An Enchantment of Ravens
by Margaret Rogerson Book Review by Miranda Moses (Fraser) ISBN: 978-1-4814-9758-9 This is the first book in the Halloween Book Review Series of 2019! Woot! We made it to another Halloween series! The GORGEOUS cover of this book is what first drew me in but the story is what made me bring it home. Now, I have to say this isn't exactly the type of story I'd generally say is good for Halloween. But for someone who prefers magic over scares this might be just the thing. This is also the author's first book and I would like to applaud her on this beautiful story. Plus *high five* for being a fellow Ohioan. To begin with, this story takes place in a world where faeries and humans coexist- to an extent. The faeries live in their own courts/realm but they travel to the mortal cities and interact with them. The Fair Ones are incapable of craft of any kind- not even cooking. So humans who are masters of their craft are incredibly valuable to them. The cover insert sums it up perfectly, "These immortal creatures cannot bake bread or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and they trade valuable enchantments for Isobel's paintings." As the quote just gave away, this story revolves around a human girl named Isobel, who is a master painter. For years Fair Ones have traveled to her for portraits of themselves. But unlike other humans she is extremely careful with her wordings. Deals for enchantments can easily turn sour if not worded perfectly. In the courts there are princes who run their seasons- spring, winter, autumn, and summer. Though summer is actually ruled by the Alder King who is the ruler of all Fair Ones. The Prince of the Autumn court, Rook, decides to call upon Isobel for a portrait. He is hard for her to paint as there is something off about his appearance. When she finally realizes what it is, she doesn't realize the damage she's done. She paints human emotion onto his face, and while accurate, it's considered a weakness amongst his people and he drags her into the immortal realm to stand trail for her sabotage. Rook is also a lover of ravens, turning into one himself most often, and thus his portrait payment to her are Ravens as a sign of danger. One if she (or her family) are in danger, 6 if danger is sure to arrive, and 12 for potential death. This abduction to stand trail leads them on a crazy adventure. There are many Fae beasts of dangerous proportions. Just like the Fair Ones themselves they wear a glamour so to appear as a regular creature making it easier to attack a mortal. For instance the Thane often glamours as a buck, though the stench of death is hard to miss. When their glamours slips you can see the bones, rot, maggots, sharp teeth, etc that really create these monsters. Between these creatures, the true nature of the Fair Ones, the spells, and constantly needing to avoid death this book could easily fit ones requirement for this time of year. But it also is a bit of a romance, something I hadn't realized until I was reading the story. I still decided to stick with it for this series for my readers who like lighter topics. In conclusion, I really enjoyed this story. I have such vivid images in my head of what it all looks like and if this were ever to be considered for a movie I want the people who animate the Witcher 3 games to do these creatures! I can see the gorgeous graphics now, and I need it! This book is a stand alone but I'd love to see more in this universe. Read on my fellow book worms, may we one day have Belle's library. And as always links to the author's pages can be found down below.
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