Scan barcode
A review by moss_and_soup
The Thread That Binds by Cedar McCloud
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book was just so so lovely, such a comfort book
While it deals with some heavy topics (childhood trauma, emotional abuse, ...) the overall theme is very hopeful and centered on overcoming and healing with the help of a big found family that the main characters build for themselves
The worldbuilding was also absolutely stunning, the queer representation was so great and wonderful. Having our traditional binary pronouns he & she be neopronouns in this world was such a cool concept. Truly felt like a love letter to books and libraries :)
Sometimes some of the messages were a bit straight-on, and that made the plot a bit predictable at times. I'm pretty sure the author intended that though.
Specifically with Rhee, the emotional manipulation from Mairead was very obvious because all the characters had just bad vibes about em from the very beginning, so because I mistrusted em it was a bit difficult at times to understand why Rhee didn't. Like, I understood why on a rational level, with em having a lot of ambition and anxiety, but I didn't 100% feel with em. On the other hand, emotional abuse is very difficult to understand from an outside perspective and it makes sense that I was like, 'omg don't steal the book what are you doinggggggggg', because I wasn't in the situation myself, and Rhee thinks the same after e gets out of that control Mairead has over em.
Overall I loved it so much and all of the characters were so interesting to read about, I can't wait to read the prequel!
Something I also appreciated was the author very clearly stating CWs in the beginning of the book. There is also a card deck that is getting used as an oracle in the book (similar to Taro) and the cards actually exist and were designed by the author, who also sells them on their website! I only discovered this after already finishing it, but I'd definitely recommend checking them out while reading :)
While it deals with some heavy topics (childhood trauma, emotional abuse, ...) the overall theme is very hopeful and centered on overcoming and healing with the help of a big found family that the main characters build for themselves
The worldbuilding was also absolutely stunning, the queer representation was so great and wonderful. Having our traditional binary pronouns he & she be neopronouns in this world was such a cool concept. Truly felt like a love letter to books and libraries :)
Sometimes some of the messages were a bit straight-on, and that made the plot a bit predictable at times. I'm pretty sure the author intended that though.
Overall I loved it so much and all of the characters were so interesting to read about, I can't wait to read the prequel!
Something I also appreciated was the author very clearly stating CWs in the beginning of the book. There is also a card deck that is getting used as an oracle in the book (similar to Taro) and the cards actually exist and were designed by the author, who also sells them on their website! I only discovered this after already finishing it, but I'd definitely recommend checking them out while reading :)