A review by lizpatanders
Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

5.0

I first saw the cover of Brightly Woven in December of 2009, and my jaw instantly hit the floor. When I realized that not only is the cover gorgeous but also that it is an epic fantasy, I knew that I needed to own Brightly Woven. Full of magic, action and romance, this story proved to be just as epic as the cover that drew me in.

Brightly Woven is a fitting title for this novel not only because of the pot, but because of how the book is written. Even though this is epic fantasy, Bracken doesn’t just hit the reader with world-building like a ton of bricks. Instead, it’s carefully woven into the story. Oftentimes a new plot twist would uncover a new element of Bracken’s world, or in dialogue. Yet even if Bracken had used verbose descriptions of her world, I still would have soaked them up like a sponge. Bracken’s writing is simple yet gorgeous.

Of course, I’ve got to mention North, who nearly every blogger has been swooning over. If you’ve swooned over North, I’m going to be straight with you: I spent the first half of the book thinking that you were crazy. About halfway through, however, it clicked for me. I don’t want to say any more at risk of being spoilery.

Brightly Woven is a brilliant debut novel, and while it’s gotten many positive reviews in the blogosphere, I think it deserves more praise than what it’s already gotten. I urge all of you fantasy lovers to go out and buy this book. You want that gorgeous cover in your personal collection, right? I look forward to reading Bracken’s future work, and will be hoping that one day she shares more stories set in this world.