BLURB: Isobel is an artistic prodigy with a dangerous set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake bread 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, Rook spirits her away to his kingdom to stand trial for her crime. But something is seriously wrong in his world, and they are attacked from every side. With Isobel and Rook depending on each other 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 (Goodreads).
You are like a living rose among wax flowers. We may last forever, but you bloom brighter and smell sweeter, and draw blood with your thorns.
Author: Margaret Rogerson
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Fae
Goodreads rating: 3.67
Publication: September 26th 2017 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
Source: Popular Bookstore
Reading format: Paperback
Standalone/Series: Standalone
Review type: Non-spoilery
review
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I haven't read any book about fae before so this book was quite a new experience for me. It was the only copy for this title at my local bookstore and I was sad looking at it alone at the bookstore (lol) so I bought it. I didn't know anything about it; I only looked the title up on Goodreads to see its rating and I wanted to read something that I knew nothing about and this book ended up being exactly that: something I was confused about and didn't know anything about.
Maybe it was my own fault for jumping into the fae world literally with no general knowledge about the world but for the first few chapters I was as clueless as I could be and it was a bit confusing. However, I soon caught up; the fae world is basically all the fairytale but like, with more depth or something? I get it now but that's the only explanation I can give if someone asks me what fae is haha. The author did a really good job of introducing the world to the reader, it was detailed enough to make me understand this particular fae world.
I find the world-building really interesting! It's like fairytales but with a breath of fresh air. I can only guess that this fae world has its own uniqueness and difference from the originally written fae world or from the other books. The world was written so beautifully I could only imagine its beauty. Rogerson has a flowery but detailed writing style and despite that kind of writing style isn't exactly my favourite because I usually have a problem understanding the language, this writing style was perfect for the story; it fits the setting and most of all it fits the characters. It was just so elegant that I couldn't stop reading. And with the details, especially during any scene where Isobel draws, I could imagine and picture the beauty and that made reading this book more enjoyable.
Rook's heart beats against my fingertips through his soft feathers, and my eyes sank closed as I murmured drowsy endearments to the spoiled prince nestled against my stomach, warm within a nest of blankets.
Plotwise, it was okay. Both of the characters fell in love with each other rather fast. Isobel was an artist (A GREAT ONE) and one day, she accidentally painted sorrow in the fae prince's eyes which surprise surprise, was a big sin because a great immortal prince shouldn't be able to feel something that a mortal does, right? So the fae prince kidnapped her to bring her to his kingdom to be punished. The majority of the plot happened in the forest. The journey felt a bit long for me to read but it was fun to discover more parts of this world. The forest was divided into parts of fae kingdoms; summer, spring, autumn & winter and each of the forest were written with detail very beautifully so I really enjoyed that part. I literally didn't wanna leave the world because it was just so stunning.
The romance subplot was not my kind of thing; insta-love and although the enemies-to-lovers trope might appeal to some other people, it wasn't really my kind of thing as well but these two tropes fit the characters very well; it sounds like something that those two would do. Rook and Isobel were two funny characters when they were together, they made a great couple lol. It just felt rushed for me and I feel like the story should be longer, I want more... Is there book two? Because I will totally buy it.
Frankly, I had no idea how anyone knew if they were in love in the first place. Was there ever a single thread a person could pick out from the knot and say “Yes—I am in love—here’s the proof!” or was it always caught up in a wretched tangle of ifs and buts and maybes?
If you like ACOTAR (according to the Goodreads community), fae world, folklore, a beautifully written story with gorgeous prose, funny main characters, a story about a great artist or art, you will totally love this book!
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