You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
It's a genre novel set in Canada, so that always gets it points! I wasn't wild about the protaganist at first, but as she grew as a person she also grew on me. Pacing was a little uneven- probably too much time spent at the school before the time travel got going, but it went in interesting directions and built to an interesting cnclusion. And I did not see the identities of the mystery characters coming.
8/10
So this book is called ya, but for me it was very much middle grade. It felt very childish sometimes.
It took me quite a long time to get into, but about 50% in it finally started intriguing me. And about 2/3 of the way through I found myself really enjoying it.
I love books that talk about old gods and legends, and this take on Loki was quite interesting.
Overall I’m definitely glad I read it!
So this book is called ya, but for me it was very much middle grade. It felt very childish sometimes.
It took me quite a long time to get into, but about 50% in it finally started intriguing me. And about 2/3 of the way through I found myself really enjoying it.
I love books that talk about old gods and legends, and this take on Loki was quite interesting.
Overall I’m definitely glad I read it!
This is one of the weirder novels I've read and enjoyed. The characters are just interesting enough to ground the timey-whimey wibbly-wobbliness.
Aaaahhh I have mixed feelings about this book. In a way I'd give it 4 stars because I loved the ideas. But at the same time, it was so confusing I'd give it only 2 stars. So yeah, I ended up giving it 3 stars even though it doesn't perfectly reflect my feelings. After a few days of reflection, I decided to give it 2,5 stars because it was definitely not as good as the other books I gave 3 stars...
What I liked :
- Cuerva Lachance was super cool !!! I loved the idea of her. And I loved how the author wrote her. She really is my favorite thing about this book.I really liked discovering the different versions of her!
- Josiah and Cuerva Lachance :I liked that idea of order and chaos, that when they're together, they cancel each other (which is actually logical but at first, you'd expect they'd be more powerful by staying together!) The moment Josiah closes his eyes and lets Cuerva Lachance totally free, damn!
- the plot when it came to Three :for a long time I really didn't know where the story was going. And when we finally find out that Three is actually the "creator", I really liked that idea ! That thing about characters getting out of their story, it was really cool! Also the fact they could time travel because the different Threes thought about the same thing was brilliant!
What I didn't like :
- Josiah... he was a bit too cliché for my taste. I had mixed feelings about Freddy as well.
- I liked the weirdness of the first half (or so) of the book, not really knowing who or what were Josiah and Cuerva Lachance. But whentime travel suddenly enters the story, I was like wHAAAAT????? I was slightly disappointed because that's when it all started getting super confusing. I just didn't understand what the point of the story was... and that was sometimes a bit annoying.
- the plot is too confusing to figure out. What annoyed me a little is that Freddy often was like "I know I have the clues but I can't figure it out". And I felt that as a reader, I should have enough distance/perspective to figure out what was going on. But it was just way too confusing... though it might be because English is not my first language.
So yeah. To sum up, I'd say there were some really good ideas. But the way the book was written was most of the time too confusing for me. So I'm left not knowing for sure if I liked that book or not...
What I liked :
- Cuerva Lachance was super cool !!! I loved the idea of her. And I loved how the author wrote her. She really is my favorite thing about this book.
- Josiah and Cuerva Lachance :
- the plot when it came to Three :
What I didn't like :
- Josiah... he was a bit too cliché for my taste. I had mixed feelings about Freddy as well.
- I liked the weirdness of the first half (or so) of the book, not really knowing who or what were Josiah and Cuerva Lachance. But when
- the plot is too confusing to figure out. What annoyed me a little is that Freddy often was like "I know I have the clues but I can't figure it out". And I felt that as a reader, I should have enough distance/perspective to figure out what was going on. But it was just way too confusing... though it might be because English is not my first language.
So yeah. To sum up, I'd say there were some really good ideas. But the way the book was written was most of the time too confusing for me. So I'm left not knowing for sure if I liked that book or not...
Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley and Tor Books for this opportunity. All opinions are strictly by own. Weave a Circle Round is available from Tor Books on November 28th.
Freddy wants nothing more in this life than to be invisible.
This becomes horribly impossible when the eccentric Cuerva Lachance and moody Josiah move in next door. Cuerva has a way of producing the impossible, and Josiah? He manages to bring Freddy into the spotlight at every turn, especially at school where she's already a freak. If she could just shake him off... but no, she can't, and his presence is especially useful with Freddy is beaten up at school and gets a concussion.
Which is probably the most inopportune moment for Josiah to take Freddy on an extended trip through time, thanks to the fact Cuerva Lachance turned the back door into a time portal back to nordic Sweden. The two of them must ride resonance waves in time to find their way home while Freddy unravels the mystery of Cuerva Lachance and Josiah, and what exactly they want with her and her siblings.
I thought this book was absolute chaos.
It's not bad chaos, per se, but you really need to focus and keep up. I imagine this writing style was intentional, because it plays in beautifully with Cuerva Lachance's character. One minute, things are one way. The next they are completely different. Never trust what you are seeing, because in a moment everything can change. It's the type of story that tosses you around until you're not quite sure what's going on and you sort of wish they'd get to it already.
It's also a time travel book. This is the part where I had the greatest difficulty keeping up. Transitions between realities become practically non-existent. Josiah will start one sentence in the 92nd century, and finish it in the Victorian era. These quicker flashes feel less and less relevant to the story, and became sort of like filler episodes? Not bad necessarily, more of a "I'm not sure why this matters".
The characters are delightful.
No matter how messy I find a plot, I can usually stick it out if the characters are fun. And they are. Cuerva Lachance is wildly unpredictable, right down to playing an organ in the wee hours of night. Josiah's got that patented Angst that makes it impossible not to love him. Mel is adorably curious and Roland is this hulking protective step-brother who play D&D. Freddy, our main character, is a sad pile of goo before she meets Josiah and then becomes this tall, brave, reasoning soul. Not because of Josiah, but because of the adventure he causes. I enjoyed all of them.
Additionally, the characters we see through time are similar-but-different and without giving away much about the time periods and what not, I will say that they're also quite wonderfully fun.
I really liked this book, even though I was a bit frustrated at times.
Weave a Circle Round borrows its title from the poem "Kubla Khan". There's literary and mythological references galore throughout the novel. And it had such a strong feel to A Wrinkle in Time which was one of my childhood favorites. Freddy and Meg are by no means the same character, but they have the same feeling as you read and in some ways it was like visiting an old friend. Even Cuerva Lachance reminded me of Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which. Again, not in a copying-the-character sort of way, but in a wise, big, chaotic sense. I really, really loved the parallels.
I think this book would be a great fit for ages 12-16, but it's also readable if you're a bit older than that. I think that older readers will appreciate more of the literary references and layering put into this novel, while younger readers will be delighted by the time travel story.
___
Find more reviews and bookish goodies like this at The Literary Phoenix.
Freddy wants nothing more in this life than to be invisible.
This becomes horribly impossible when the eccentric Cuerva Lachance and moody Josiah move in next door. Cuerva has a way of producing the impossible, and Josiah? He manages to bring Freddy into the spotlight at every turn, especially at school where she's already a freak. If she could just shake him off... but no, she can't, and his presence is especially useful with Freddy is beaten up at school and gets a concussion.
Which is probably the most inopportune moment for Josiah to take Freddy on an extended trip through time, thanks to the fact Cuerva Lachance turned the back door into a time portal back to nordic Sweden. The two of them must ride resonance waves in time to find their way home while Freddy unravels the mystery of Cuerva Lachance and Josiah, and what exactly they want with her and her siblings.
I thought this book was absolute chaos.
It's not bad chaos, per se, but you really need to focus and keep up. I imagine this writing style was intentional, because it plays in beautifully with Cuerva Lachance's character. One minute, things are one way. The next they are completely different. Never trust what you are seeing, because in a moment everything can change. It's the type of story that tosses you around until you're not quite sure what's going on and you sort of wish they'd get to it already.
It's also a time travel book. This is the part where I had the greatest difficulty keeping up. Transitions between realities become practically non-existent. Josiah will start one sentence in the 92nd century, and finish it in the Victorian era. These quicker flashes feel less and less relevant to the story, and became sort of like filler episodes? Not bad necessarily, more of a "I'm not sure why this matters".
The characters are delightful.
No matter how messy I find a plot, I can usually stick it out if the characters are fun. And they are. Cuerva Lachance is wildly unpredictable, right down to playing an organ in the wee hours of night. Josiah's got that patented Angst that makes it impossible not to love him. Mel is adorably curious and Roland is this hulking protective step-brother who play D&D. Freddy, our main character, is a sad pile of goo before she meets Josiah and then becomes this tall, brave, reasoning soul. Not because of Josiah, but because of the adventure he causes. I enjoyed all of them.
Additionally, the characters we see through time are similar-but-different and without giving away much about the time periods and what not, I will say that they're also quite wonderfully fun.
I really liked this book, even though I was a bit frustrated at times.
Weave a Circle Round borrows its title from the poem "Kubla Khan". There's literary and mythological references galore throughout the novel. And it had such a strong feel to A Wrinkle in Time which was one of my childhood favorites. Freddy and Meg are by no means the same character, but they have the same feeling as you read and in some ways it was like visiting an old friend. Even Cuerva Lachance reminded me of Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which. Again, not in a copying-the-character sort of way, but in a wise, big, chaotic sense. I really, really loved the parallels.
I think this book would be a great fit for ages 12-16, but it's also readable if you're a bit older than that. I think that older readers will appreciate more of the literary references and layering put into this novel, while younger readers will be delighted by the time travel story.
___
Find more reviews and bookish goodies like this at The Literary Phoenix.