Crewel by Gennifer Albin Series: Crewel World #1
Published by Farrar Straus and Giroux on October 16th 2012
Pages: 368
Source: Faber & Faber via Netgalley
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My Rating:
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.
Umm… woah? I honestly don’t even know where to start when it comes to this book; how do you sum up awesome?!
This story takes place in a futuristic world where girls are put through testing when they reach 16 to see if they are able to “weave”. Weaving is taking strands of time and matter and altering them-for everything from delinquency to food. If you are found to have this ability you are sent off to the Coventry to be a Spinster, which means you will spend your entire life weaving as your occupation but in exchange you have access to the finest luxuries: amazing food, beautiful clothes & infinite youth and beauty. Adelice is the main character and her parents trained her to fail the weaving examinations, but she didn’t. The night the Guild comes her parents try to run with her but she has no idea why. Once she is transferred to the capital she starts to realize that there is more to the world she lives in than she ever knew.
The world building in Crewel was astonishing. I have never, ever read anything that even comes close to this kind of story. At first it was really hard to wrap my head around-everything has a “string” and it could be weaved and altered as the Spinsters wished? Sooo strange. Gennifer Albin did such an amazing job of telling a story and could be so easily visualized, her writing is magnificent.
The character building was close to perfection. I felt I could visually see the characters because they were built so well, and I could imagine their actions and what they really would act like. Adelice, the main character was one of my favorite’s. I really enjoyed how she wasn’t a super strong person yet, but she didn’t have a whiny, needy personality. It really seems like the author was building her up to be better in the second book. There is also a hint of a love triangle starting but it wasn’t something that annoyed me or was even that instant type of love. It was innocent and sweet, especially since Adelice comes from a world where male/female segregation takes place. The love Adelice has for her family is also something I really enjoyed, you can really feel the strong emotional bond she has with her sister. Another part of the book I really enjoyed was the fact that I hated so many characters. All of the Spinsters that were just mean and cruel, I was strongly against them and rooting for Adelice the whole time 🙂 Oh and I loved Jost… oh I think he must be so sexy, lol. He was just so sweet & kind.
This book had so many twists that I wasn’t expecting, it is not your average dystopian read. I found that lately, the last few dystopians I have read I wasn’t super pleased with and have even just put down and not finished so Crewel was like a breath of fresh air. I didn’t want to put this book down for a second, the story completely captivates you.
I cannot wait for the second book!
Watch the Crewel Trailer!!
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