3.5/5 stars
Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2013
387 pages
YA Dystopia
Source: Won from Heather at The Flyleaf Review
Yay-how fortunate am I to win a copy of this (and first book with the redesigned cover so at least I have matching copies). I was absolutely astonished at how Crewel ended, leaving me with the best cliffhanger I've read in recent memory.
My memory of the first book's ending meant that I expected we'd pick up right where Crewel concluded. However lacking the time to reread, I'm not quite sure if that happened. What I do know is that this book takes place in a brand new setting (leaving Arras behind) with a lot of new characters excepting our heroine and her two traveling comrades. Because of this change, there is a lot of new information thrown at Adelice and the reader in regards to the creation of Arras and how it operates as well as the actual strands that can be weaved. I feel like almost everything that was shared was completely brand-new to add on to what we already knew from book one so there was no repetition but rather always moving forward. Consequently this book had a very different vibe from other second books because so much new information was shared but it also means that fans of book one might be disappointed. The overall vibe is less fantasy and more post-apocalyptic. Personally I was not always on board with the plot but...
What really surprised me about this book was my changing perspective on the romantic love triangle between Adelice and brothers Erik and Jost. I normally hate brother love triangles though I can tolerate the ordinary kind. Overwhelmingly my initial impression was that both boys were dull and Adelice needed to find some new companions. However my feelings rapidly shifted in this book and all of a sudden, I am Team ERIK :) Did anyone else come to share my appreciation whether or not you began the book that way?
Returning to the plot, though this book's cliffhanger is not as killer as its predecessor, the stakes are certainly raised and I am anxious about what will happen. Particularly the difficulties of communicating between Arras and Earth have me concerned about what will occur for Adelice especially as time continues to pass.
Cover: Groan-I am so unenthusiastic about this change. Crewel had one of my favorite covers (to my surprise as you know I'm a sucker for a girl in a pretty dress) and I find this so much blander. I think I would have liked this design more if I hadn't had the chance to fall for the original.
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Princess Bookie
The Best Books Ever
The Flyleaf Review
For some reason I didn't really get into Crewel. I started reading it and I wasn't that interested, and I never picked it up again. I think it was more my mood at the time than anything, since I've heard great things about it. At some point I definitely want to go back to it and give this one a read too.
ReplyDeleteAh, it's a shame about the shift to more post-apocalyptic. I wasn't a fan of the romance, but I did like the original world-building and I look forward to more information :D
ReplyDeleteI have yet to read book one (A) but I have an ARC of this one, so hoping to read them both soon. Though I will forever be hating on the love triangle, as I do NOT support love triangles at all :\ Sad face. But anyway. I'm glad you mostly enjoyed this book :) Loved your review. <3 thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI thought the shift was interesting but somewhat unexpected until the latter part of the first book I thought they were going this direction but didn't realize what was really instore. I don't think I'll continue tho.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Crewel, can't wait to read this one, hoping to get to it while I'm on holidays in January ...
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