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A review by bonbonsandreveries
Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken
5.0
Wow! This was one exciting adventure. Sydelle lives in a poor small village where there is currently a drought. It hasn’t rained in 7 years. One day a wizard, North Wayland, comes and makes it rain. At his request Sydelle’s father gives her to North for this service. Both begin their journey to warn the queen about the upcoming war and who truly poisoned and killed the King. Clearly upset at being forced from her home, Sydelle tries to ignore him, but actually ends up yelling at him quite a lot. North ignores her yelling, especially when he’s drunk. After several messy encounters with other wizards, Sydelle finds it difficult to be mad at him. Her hatred turns to compassion.
Sydelle is 16 yr. old weaver who has the ability to repair magical talismans. I really respected her strength and determination. She also has a habit of attracting the worst sort of trouble. However, North doesn’t mind rescuing her and playing the part of hero. I just loved North. He reminded me of Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle (the movie). On the outside he is strong, stubborn, very good looking, and optimistic. On the inside, he is cursed and tortured. Both North and Sydelle are very selfless characters. Their willingness to do anything to save their country, even sacrifice their lives, was touching.
Magic is a large part of this book. However, the relationship between Sydelle and North forces the reader to look beyond all the magic, war, and secrets and watch as two people see the good and importance in the other. Both characters have always felt insignificant and do their best to fight that feeling. That doesn’t mean the feeling goes away. Their love and kindness for each other removes their insecurities making them all the more powerful and useful.
Behind this love story, there is a journey involving a war. The upcoming war is based on rumor, and therefore does not need to be fought, especially since it is a false rumor. Alexandra Bracken handles the issue of a reason-less war with care. The threat of many lives lost hangs over the characters giving them a very real consequence if they fail. It gave the story a sense of urgency.
Alexandra Bracken built a beautiful and very original world. The countries had their own religions, myths, legends, etc. She established guilds, abundant resources for the regions as income, and different terrains. It was all very engaging. I would love to jump back into the world, even though Bracken currently has no plans to write a sequel. I adored this book. The writing flowed easily and Bracken’s word choice and phrasing made Sydelle’s voice clear and relatable to the reader. Brightly Woven is an enthralling adventure that will leave you eager for more.
Sydelle is 16 yr. old weaver who has the ability to repair magical talismans. I really respected her strength and determination. She also has a habit of attracting the worst sort of trouble. However, North doesn’t mind rescuing her and playing the part of hero. I just loved North. He reminded me of Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle (the movie). On the outside he is strong, stubborn, very good looking, and optimistic. On the inside, he is cursed and tortured. Both North and Sydelle are very selfless characters. Their willingness to do anything to save their country, even sacrifice their lives, was touching.
Magic is a large part of this book. However, the relationship between Sydelle and North forces the reader to look beyond all the magic, war, and secrets and watch as two people see the good and importance in the other. Both characters have always felt insignificant and do their best to fight that feeling. That doesn’t mean the feeling goes away. Their love and kindness for each other removes their insecurities making them all the more powerful and useful.
Behind this love story, there is a journey involving a war. The upcoming war is based on rumor, and therefore does not need to be fought, especially since it is a false rumor. Alexandra Bracken handles the issue of a reason-less war with care. The threat of many lives lost hangs over the characters giving them a very real consequence if they fail. It gave the story a sense of urgency.
Alexandra Bracken built a beautiful and very original world. The countries had their own religions, myths, legends, etc. She established guilds, abundant resources for the regions as income, and different terrains. It was all very engaging. I would love to jump back into the world, even though Bracken currently has no plans to write a sequel. I adored this book. The writing flowed easily and Bracken’s word choice and phrasing made Sydelle’s voice clear and relatable to the reader. Brightly Woven is an enthralling adventure that will leave you eager for more.