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A review by pagesplotsandpints
Crewel by Gennifer Albin
4.0
4-4.5 stars
Well, I felt like the beginning started off kind of slow. The world building took a while, I think (or at least a while for me to understand) and then once we finally got to the good stuff around 130 pages in, I was hooked.
What I really loved was the manipulation of time more so than space. We learn that the Spinsters can alter Arras as needed, either removing ("ripping") people, adding babies into the world, changing buildings, creating more food, etc - But I was definitely more interested in the changes and modifications of time than of the actual world itself of Arras.
Things really got good when I got to learn more about the Crewel position and when we really get to see what Adelice's natural talents are. Then we get a few more twists and turns to spice things up.
I thought it ended strong and I'm really interested to see where the series takes us!
Full Review originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide: Okay, first things first — I love the colors on this cover! The face on it kind of weirds me out, but without that cover design and the awesome flowing rainbow of colors, I don’t think I would have been able to picture the loom, the weaving, or the strands of time as well as I did.
Now for the review — How excited was I to read this? The answer is MEGA excited. I love dystopians, I absolutely love anything where the characters manipulate time or alternate universes, etc, AND it’s YA. Yeah, I was pumped.
In all honesty, the beginning moved a little slowly for me. Maybe it was my overexcitement – I’m not sure. But okay, we know Adelice is going to get taken from her family (it’s in the summary, after all) and it seemed like the whole set-up to the readers, describing the setting, Adelice’s family — it really just took too long for everything to get established and our real story to start taking off. I was 130 pages into the book before I really felt like we were going places.
Once we did start moving a little faster, I really got sucked into the plot. Adelice was finally taking shape in my mind and becoming a real character, she ran into conflicts with other characters and finally got over being overwhelmed by her surroundings and started to take charge. I was really most interested in anything that involved manipulating the time aspect more than the world of Arras. We know that the Spinsters can “rip” people from the fabric of life (effectively removing them from the world), they can control rations, create buildings, and in contrast, destroy these things as well. For more complicated things like nature, the Creweler is able to create lakes and landscapes and assist with people by using the raw materials as well as working more with the time aspect. THAT’S what I was really looking for! Once we finally got to the whole time part, I was sucked in. Actually building a world didn’t really interested me terribly.
I didn’t particularly care for the romance half of the book, but I didn’t really have that much against it. It was kind of take-it-or-leave-it in my opinion. But I’m glad it wasn’t technically a love triangle (although there are two “interests”, Adelice really only has true feelings for one — see this awesome post on love triangles from The Housework Can Wait and you’ll see what I mean).
Overall, I really enjoyed it! I’m kind of disappointed that I was a little bit bored until a third of the way through the book so it kind of brought down my overall opinion. If it had taken off running, it would have easily gotten five stars!
Well, I felt like the beginning started off kind of slow. The world building took a while, I think (or at least a while for me to understand) and then once we finally got to the good stuff around 130 pages in, I was hooked.
What I really loved was the manipulation of time more so than space. We learn that the Spinsters can alter Arras as needed, either removing ("ripping") people, adding babies into the world, changing buildings, creating more food, etc - But I was definitely more interested in the changes and modifications of time than of the actual world itself of Arras.
Things really got good when I got to learn more about the Crewel position and when we really get to see what Adelice's natural talents are. Then we get a few more twists and turns to spice things up.
I thought it ended strong and I'm really interested to see where the series takes us!
Full Review originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide: Okay, first things first — I love the colors on this cover! The face on it kind of weirds me out, but without that cover design and the awesome flowing rainbow of colors, I don’t think I would have been able to picture the loom, the weaving, or the strands of time as well as I did.
Now for the review — How excited was I to read this? The answer is MEGA excited. I love dystopians, I absolutely love anything where the characters manipulate time or alternate universes, etc, AND it’s YA. Yeah, I was pumped.
In all honesty, the beginning moved a little slowly for me. Maybe it was my overexcitement – I’m not sure. But okay, we know Adelice is going to get taken from her family (it’s in the summary, after all) and it seemed like the whole set-up to the readers, describing the setting, Adelice’s family — it really just took too long for everything to get established and our real story to start taking off. I was 130 pages into the book before I really felt like we were going places.
Once we did start moving a little faster, I really got sucked into the plot. Adelice was finally taking shape in my mind and becoming a real character, she ran into conflicts with other characters and finally got over being overwhelmed by her surroundings and started to take charge. I was really most interested in anything that involved manipulating the time aspect more than the world of Arras. We know that the Spinsters can “rip” people from the fabric of life (effectively removing them from the world), they can control rations, create buildings, and in contrast, destroy these things as well. For more complicated things like nature, the Creweler is able to create lakes and landscapes and assist with people by using the raw materials as well as working more with the time aspect. THAT’S what I was really looking for! Once we finally got to the whole time part, I was sucked in. Actually building a world didn’t really interested me terribly.
I didn’t particularly care for the romance half of the book, but I didn’t really have that much against it. It was kind of take-it-or-leave-it in my opinion. But I’m glad it wasn’t technically a love triangle (although there are two “interests”, Adelice really only has true feelings for one — see this awesome post on love triangles from The Housework Can Wait and you’ll see what I mean).
Overall, I really enjoyed it! I’m kind of disappointed that I was a little bit bored until a third of the way through the book so it kind of brought down my overall opinion. If it had taken off running, it would have easily gotten five stars!