An Enchantment of Ravens – Book Review
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It’s a well-known fact (at least if you’ve hung around the blog) that I really admire my editor, Nerine Dorman. She’s taught me so much about writing that I barely recognise my old work these days, and I’m hopefully still improving.
A while back, I grabbed a compilation four of her stories on Amazon. No, I’m not a stalker! *creeps back into my dark corner* I got it for research. Really, to learn. Obviously, I learned something, or I wouldn’t be writing this. 😀 So, this entire post may read like a big quest to gain brownie points, which is why I’ve been putting it off for so long.
The truth is I want to howl at the moon over this novel.
The truth is, I’m not good at writing reviews. Not at all. It’s difficult to explain why you love something without including spoilers, nerve-wracking to find the good points in something meh, and I don’t even want to go into didn’t-like territory.
This book though, speaks for itself. It made me feel things. I held my breath and my heart made little jumps at times. I bit my lip until it was raw. I smiled when I caught up with Elke and Meisje, and went along with whatever Ndlela and Isabeau got up to. I laughed aloud a time or two. The ‘oh shit’ moments made me afraid to turn the page, even when I couldn’t not turn the page. My husband laughed at my reactions more than once, so it entertained him too. 😛
This is the kind of book that will stay with you forever, with the kind of characters that become your tribe. To say I loved it feels too weak, like I want to add a million exclamation marks to bring the thought across!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it, because the story seemed so unique. So, when I was sent a copy to review, I was pretty much over the moon. Also a little worried, because I so hate giving bad reviews. I’m one of those people who’ll praise the things / people I like until I run out of breath, but avoid talking about something I don’t like rather than give bad crit. I know, I suck. Still, I was worried – what if this book didn’t do it for me?
Well, Masha du Toit delivered! I’m happy to tell you The Babylon Eye is an amazing read, anyone will enjoy. In fact, it’s one of my favourite books of the year, with one of the most interesting settings / plots I’ve read in a long time.
Oh, I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? 😛 I’ll try to do this review without spoilers, but I can’t promise anything.
The first thing that drew me to the book was the cover. I mean, look at it! This is so beautiful IMO, that it’s impossible to ignore.