Synopsis: 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.
Review: I was surprised at how much I liked An Enchantment of Ravens considering I wasn't the biggest fan of Sorcery of Thorns. I gotta say, the banter in this really got me. Isobel is a human in a world inhabited by humans and fae. I loved seeing Isobel navigate with the fae. Much like Holly Black, Margaret does a good job of playing with sentences and words in order for the characters to make logical decisions. I will say that the romance was extremely quick. This book is short, so it had a plethora of pacing issues, but the romance bothered me more than anything. Especially when it hindered Isobel's ability to communicate with Rook. Her emotions clouded her ability to logically form conversations. Still, I appreciate how Margaret included consent in An Enchantment of Ravens. It could have gone more in depth, but it was brought up a couple of times throughout the book, so it was just nice to see.
I enjoyed the story quite a bit. I loved the idea of humans having crafts that make them useful to fae, and seeing the fae crave these crafts was fascinating. I enjoyed seeing Margaret's take on the world of the fae, but I wish we could have spent a bit more time in the fae lands. The world-building felt surface level. Some authors, like Holly Black, can get away with this because her fae books interconnect and we see more of the world through other books and characters. Margaret doesn't have this to fall back on. The banter between Isobel and Rook was easily the best part of the book.
Fun characters, but rough pacing.
4 howls
Comments