Review: An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

 Summary from Goodreads:

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.

My Review:

I put off reading this debut 2017 novel because of mixed reviews. However, I'm glad that I decided to pick it up, it was a great and beautiful read.

What I Liked:

Writing. The main aspect that pulled me in right away was Rogerson's lyrical writing. Her writing made the magical world come alive for me and I was able to fly through it because her stunning writing style.

World Building. It has been a while since I read fantasy/faerie fiction but I felt that Rogerson did a great job crafting the magical world. Her descriptions of the atmosphere were my favorite aspect of the novel and showed Rogerson's well-crafted and lyrical writing skills. My favorite part, besides the look at Isobel's day to day life, was the Autumn court and the detailed descriptions of it.

Characters. The novel was only told from Isobel's point of view, which worked for me. I'm not a fan of duel points of view and I do not think we were missing anything without it. It would have been interesting to see some of the other characters views but it might be good in a possible other novel in the same universe. Rogerson did a great job crafting unique characters that were fun to read about.

What I Disliked:

Length/Ending. I believe that the novel could have been longer for the amount of stuff that happened in it 300 plus pages. The ending to me felt like it was rushed and I wanted more from it.

I recommend checking out this great fantasy novel, it is beautifully written and full of amazing characters.

My Rating:

4.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars