Tuesday 13 March 2018

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
Published: September 26th 2017, Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: 297
Source: Library, hardcover
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3.75/5

How I Felt: This book was so atmospheric and the writing was so beautiful. There were so many parts of this book I liked but I also had a few problems.

For one, this book didn't live up to my expectations at all. With the way everyone was raving about it when it was first released I was expecting it to be a phenomenal, mind-blowing, unique faerie book and while it was unique and interesting, it just felt like it was trying to be like the ACOTAR series and I couldn't stop drawing comparisons. Also, I was expecting Rook's character to be a lot more brooding, dark, and mysterious but after like 10 pages of walking through the forest he opened right up and spilled his heart out to Isobel. There wasn't even any real court intrigue. In fact, WE DIDN'T EVEN GET TO SEE HIS COURT that he was the so-called prince of.

That brings me to another point. The pacing and the overall plot of this book. To me, everything except world building was lacking in this book. For the majority of the story, probably up until the halfway point, we're just trudging along in the forest with Isobel and Rook and we never even get to really see the faerie lands as a whole and learn their politics. We see a lot of the spring lands but they only make up a fraction of the mystical realm that's so built up over the course of the story.

There was so much potential for this story but I just feel like it wasn't utilized to its potential. I think it was the structure of the story as a whole that didn't really vibe with me. There were so many interesting things that could've happened instead, that I won't mention because of spoilers, to send the plot down a darker or more interesting route, in my opinion. I appreciate that this book I a fantasy standalone and I wish there were more of those but I think that if this was to be a strong standalone book it needed to be a little longer to iron out certain parts of the plot but also cut back on scenes I found to be tedious.

On that note, I found the ending to be way to rushed and just easy. There was never any real threat to the characters. I never felt scared for them. And at the one point near the end of the story where there's an interesting conflict brewing between multiple characters that would create danger and uncertainty it's just like nope, not gonna happen onto the next scene. A perfect moment for conflict GONE. It was a little frustrating.

This is a mild spoiler but I'm just going to quickly mention it: The ending was tied up in too neat of a happy little bow for me to fully enjoy it and connect with the characters.

Personally, I really enjoyed the world building, magic system, and dynamics between the fae and humans in Whimsy. I thought it was so unique, interesting, and well-written. But I had a lot of problems with the development of the characters. I just didn't really connect with any of the characters and found a lot of them to be flat and one-dimensional. A lot of them were just there as props to further the plot and they weren't fleshed out or given real dynamic personalities to me. Isobel often also annoyed me at times in her narration and I can't quite put my finger on why but sometimes she just got under my skin. She had her moments of cleverness that made me cheer her on but there were also times I wanted to roll my eyes.

On a superficial level I can say I enjoyed the romance and how it ended just because I'm sappy like that but it was a little insta-lovey at times. They were cute as a couple at the end but their relationship for most of the book was a little unbelievable to me just because they knew so little about each other.

I'm aware I might be a little over critical of this book but it's only because I went into it with the highest of expectations and was let down more than once. It's an enjoyable book, don't get me wrong. It just didn't live up to what I was thinking it was going to be.

One of my favourite parts of the book that I found so funny and unique were the goat sisters March and May. They were just hilarious in their shenanigans and banter and honestly were some of my favourite characters. I wish we could've gotten to know Emma more.

Overall, this book didn't completely live up to my expectations but I still enjoyed my time reading it. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a quick fantasy read with amazing world building and an interesting take on fae. I can't wait to read more from Rogerson in the future and I really did enjoy this book, despite all my criticisms.

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

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