Sunday, September 9, 2012

Book Review- Crewel

I just finished reading Crewel by Gennifer Albin for an Around the World ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.

That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.

Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.


This was definitely a unique book.  I don't know whether I would consider it paranormal of dystopian.  Maybe it's a little bit of both.  But I know that I've never read anything that had the premise of girls and women "weaving" what happens in their world.

And maybe because of that, I that that the action of the weaving was confusing.  The ideas of the threads and looms and what was being woven just wasn't really clear to me.  I have to be able to "see" it in my mind to get it, and unfortunately, the way this book was written kept me from being able to do that. 

That being said, I did like most of the main characters.  Adelice was feisty and smart but I think sometimes she just needed to know when to shut up.  I liked the two boys, Jost and Erik.  They both had qualities about them that made them desirable.  And they had their secrets, but I guessed it pretty early on.  And I liked Adelice's maid, Enora.  She seemed like such a sweetheart.   The other characters, I didn't care for at all.  But I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to.

Overall, it was an interesting book.  I liked the premise of it but I just wish that I could have understood the whole weaving thing better.  I think that would have increased my enjoyment of it more.

I gave this book a rating of 3/.5

Crewel will be released on October 16, 2012. 

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2012 Reading Challenge 150+: 66
2012 ARC Reading Challenge: 54
2012 Debut Author Challenge: 18
2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 57

*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Around the World Tours.

1 comment:

  1. This sounds like the sort of fantasy I would love. I hope to track down a copy of this book someday soon. :)

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