Monday, November 20, 2017

Review: An Enchantment of Ravens


An Enchantment of Ravens
by Margaret Rogerson

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publication date: September 26, 2017
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Ebook, 304 pages
My rating: 3/5 ★
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 been all over bookstagram lately, and when I heard how much everyone seemed to love it, I knew I had to give it a try. This is one of those books that I probably wouldn't have picked up if it weren't for the online book community, and for once I don't think I would've really missed out on anything. Because somehow, this book and I didn't really click.


Tuesday, November 14, 2017

On the Topic of My Incapability to Write Reviews

Remember back when I used to review every single book I read on my blog? Don't worry, I can barely recall that glorious time either. Today, I want to have a look at why that is. Of course, there are the 'obvious' answers, namely increased workload at uni, general stress, laziness, etc. These factors certainly had and still have a big influence on my decreasing frequency in blogging in general, but I feel like there are more distinct reasons for why I don't review the books I read as often anymore.