Crewel.

Crewel

by: Gennifer Albin

Enter a tangled world of secrets and intrigue where a girl is in charge of other’s destinies, but not her own. Sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has always been special. When her parents discover her gift—the ability to weave the very fabric of reality—they train her to hide it. For good reason, they don’t want her to become a Spinster — one of the elite, beautiful, and deadly women who determine what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die. Her world is hanging by a thread, and Adelice, alone, can decide to save it — or destroy it.

Smart and Sassy Heroine: CHECK

Dear Adelice,
You rock.
love,
me

ok. So yes, she's a bit naive at the beginning of this. so what?
and yes, she's not always the bravest or the strongest. so what?
and yes, she didn't actually get to train that much. so what?

not every female lead can be Katniss Flipping Everdeen. (as much as we all love her)

and a giant reason why I loved Adelice was her sass. She was really very witty and always had a clever comeback. gosh. these were the moments when I just pumped my fist and applauded Adelice for being awesome. She was very likeable and pretty dang awesome. She got smarter and braver as the book went on, probably because at the beginning she knew nothing about anything (by no fault of her own... its the Guild's fault. its always the Guild's fault)

Brave and Intelligent Hero: CHECK
Erik: no. just no. I like him as a character, he's smart and brave and altogether charming. and this is probably a personal problem, but I never trust an overly charming character. However, I grew to trust Erik as the book went on, specifically toward the end. I found his relationship with Maela overly creepy and weird, but that obviously was the point.
Jost: gahh. I love him. I've never read a character in YA like him before. He's matured. He was a father and a husband before Adelice. He's seen trouble and has lost an entire family before. For me, that made him a deeper and more meaningful character. I think it's rare to find a male lead in YA that's not just a dark, brooding romantic lead for no reason. I loved his attachment and love for his daughter. Because of it I began to truly understand him. I also think that because of his love for his first wife, the fact that he loved Adelice made his love for her more meaningful. That he was willing to love and trust again after losing so much.

and the fact that they are brothers just makes it that much more intense. I can't wait to learn more about their relationship and how they became so estranged.

 

Original Setting and Unique Plot: HECK YES CHECK

OH MY GOSH... this setting. So different. So new. So perfectly executed. I appreciated how Gennifer Albin started out giving the reader no information. Then how she slowly let us on to more and more information. I also appreciate how she could drop one of the biggest surprises in the middle of the book and yet their was still more information and interesting discoveries to be made. I enjoyed learning about the weave and how the Spinsters manipulated it. I loved how I started to believe that it was actually a fantasy-ish type thing and then... BOOM. dystopian.
I applaud Mrs. Albin for her fantastic world-building, her creative idea, and masterful execution.

Extraordinary Supporting Characters: CHECK
YES. just YES.
there was just so much depth. There was just so much political stuff going on in the story and I LOVED it.
Maela: The villain you love to hate. and trust me... I hated her. I pretty much wanted to punch her in the face every time she opened her mouth. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. But, I thought it plain hilarious how usually everyone either ignored her or told her to shut up. Basically each and every character absolutely hated her. It was just so great.
Pryana: wow. what a jerk. and a hypocrite. and a schemer. I hated her uppity attitude and her obsessive ladder climbing. She would have done anything to get ahead (and pretty much did do anything she could)
Cormac: What a creep. to quote my favorite TV show:

"Dude, he put you on the creepy train headed for creepy island where the creepy natives drink creepy nectar out of creepy coconuts." -Shawn Spencer

Honestly, I find the villains who are "just looking out for the good of society and working for the greater good" to be creepier than any other type of villain. and Cormac fits that description perfectly. "I have to protect Arras". "I'm just doing what's best for Arras". I wanted to smack him around a bit. or a lot.
Loricel: I thought of her as an older version of Adelice. But a version of Adelice that didn't make the same decisions as our Adelice. She also was witty and sassy and smart. She was simply less brave. I think that this was due to the fact that she hadn't lost as much as Adelice had or that she no longer had anyone outside that she needed to get to.

Plot Twists and Page Turners: CHECK
oh goodness. Every page left me wanting more. I wanted to know more. I wanted to see more. I wanted to experience more through Adelice. There were quite a lot of plot twists and just in general so much plot. You could tell from the beginning that this book was going to take you places and show you things unlike anything that you'd ever seen.

and the ending.
THE ENDING. if it had ended with them reaching Earth, it would have been cliff-hangery enough to make me desperate for book 2 (Altered)... but no. She had to torture us with strange lights and creepy Earth things to leave us completely and utterly shocked an waiting for the second book.

dear Gennifer Albin,
please write quickly.
I'm dying over here.
for real.
hurry.
love,
a fan caught in the world you wove (pun intended)

Quotes:

"don't flatter yourself. I have a fetish for cold prison floor"

"I'm not marrying him. He's just well-groomed...but lapdogs usually are."

"oh...probably less to map"

"Cormac, you worry about the political and I'll keep this world working"

"I erase and rebuild the world in my sleep, and in the morning I try to remember how to rebuild myself."

"I can't deny the wall between us, separating us from total honesty, but I'm no longer sure which of us built it.""

"smart and foolhardy, It's a great combination for making conversation, but not the best for staying alive."