An Enchantment of Ravens
* Instant New York Times bestseller * 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.
“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.
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Community Reviews
I just didnât get it. Iâm not a big fantasy person and I think a lot of that comes from having a hard time picturing the world when it is too different from my own. The second half of the book I just couldnât get a grasp on visually. I also didnât believe the connection between Rook and Isobel. They didnât really even know each other, which made it hard for me to invest into the story. It was a hard book to finish.
Romance
Wow. You call that romance? Iâm sorry, but even I was looking for a book with a good romance, this is not where I would come. I honestly did not feel any build up of relationship between the two characters or any real devotion of love. There was just nothing there. Yeah, they interacted a lot. Perhaps they had some funny moments, but absolutely nothing would have me believe that these two had fallen in love with each other realistically. Absolutely unfortunate.
Plot
Yet, whatâs more unfortunate, is that this seems to actually be the plot of this story. Iâm so disappointed. I didnât realize so much of the story was going to be about their romance (which is probably my fault because I didnât re-read the blurb before I started the book). But if you are going to make an entire romance story, then at least make it good. The whole reason their supposed relationship existed or blossomed or whatever was because they ended up just wandering back and forth in the middle of the forest for days. Literally! They just kept changing their minds about where they were going, like it was freakinâ filler content. Ugh!
That Writing Style
I think the saddest part about this story is that the writing is gorgeous. Honestly! I fell in love with the writing style immediately and got so excited to read the story only to be left to fall on my face 20% into the book because nothing was happening. Because I got so bored, I couldnât even enjoy the beautiful writing or wonderful imagery. I just started skipping large sections of description like I was hunting for a plot somewhere and just never really found it. Quite a shame. And a waste. Good writing canât make up for lack of story, sad to say.
No Real Tension
Another aspect that didnât help this story was how little tension existed. Whether between the characters or in the plot or in the scenes that were supposed to be exciting and nerve-wracking, there was just nothing there. Nothing brought me to the edge of my seat. In fact, I fell asleep on this book a couple times and the ending was just⦠so anti-climatic and boring. There was definitely not enough build to the end and not enough struggle.
Wow. You call that romance? Iâm sorry, but even I was looking for a book with a good romance, this is not where I would come. I honestly did not feel any build up of relationship between the two characters or any real devotion of love. There was just nothing there. Yeah, they interacted a lot. Perhaps they had some funny moments, but absolutely nothing would have me believe that these two had fallen in love with each other realistically. Absolutely unfortunate.
Plot
Yet, whatâs more unfortunate, is that this seems to actually be the plot of this story. Iâm so disappointed. I didnât realize so much of the story was going to be about their romance (which is probably my fault because I didnât re-read the blurb before I started the book). But if you are going to make an entire romance story, then at least make it good. The whole reason their supposed relationship existed or blossomed or whatever was because they ended up just wandering back and forth in the middle of the forest for days. Literally! They just kept changing their minds about where they were going, like it was freakinâ filler content. Ugh!
That Writing Style
I think the saddest part about this story is that the writing is gorgeous. Honestly! I fell in love with the writing style immediately and got so excited to read the story only to be left to fall on my face 20% into the book because nothing was happening. Because I got so bored, I couldnât even enjoy the beautiful writing or wonderful imagery. I just started skipping large sections of description like I was hunting for a plot somewhere and just never really found it. Quite a shame. And a waste. Good writing canât make up for lack of story, sad to say.
No Real Tension
Another aspect that didnât help this story was how little tension existed. Whether between the characters or in the plot or in the scenes that were supposed to be exciting and nerve-wracking, there was just nothing there. Nothing brought me to the edge of my seat. In fact, I fell asleep on this book a couple times and the ending was just⦠so anti-climatic and boring. There was definitely not enough build to the end and not enough struggle.
4.5 stars. Simply amazing. The characters. The world. The magic. The fae. I love them all.
The premise of this story was interesting, with Isobel as a painter of the fair folk. The author's writing style drew me in at every turn, of descriptions that were seemingly mild but beautiful; everything was written so well that magical scenes easily pop into my head, making me eager to create my own kind of art with them, including the epic action scenes. And oh, the ending! It was unexpected! I had worries about it, but boy was I taken by surprise. I enjoyed this more than I did ACOTAR, and I'm happy with that fact (because I am the minority who didn't like it at all), so I'd wish that people would stop linking faeries and their courts with Sarah J. Maas' overrated series (mostly down to Feyre, who is stupid enough to allow avoidable dangers to befall her). Firstly, faeries are not of her creation. Secondly, many authors have already written about faeries long before she did. And I remember reading many good ones.
Isobel is one of my favourite female characters. She's smart and strong, and she loves with all her might. Rook is amazing too, different from most of his fairy counterparts, but still able to bravely conquer that fact. Their story sends tingles everytime into my belly, and I adore it. It's of the right pace, and I'm grateful for it after reading so many romance stories that went too fast.
But there was a point in the book that made me doubt whether I would enjoy it. Fortunately, the author's writing saved me from abandoning this book. I was enraptured. Still, it was because of that portion of the story that made me take half a star away from my rating. I definitely wouldn't mind reading this again though!
The premise of this story was interesting, with Isobel as a painter of the fair folk. The author's writing style drew me in at every turn, of descriptions that were seemingly mild but beautiful; everything was written so well that magical scenes easily pop into my head, making me eager to create my own kind of art with them, including the epic action scenes. And oh, the ending! It was unexpected! I had worries about it, but boy was I taken by surprise. I enjoyed this more than I did ACOTAR, and I'm happy with that fact (because I am the minority who didn't like it at all), so I'd wish that people would stop linking faeries and their courts with Sarah J. Maas' overrated series (mostly down to Feyre, who is stupid enough to allow avoidable dangers to befall her). Firstly, faeries are not of her creation. Secondly, many authors have already written about faeries long before she did. And I remember reading many good ones.
Isobel is one of my favourite female characters. She's smart and strong, and she loves with all her might. Rook is amazing too, different from most of his fairy counterparts, but still able to bravely conquer that fact. Their story sends tingles everytime into my belly, and I adore it. It's of the right pace, and I'm grateful for it after reading so many romance stories that went too fast.
But there was a point in the book that made me doubt whether I would enjoy it. Fortunately, the author's writing saved me from abandoning this book. I was enraptured. Still, it was because of that portion of the story that made me take half a star away from my rating. I definitely wouldn't mind reading this again though!
This book was so whimsical and is the perfect read for the cruel prince lovers who aren’t looking to reread 3 books! It’s a bit slow at times but is overall a super cute read with a good ratio of plot, fae politics and romance in 300 pages!
I definitely enjoyed reading this and I liked both of the main characters. I found myself constantly rolling my eyes at Rook and I liked that Isobel wasn't ignorant about how foolish she was being by falling for him. My only complaint is that I found the ending to be a little underwhelming.
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