Lovely writing and yet.....
596948
It's hard to feel much empathy toward a golem and a jinni.  I thought the concept was interesting and the writing was lovely and yet....for me, it was rather a slog toward the end.
2167970
Lovely, lovely writing!  My only objection to this book is that it ended too soon.  I wanted to read more about this inspiring and delightful family.

With admiration,

Terryl

.
3103300
If I could write a review of half of this book, I would rave about its beautiful language, its moving descriptions, its finely crafted prose.  However, if I were to write a review about the other half, I would bemoan its repetition, its endless morose chapters, and its disjointed narrative.  Perhaps this is the author's intent, and if it is, then well done.  It's a style that doesn't appeal to me.  There's some real beauty to be found, though, and that makes the book worth reading.
4524881
A few points about An Enchantment of Raven

The writing was gorgeous. The world was beautiful, Margaret Rogerson really has her way with words and she weaves together a stunning, vivid, dynamic world that really makes your imagination come alive.
Thought, the world and the writing are beautiful, where the book really hurt was the characters and the weak plot line. The story follows a 17 year old girl named Isobel, a human with painting as her Craft. They live in the world where summer does not seem to go away. The Fair ones hunger for human craft, and Isobels paintings are highly coveted. When Isobel gets her first prince  Rook of the Autumn lands  she paints sorrow in his eyes and puts Rook in danger. For Isobel did not know that showing emotion is dangerous and can get him killed.
Isobel is 17 years old, Rook is hundreds, if not thousands of years old. There is a bit of instalove between Isobel and Rook. I did not get the romance between the two and was quite frankly a bit confused about it. If Fair Folk are not meant to feel, how does Rook fall in love not once but twice? Also, if Rook is as old as he is and in love with a 17 year old, felt a bit off Isobel had moments of maturity but she also had bouts of juvenile tendencies as well. They have this heated kiss scene at which she comments afterwards that sex really turns people into imbeciles. Which I guess just reminds you that she is a 17 year old girl who just got grabbed by a Fair Folk that is hundreds of years old. I couldn't get past that, mainly because he was so much more mature and experienced as her that the duo was making my head hurt.
There were a few other parts that confused me. The Hemlock plot line just felt kind of underdeveloped. At one point it is said Rook is losing his magic, I did not understand if he was going to recover and get it back and the whole conflict just felt a bit confused and one I found I really did not care for. The Ardan King is somehow poisoning the lands, but I did not understand how or why.
Isobel is a special snowflake, only she can save Fair Folk lands with her craft.
Overall, the writing was magic, stunning in it. But it faltered in characters, romance and a plot line that just didn't completely work.

I received this book for free from Publisher, Library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
3692542
I am a bit torn over how I feel about this book. Some of the writing and language in this book is absolutely beautiful. I found myself highlighting many passages. However, by the time I was about three quarters of the way through it, I grew tired of this young couple, and what felt like the same thing repeated over and over. Perhaps if it had been shorter, I would have liked it more. I will probably still hang onto it though, just to re-read the saved passages. A good first effort from this young author.
480864
I really enjoy the writing in this book, but there were some things that drove me nuts. The authors story telling flows well and immerses you into the scenery and setting with ease. That being said, I wasn't even aware that this was connected to her other book Taste whatsoever until I was about 40% through. Its never mentioned anywhere and unfortunately, that left me with more questions than answers because I felt Id missed reading a book in between that book and this one. Did I? I read Taste and still feel that Im still not sure, but it feels like theres a huge chunk of story missing about Luka and the other band members of Vicious, like about Phoenix & Demetri, who were the MCs in Taste. Like, a HUGE chunk. I was left scratching my head and hunting to see if I left out a book from this series. I get that it is its own series, but so many things were left hanging, I was utterly kind of lost, besides the fact that they were connected. I didn't like that. Though I really liked this story, it kind of ruined it for me.

Talking about the story, I loved the main character, photographer Dakota. She was a strong willed photographer who apparently is beautiful in every way, though her missing eye gives her a lot of insecurities. She gets the job to live with Vicious for a month and photograph them for her final Introspective project. She gets a lot more out of this than she ever expected. She also holds a lot of secrets, which seems to be a characteristic of all the band members, so she fits right in. Its never explained how she came about her eye patch and scars in this book, but her dreams give us a tiny peek into her vague  past, a past never explained in the entire book. Still, I wish thered been more information about her instead of being left hanging the entire book for nothing.

Luka and his cousins Demetri and Dray were just hot and perfect in every way. I loved Drays character the most because he was the least obvious rock star of the trio. He loved his mad scientist ways and seemed to be the smartest out of the three. I wished there had been more about him. Heck, Id prefer if Dakota had ended up with Dray, but thats just me. Luka came off as a spoiled rotten, brat rock star and threw tantrums with the best of him. Very stereo typed broken star. Made me want to slap him at times, and yet, sometimes he seemed pretty cool and patient. How he went from hot to cold so fast left me with my mouth hanging and thrown for a curve ball.

Last of all, if you hate cliffhangers, this might bite you in the arse. Serious one here of the worst kind leaving nothing resolved except one thing about Luka. I usually don't mind some cliffhangers, but this one I was seriously left steaming raging mad that it made me feel that the hours Id spent reading it were wasted. Not many books get a rise out of me, and this one did, I almost flung the kindle across the room with that ending. So disappointed that I have to wait for the next book now because there were almost no answers. Youre just dropped holding the ends of all these threads and no ending. And this was no short read either, it was so very long and somewhat repetitive, I was left utterly flabbergasted, but the writing is that good you probably won't mind reading such a long story. Oh, and what happened with the entire theme of Taste being about Zhamvys? You won't find a lick of it here, which I wanted to see oh so very badly.

If you love books about insanely rich Rock stars with a tortured Goth flavor and a nice long read to burn some hours away, then this ones for you.

I was given an ARC of this book from the author for an honest review.
1715941
This was a very mixed bag for me. In some ways I truly enjoyed this book, and in other ways I just cringed.....

What I liked:
* The author's prose was very well done. The style of writing and editing were tight. I know that might sound trivial or anal to some people, but in this age of anyone writing and looking to get paid it means a lot to pay for quality work. Great editing as well.
* The characters were interesting. I really liked the primary as well as the secondary characters, and that is a hard thing to accomplish. I hope she continues with the others.
* The author made an effort, both on her part and her characters part, to research what she didn't know. It was obvious that she knew nothing about the D/s community and she wanted to do her best with police research. I respect owning up to ignorance.
* Interesting story line and combination of romance/suspense. Good humor.

What I didn't like:
* I felt like the characters were in their late teens or early twenties most of the time. The level of maturity for thirty year old was just lacking a bit. The girls had been running in a pack since they were kids, and it felt as if they became a hive or collective. When that happens sometimes individuality and maturity can be absent to a certain extent.
*An example of the above is that they all had very juvenile perceptions of the D/s community. She mentioned"sane and safe" yet forgot to mention the third of the Holy Trinity: consensual. Even neewbies know the three. They took an out-dated and stereotypical belief that the community is about locking a woman up in a cage and calling her a slave. Not knowing the subtle yet significant differences between a slave, a sub, and a pet is understandable yet not acceptable. Also, The Dark Prince was a sad caricature of a Master. It was cartoonish. But, maybe that was her intent.
*The humor was leaning toward being too slap-dash at times. I got the feeling that the author has a genuinely good sense of humor, but sometimes it came out as being too forced.

Over-all this was good writing. Unfortunately, I just skimmed through too much of it. Would I read more? Somewhat 'ify'.
3257918
This was a treat - a wonderful concept, glorious message and excellent writing.  My only criticism is that the plot in the middle of the novel significantly deteriorates to the point where I was tempted to put it down.  It is obviously a fantasy and fantastical elements in the plot are fine but the author uses boring and predictable plot devices (e.g. all-powerful government agent to the rescue) that were a real disappointment after such a fine beginning.  Similarly, the relationships take a 10 year hiatus which didn't really make sense - at least to this reader.  A good editor and some more work on the middle part of this novel could have transformed this from a good into a truly great book.  That being said, I still really enjoyed it and was brought to tears.  The spiritual message is lovely and well expressed. I hope this author's work improves in the future.
2981284
If you like lyrical sentences and complex characters, but don't need to have a raucous plot, you'll like this book very much. I did. The writing is stunning, and the characters of Ned and Isabel are fascinating. And there IS a plot. It's just not one that involves much mystery or action. Consider this book the antidote to Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. The enjoyment of that book was in its breathless pace and surprise (fueled, it has to be said, by deception), but the characters were flat and implausible. Here, the reader practically feels Ned and Isabel in the room with him.
Maybe because they're writers? They meet at Columbia. They marry, too soon, probably, they go to London, travel on the Continent. They come back and they're not very happy. He's struggling to find his voice--he writes short stories and can't get a collection published, imagine that--and she's just floundering. And then there's Phoebe, Ned's ex-girlfriend. Isabel is jealous, sort of.
More fascinating characters: Clive and Dinah. Clive is a somewhat famous painter (and uncle of Phoebe's husband Ben). Dinah is his current wife. Sally is Clive's depressed daughter.
And sex? Schutt's writing style is elliptical, and so much of what happens is missing, but is there just the same. Beautiful stuff.
4243593
The writing is high quality and this author definitely deserves to be read. For the most part, I really liked this book, both due to the quality writing style and to the independent-willed and brainy heroine. Despite the fact that it was somewhat long, I did not get bored while reading It's just that I found it a bit hard to buy into believing their falling in love - their interactions for a long while demonstrated a distinct lack of trust, and love is impossible without it, so that needed to maybe be streamlined and built up more consistently maybe? But that's not really a big issue.
I had an issue with the backhanding, like many others - I could understand what happened and why, but I could not condone how fast and how thoroughly she forgave him - I think the author sensed that might be an issue and found a chance to repeatedly remind the readers that the heroine believed that the incident proved he'd never do it again. Still not enough to justify it, though, in my mind...
2592832
This book has left me confused.

Firstly, it is beautifully crafted. The writer is obviously in love with words and enjoys playing with the ebb and flow of sounds. The writing is a song that lilts its way around the ideas and thoughts. And that is such a wondrous thing that one can't help but want to love this book. Especially when confronted with the typical eBook where simple editing and correct presentation is such an unusual happenstance.

On the other hand, the book left me confused. Frankly, I didn't see the point. The story is cute and a mix of ups and downs. However, I couldn't tell if the purpose was to showcase the writer's poetry in a form that might actually sell, entertain young people, entertain with humour, or motivate and educate adults. Certainly the book description states that motivation and education is the purpose. And the lessons are definitely there as the story is built around lessons. However, the lessons are generally of the folk platitude kind. The humour is on the level of puns (you better be able to at least tolerate puns to read this book). And the story is appropriate to a short story for middle school rather than novella length. If I was the editor, I would be suggesting to the author to decide who he is writinng for, and what he is writing for them first. Then write that book. And then make the book description appeal to that audience.

So to summarize ... gorgeous writing, beautiful use of language, puns in plenitude,  purpose unclear.
47696
This book is beautifully written -- the prose is as lovingly crafted as the poems scattered throughout the text. That being said, I did have a little difficulty with the voice of the main character.  I absolutely pictured a middle-aged man reflecting on his time back at his boarding school...even though the context was that of a high schooler's "journal."  I also felt there didn't appear to be any great emotional growth as Alex navigated his way through the aftermath of the tragedy.

BUT...there were so many pieces of the story that stayed with me...that made me think...that inspired me.  The poems. The 80s nostalgia. The complex relationship between Alex and his teacher. Between Alex and Glenn.  When a book keeps me up, long after the last page has been turned...well, that garners a 4 star review from me.  :)
623600
Some of the writing in this book was amazing.  Sadly, other parts were lacking.  As a crime novel, this would have been a nice, short read, but as a romance, the chemistry, infatuation, and palpable desire was all too often told instead of shown.

With that said, the plot and storyline was well thought out.  I kept thinking I knew what was going to happen until the end - and was wrong.  I would have liked a few details to be cleared up better at the end (such as the voice on the phone) but I can see the technical issues with that and proper POV, so give it a pass.

The language, editing, and actual writing of this book was wonderful, though.  Except for the habitual telling how the characters felt instead of showing their growing romance (which, in all fairness, some areas showed wonderfully) I would have given this book a higher rating.  It was very good, definitely worth the price (of free) and a good read that makes me interested to check out this author's other works.
331621
To start with, I envy anyone who can put together words in such a beautiful way.  But I had a pretty hard time following the story.  I really didn't care, though, because the writing was so beautiful.  If you're someone who has to understand what is going on in every aspect of the story, you might be frustrated reading this.  If you can get over it and just enjoy the writing and the parts you understand, then it's definitely worth it. I loved the descriptions and the fable quality of the story.
3440478
Usually a slow and sporadic reader, I found it hard to put this book down.  Dee's prose is beautiful, and his characters (though shallow) are convincing.  Haven't we all known people who seem kissed by the gods, whose missteps disappear in their own wake?  Once I finished the novel, however, I was left with nothing of substance.  What is the moral, the theme?  That once you get rich, and fully realize it, you no longer have to fear anything but your own mortality, because money absolves you from the consequences of your actions?

This being said, I plan to seek out previous and future books by Dee.  He's a talented writer; I just hope that he finds something to say.
3769571
Good writings, a bit slow in places but a nice writing. I would like to meet the author and have a great one on one.....
708128
I'm kind of torn on this one because, on the one hand, I thought the descriptive prose concerning the protagonist and her mindset after the accident was hauntingly realistic and extremely well written.  You absolutely felt her devastation and grief over the loss of her husband. On the other hand, the ending of the story seemed a bit hokey and didn't in any way reflect the excellent writing found in the initial 80% of the story.  I guess to sum it up...it seemed that the author lost his way and completely changed his style for the ending.  With such a great beginning, I'm at a "loss" as to why he would do that since this story had the potential to be phenomenal.