Despite everything, over the years they’d both perfected the art of falling apart one at a time. When Enlil doubted, Aris comforted; when Aris spiralled into despair, driven near mad by being cursed for centuries, Enlil kept searching.
From The man and the crow
FIND ALL THE BOOKS:
- THE MAN AND THE CROW (Book 1)
- A SPELLBOOK FOR THE ONCE CURSED (Book 2)
- HOW TO FELL A FOE (Book 3)
- THE MANY CASUALTIES OF CRUELTY (Book 4)
SYNOPSIS
Enlil and Aris are two powerful immortal witches who have loved each other deeply their whole life. The catch? Aris has been cursed to live in the body of a crow. They have spent the last five hundred years on a hunt, hoping to return him to human form and punish the culprit. But will their troubles be finally over once the curse is broken? Can Aris even go back to a normal life after five centuries as a crow? And what role does Enlil’s mysterious connection with the Fae play in their predicaments?
Gut reaction
A series you can easily read in a day, where you can’t help but fall in love with the characters and root for them to finally be happy together. Enlil and Aris go through a lot of hardship, make mistakes, have big feelings: that deep humanity perfectly complements their status as supernaturally strong, immortal witches. The narrative flows beautifully, which is always hard in a short story: every book strikes a great balance between action, lore, character building, and humour. A love story, a fantasy about magic and supernatural creatures, a tale of revenge and justice: the Enlil & Aris series is all of that and more.
reflection
Character building is always a treat in Rebecca’s books, and even within the short span of these books, she excels at making us readers care about each of them. Like an impressionist painter, with a few strokes of pen she makes even the side characters feel alive and compelling (vampire Fain needs his own spin-off, and that’s a fact).
Enlil and Aris, however, are the obvious main focus, and we see so many different sides of them: boundless devotion and ruthlessness, deep-seated trauma and goofy humour. There is such beauty in their bond and such heartbreak in their struggles, that we can’t help but root for them and wish for their love to thrive, no matter how many—evil— corpses they leave in their wake.
Special mention for the worldbuilding, a perfect mix of whimsical and dark. Some of the whimsical is what all of us dream of when we think magic, like the gift of a green thumb or a very special bookshop, but the dark side is never far behind with curses and cruel bargains, reminding us that the dream has a price. Still, a greenhouse where every plant thrives sounds extremely tempting. This magical world also feels seamlessly integrated with our reality, so that we can almost believe that there are witches dancing on the roofs of Paris at midnight, or a market for magical beings in Northern Italy.
Conclusion
Equal parts heartwarming and grim, a series to get through at the speed of lightning and be left waiting and hoping for more (please?).
bonus quoteS
Believe that my talons have only sharpened in this form. Should you doubt it, I am happy to send you the ashes of the last who tried my patience where it concerns Enlil. He, too, though my bark more vicious than my bite.
From A spellbook for the once cursed
As the centuries went by, all immortals formed a connection of time and longing and grief and sorrow.
From How to fell a foe
‘At five centuries, no one’s accused me of being a “boy” of late.’
From The many casualties of cruelty
‘I am over two thousand years old.’
‘And yet, you’re still a dick.’
Magnolia Fay Writes 
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