Tagged: crewel world
Altered by Gennifer Albin
(Cover picture courtesy of Xpresso Reads.)
Life. Possibility. Choice.
All taken from Adelice by the Guild—until she took them back.But amid the splendid ruins of Earth, Adelice discovers how dangerous freedom can be. Hunted by soulless Remnants sent by Cormac Patton and the Guild, Adelice finds a world that’s far from deserted. Although allies are easy to find on Earth, knowing who to trust isn’t. Because everyone has secrets, especially those Adelice loves most. Secrets they would kill to protect. Secrets that will redefine each of them. Torn between two brothers and two worlds, Adelice must choose what to fight for.
In this thrilling sequel to Crewel, Adelice is about to learn how tangled up her past and future really are. Her parents ran to protect her, but nothing can save her from her destiny, and once she uncovers the truth, it will change everything.
Usually I expect the second books in trilogy to be boring. Slow, sometimes with more character development and sometimes not. Usually they’re just set up books for the final book. Usually.
Altered is anything but usual. With a book as awesome as Crewel I knew it would be hard for Gennifer Albin to write a follow up that could top it, but she did. Altered is a lot different from Crewel in part because Adelice is finally able to make decisions for herself. She isn’t constantly being monitored by other Spinsters or having Cormac leering down at her at every turn. It takes her a while to discover that steel within herself, but when she’s able to make her own decisions she does mess up occasionally and learns from her experiences. Adelice knows she isn’t perfect and tries to be a better person for her experiences.
The plot dragged a bit in the middle, but there was never really a time when I felt like I was about to go to sleep. There was always some new twist or turn, some new knowledge about the origins or Arras or another interesting character being introduced that made me want to keep reading. And the twist at the end? Wow, I can’t wait to read Unraveled because of that. The first part of the plot twist was not entirely unexpected but the second part dealing with choices certainly was. I won’t give anything away, but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing some more dysfunctional family dynamics in the third book.
The thing I liked most (other than the character development) was Gennifer Albin’s world-building. In Crewel we were introduced to the basics of Arras’ creation but in Altered we actually go into a lot more detail and learn about the surprising origins of the project and its leaders. Trust me, the scientist behind the project is not who you’d really expect but it’s a pleasant surprise. We also get to learn that not only women are born with the ability to weave, but men called Tailors can alter the world around them. They can’t create like Spinsters but they have some very interesting abilities and many of them have been persecuted for their talents.
So overall? This is an awesome second book. I can hardly wait until Unraveled, coming this October!
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Crewel by Gennifer Albin
(Cover picture courtesy of Xpresso Reads.)
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 to work the looms is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to manipulate the very fabric of reality. 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 used her hidden talent for a moment. 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 jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.
Because tonight, they’ll come for her.
This time I can honestly say it was not the cover of this book that caught my attention. Rather, it was the title. Crewel. What’s a crewel? Is it a dystopian city, a deliberate misspelling of cruel for some sort of theme in the book or something else? It was my curiosity that made me read the blurb and I soon learned it was a weaving term. A teenage girl in a dystopian world where time itself is woven? That’s pretty unique. So of course I bought the book.
Gennifer Albin’s book is one of the very few dystopian novels I’ve read that has such an amazing, unique premise. If the rest of the book were trash, you could read it for her world-building alone. Good thing the rest of the book wasn’t trash, though. She doesn’t dump too much info on you at once and just when you think you know all about Arras, you learn something completely different that throws the conventions for a loop. And you know what? All the shocking behind-the-scenes things that ordinary citizens in Arras don’t know about make sense considering the kind of beautiful yet horrible world they live in.
Adelice was an interesting protagonist. She was defiant but she also learned when to fight and when to keep her mouth shut as she began her apprenticeship as a Spinster. Yes, she made some pretty big mistakes because of her naivete but she learned from them and became a better person. Adelice saw through all of the glitz and glamour and actually tried to find a way to hide her talents so she could escape. Finally, a smart YA protagonist! And when she falls for a guy that’s obviously not a good choice for her, she learns to smother her feelings and move on. What a novel concept!
The plot starts off pretty fast in the beginning but then it slows down a little to allow you to catch your breath in this crazy new world. As Adelice learns about the world around her, so do we and it’s a more natural pace than a lot of books. Crewel focuses heavily on character development but it’s never at the expense of the plot. There’s always this feeling of suspense and dread just lurking in the background, ready to materialize and wreak havoc on Adelice’s plans. Especially toward the end of the novel when Cormac’s true intentions are made painfully clear as he goes from run-of-the-mill pervert to something a little more dangerous.
This is Gennifer Albin’s debut novel so I think we can expect great things from her in the future. I can’t wait to read the rest of the Crewel World trilogy!
I give this book 5/5 stars.