Ratings145
Average rating3.6
A skilled painter must stand up to the ancient power of the faerie courts—even as she falls in love with a faerie prince—in this gorgeous bestseller that’s “an ideal pick for fans of Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater, and Laini Taylor” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
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.
Reviews with the most likes.
I read Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson and it was WAY better. This is her debut novel so I guess this explain that. But you can already discover how she has the capacity to reinvent the classical magical worlds and rules . Really inventive but it felt quite long and a bit underwhelming.
i don't know why, but this was giving me the vibes of a regency romance meets lord of the rings and i absolutely LOVED IT
first of all? the main character? once again, chef's kiss. isobel is smart, calculated, and stubborn and we loved to see every trait of that throughout the story
the plot twist? fire. i didn't see it coming (though i should have in retrospect)
ugh. the exploration of the immense power of human emotion and creativity. that was incredible to witness on both the human and fair folk side. as book lovers, i'm sure we can all cringe at the idea of not ever being able to read again, even if it meant living forever. why live forever if you can't read every book in existence?
it got a little silly goofy ok let's stop wasting ink and trees y'all at some points but otherwise, had a smashingly good time
It grieves me that I couldn't give this a higher personal rating. I loved the beginning – it started out so strongly and interestingly, but then devolved into Yet Another Typical Tale where a very talented, very smart young woman becomes achingly boring after falling in love almost instantly with (who else) a prince. The ending was also quite rushed, I feel, and ... well, apart from the first ~20% of the book, the story was sadly disappointing.
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