no plot to speak of in the first place! All we had was a scattering of a few plot points over a couple hundred pages.

I am disappointed that I will not be adding this to my fae collection.

All the same, the hunt continues.

[Kat @ Novels & Waffles]

“One raven for uncertain peril. Six for danger sure to arrive. A dozen for death, if not avoided. The enchantment is sealed.”

Things I Liked:

✑ The worldbuilding = 👍👍 (The idea behind "craft" was really cool!!)
✑ THERE WERE FAE. I will never say no to a book about Fae (and Holly Black is not helping this).
✑ The Star-Crossed Lover trope is always fun.
✑ There was some fun banter between Rook and Isabell. And oh, there was definitely some great steamy scenes and angsty romance.
✑ The writing style was solid and technically well-developed.

Things I Liked... Less:

✑ I wasn't very invested in the characters or their relationships.
✑ The love felt...too insta-lovey and forced.
✑ Although the world was interesting, the plot felt subpar in comparison.
✑ I never felt worried or in doubt about how the story would end. There was no suspense for me while reading; the peril didn't feel perilous because I knew that Rook and Isabelle would get their Happily Ever After.

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[Beth C.]

I really enjoy finding a *good* standalone book. It doesn't have to be earth-shatteringly amazing, just something I can bury myself in and let go of the world for a while - and not have to worry about tracking down and/or waiting for any sequels. This book fits this perfectly. It's a little dark at times, but the storytelling is good, and the characters are intriguing. I enjoyed the world she created, and I look forward to her next book.

[KitsuneBae]

It's sad this was likened to ACOTAR when, for me, this is a much better book.

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: Had I read the synopsis, I would've stayed far, far, faaaar away from this book. Alas, I saw some praise for An Enchantment of Ravens on Instagram, and rolled with it. Big mistake. An Enchantment of Ravens reminded too much of ACOTAR. The good thing with this one is that it doesn't glorify abuse or Stockholm Syndrome, so between these two books, I say go with An Enchantment of Ravens. Plus, the writing style is also much more solid. Had this been a different story, I might've actually enjoyed it.

What I wasn't expecting was that for a good part of An Enchantment of Ravens, the characters were on the run. Those kinds of plots usually bore me, and this book was no exception. What would've dissuaded me if I had known, was the romance between a human and a fae. I just can't get behind humans falling in love with mystical characters who are hundreds of years older to boot. That's just weird, if you ask me, and the story really has to wow me to overcome those reservations. This book lacked a whole lot of imagination in order to win me over.

[reveriesociety_]

Sadly, An Enchantment of Ravens suffer from ‘over-hyped book’ syndrome. It’s not a bad book, but come on, with that cover, a bookworm’s got expectations.

The frustrating is, this book had the makings of a perfect, perfect story. I was excited at finding out it was a standalone. This meant, to me, that it would have a lot going on. Lots of magic, action, romance all packed into one book without me having to wait for a sequel to find out how it all ends! Yay!

Isobel is a great character, and so is Rook. The world is interesting and the fair folk even more so, what with the fact that Craft -creating things- is something only humans can do, and emotion is weakness.

See? So why, why did it fail?

We had all of these elements, but there was no depth. No depth in the worldbuilding, conflict or characters. They were just there, and things happened to them, and suddenly Isobel had fallen in love with Rook, and viceversa, and I don’t really know what happened there, to be honest. So, there was magic, action and romance, but… in a very superficial way that just didn’t let me get sucked into the story and become invested in these characters’ lives.

WOULD I RECOMMEND IT?
Meh, I wouldn’t say, ‘don’t read it’. But I do recommend going in without out of proportion expectations. It’s a nice book. A step over a ‘meh’ book. I look forward to reading more works of the author and seeing some improvement.

Other book reviews at Reverie Society

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Initial Thoughts: I'm going with 2 stars because that's "It's ok" on the Goodreads scale. This book wasn't necessarily terrible, but it was generally unremarkable-- a Fae/human romance not unlike several I've read before. However, while the later romantic scenes may be captivating, I missed the part where the characters had any reason to fall in love in the first place. The world building here is also kind of a mess.