An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

Title: An Enchantment of Ravens
Author: Margaret Rogerson
Genre: Fantasy
Series: N/A

Hardcover, 300 Pages
Publication: September 26, 2017 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

Source: I received a review copy (Arc) in exchange for a honest review. 

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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.

An Enchantment of Ravens has probably one of the most stunning book cover I’ve ever seen. I was already intrigued by the beautiful cover but what sealed the deal was the synopsis; I’m a sucker for anything faerie related. The book is centered around 17-year-old Isobel, a renown portrait painter in Whimsy with clients to die for…The Fair Folks. Isobel paints portraits for faerie patrons in exchange for enchantments to protect her and her family, whether it be to protect their selves from harm from The Fair Ones or something useful such as a chicken, guarantee to lay 6 eggs per week, forever. However, things get dangerously complicated when she is whisked away by the Autumn Prince for painting him with human emotions, a treason in Faerie.

An Enchantment of Ravens started off pretty good. Whimsy, the place in which Isobel and her family resides is neither here nor there…it was like limbo, a place like our own but not…Whimsy was trapped in eternal Summer, fitting as it is the Summer King that currently reigns. The initial encounter between Isobel and the Autumn Prince had me smiling, because within the first couple of chapters I already knew they adored one another, they had the whole star-crossed lover vibe going on. But once Rook kidnapped Isobel from her home, the story went in a direction that I didn’t see coming. Well, a direction I had hoped that I was wrong about. Turns out I wasn’t and the direction was not for the better.

I get that Isobel has been sheltered all her life, so when Rook, a boy and a prince nonetheless entered her life he was more than appealing. But as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a fan of insta-love. And this was like Insta-love to the max. Yes, teenagers often fall in love hard and quickly but it wasn’t realistic in this case. Isobel has grown-up to be careful and mindful of everything around her, especially when it came to dealing with The Fair Folks. But being around Rook had her throwing caution to the wind. Years of acquiring enchantments and stepping on eggshells around The Fair Folks gone down the drain in a blink of an amethyst eye. It made me like Isobel less and less as the story went on. And even though in the end she out witted the Summer King, she changed and more or less stayed in the lovey-dovy doe eyed state.

The world-building was great. I loved seeing the Faerie world that Rogerson created. But the plot itself wasn’t as enjoyable as I hoped. At the core, this is a romance and journey story. More romance though. There wasn’t much substance. I often found myself bored as Rook and Isobel ran from The Wild Hunt and as they transversed the different courts. The reason behind Rook and Isobel running to Faerie and running away is because they were about to break The Good Law and then they actually broke the law…I just found the whole thing kind of silly. I was expecting more societal and political intrigue but instead I got two love sick teenagers running to and fro causing a mess wherever they went.

An Enchantment of Ravens had so much potential to be a great novel, and it saddens me to say this but it didn’t meet my expectations. The words written within the book didn’t live up to the beautiful cover, the promise of a captivating read. The writing was done well but the plot itself was poorly executed, lackluster and somewhat predictable. The characters were underdeveloped and I had a really hard time connecting with anyone. I never felt invested in the story or the characters, and felt myself being a bit relieved that I managed to finish the book (I don’t like DNF-ing a book). This book has gotten a lot of rave reviews, so while I didn't like it you still might! I can’t say I’d recommend this book but if you’re still interested, perhaps checking out a sample before purchasing?