A review by jamierose
Threadneedle by Cari Thomas

dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Threadneedle has a very specific vibe, its dark witchiness exaggerated by being played out alongside the drama and high emotions of a secondary school. It weaves together a number of plots strands, balancing the bully/revenge plot of the school with Anna's learning about magic, family secrets and who she can trust and the growing friendships and rivalries within the coven, including hints at a wider set of dangers that I expect to come into play in the sequels. In places it gets quite dark, both with unexpected magical consequences and in the way that Anna is treated, both in the present and in flashbacks, by her Aunt. 

There's some fantastic atmosphere and imagery throughout, though it took me a little while to sink into the world of the book as you're thrown in without a lot of explanation. Anna's internal conflicts and the complicated relationships she had with magic, her Aunt and Effie were in many ways the driving force of the book, but they felt true to her as a character, never like she was wavering for the sake of plot convenience or to drag things out. I liked that all the relationships in the book were complicated and messy. Some of the school-related plot felt a bit over-the-top and too much of a "mean popular girls" cliche, at least during the set up stage, but the fallout of it was still gripping, and satisfyingly dark.
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