Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Series: Crewel World

Author: Gennifer Albin

Page Count: 368
Published: October 16th, 2012
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

5 Stars ★★★★★

Adelice lives in Arras, a world where weather, food, and everything else is monitored and controlled by Spinsters; people who manage the weave that makes up Arras.

Adelice has a secret. She can see and manipulate the weave without using a loom. Her parents have taught her all her life how to fail weaving tests so that when her testing day comes, she will not be taken to the Coventry to train as a Spinster. 

Unfortunately, she slips up during testing and is brought to the Coventry where she immediately makes enemies of Maela and Pryana and befriends Jost, the head valet. With Maela watching her every move and Pryana ready to strike at any moment, Adelice must be careful who she trusts, and she must make sure that nobody knows about her friendship with Jost.

Arras is not as it seems, the ruling Guild may have ulterior motives for every choice that they make, and for Adelice, one wrong move could cost her everything she has left.

I picked up this book because it sounded different. Imagine a world made of what is essentially fabric, controlled by a small amount of people (small in comparison to the entire population of Arras). I have to say, it was most definitely different and incredibly unique!

I loved the conspiracies that revolved around the Guild. Conspiracies are one of my favourite kinds of mysteries, and this book really nailed it. I was always wondering if the characters had secret motives for everything that they did, and about who Adelice could really trust....

The love triangle was perfect. It was balanced and obvious but it did not distract from the bigger story. If anything,  I sometimes forgot about the love triangle because I was so caught up in the mysteries surrounding Adelice's situation. 

Emotions run high in this book! The author has you feeling Adelice's every moment of happiness, fear, sorrow, and disgust as if they were your own feelings. I felt so empathetic for her and I was constantly rooting for her to outsmart the Guild. Other characters (whom I cannot name because it may be a spoiler) also go through situations where I was on the edge of my seat in fear, shock, and sadness for them. 

Adelice was a very likeable character. She had her flaws and her strengths, and I really connected with her. Her bravery and determination were admirable. The other characters were similarly likeable, or absolutely despicable. Others stood in the gray area and I couldn't decide if liked them or loathed them.

I have to mention the diversity in this book. The characters came from different backgrounds, enjoyed different things, were of all ages and had unique relationships. I am so grateful that the author included LGBTQ characters in this novel, and I loved that she used them to illustrate the idea that people are afraid of what they don't know. 

Not to point fingers, but I was looking through reviews on Barnes and Noble's website and came across one where the reviewer was upset that the author had included LGBTQ characters. She claimed that as a society we are losing our "morals". This made me admire the author of this book even more because she took a risk by including queer characters and portraying their relationship as equal to heterosexual relationships, but challenged by a bigoted government. I liked how when Adelice found out, she saw nothing wrong with their love and found the treatment of the couple unfair. Kudos to you, Gennifer Albin, from an LGBTQ person. 

This book also did a great job of reflecting the reality of harmful values, generally placed upon girls and women, often found in society. The author discusses these issues through the treatment of women in this book. Married women are expected to put their husband before everything else. Women are subjected to these ridiculous "purity standards" that they must keep up.

Overall, a great book! I loved it and I was surprised by how much it got to me. 

I recommend this books to fans of YA and dystopia especially if you're looking for a unique dystopian novel. If you want to read a book about questioning what you have been told and breaking free from society's boundaries, this book is for you.

Find Crewel on Goodreads. 

Beautiful Cover(s) of the Day!

The Morganville Vampires Series by Rachel Caine is a popular YA/NA book series. I have only read book one, Glass Houses, but I was very impressed and I definitely recommend it.
There are several different and beautiful versions of the book covers, but these are my favourites for sure! I am a sucker for gothic covers (pun intended) and these draw me in.

 The blurb:

"From the author of the popular Weather Warden series comes the debut of an exciting new series set in Morganville, Texas, where you would be well advised to avoid being out after dark.

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life, but they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood. Will she be able to face the town's terror or will she drown like everyone else?"

Find The Morganville Vampires on Goodreads 

Splintered by A.G Howard

Series: Splintered

Author: A.G Howard
Page Count: 371
Published: January 1st, 2013

Publisher: Amulet Books

  4 Stars ★★★★

Alyssa's mother is currently residing in a mental institution because she claims to talk to and hear bugs and plants. She was admitted after an incident where she cut Alyssa's hands in the garden, and Alyssa still has the scars to remind her.

Alyssa harbors a secret crush on Jeb, her enemy's boyfriend, and she can also hear the whispers of plants and bugs, just like her mother claims to hear. She dreads her future, fearing that it will be spent in an institution just like her Wonderland obsessed mother.

However, a shocking discovery and an encounter with a figure from her past leads her straight to the supposedly fictional Wonderland, but nothing is exactly as Lewis Carroll described in his works. With Jeb she ventures through perilous landscapes to the heart of Wonderland, hoping to fix all of her ancestor's, Alice's, mistakes. With the mysterious and infuriating Morpheus, they continue on, but something isn't right, and she will soon face a deep betrayal....

I was quite impressed with this book. I really appreciated how it deviated from the "average" YA novel by ditching the "insta-love". I have no problem with insta-love, when I'm in the right mood for it. But the romance in this book was not only meaningful but understandable, concrete, and at times heart-wrenching.

The author described the characters and landscape in great detail, especially the netherling creatures and the outfits sported by them, which really added to the reader's ability to truly visualize Wonderland and it's inhabitants.

There were times when I had to push myself a little to get to the next chapter, but the author made up for that in their descriptions, characters, and other mind-blowing events in the story.

I most definitely recommend this novel! Fans of YA, fantasy, romance, and paranormal stories will really appreciate this book. If you're looking for a unique story full of plot twists and emotion, this is for you! 

Find Splintered on Goodreads

Beautiful Cover(s) of the Day!

The Dark Heart Trilogy by Lee Monroe is a paranormal romance containing werewolves and angels, amongst other supernatural creatures.  I may have only read the first book, but the 2nd is definitely on my to-read list. What drew me to this trilogy in the first place were the gorgeous covers! The contrast between the dresses and the background, along with the gothic element to them, makes these covers AMAZING!!!

The blurb:

"Jane Jonas is nearing her 16th birthday and troubled by unsettling recurring dreams where the same mysterious boy her age comes to her, telling Jane that they are each other's destiny. Her mother is becoming anxious about Jane's disruptive sleepwalking episodes, but for Jane her dream world and reality are about to collide."

Dark Heart Forever on Goodreads

Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Series: Asylum
Author: Madeleine Roux
Page Count: 313
Published: August 20th, 2013

Publisher: HarperTeen

5 Stars ★★★★★

Dan is attending New Hampshire College Prep this summer, and his dorm room is located in the old Brookline Asylum. 

He befriends Jordan and Abby, and explores the abandoned area of the asylum, which is strictly forbidden for students to access. Soon after, he finds himself having disturbing dreams and visions, and receiving threatening notes. Researching the asylum brings to light the horrible experiments and practices that the cruel warden subjected his patients to. 

As the dreams, visions, and notes escalate, the unspeakable occurs, and Dan finds himself in the very center of the terrifying situation. Will he, and his friends, survive the summer?

There were so many amazing things about this book, I'm not sure where to start! 

I was captivated from the first chapter. Roux's writing flows smoothly and I instantly liked Dan. I like how I didn't know absolutely everything about Dan, Abby, and Jordan right away.

I need to mention that I was pleased that amongst all of the creepy paranormal and psychological stuff going on in this book, real issues were addressed through the lives of the characters. For example, Dan was adopted and had to spend some time in the foster care system. Abby's family was having problems and she was unsettled for a portion of the novel because of this. Jordan was attending the program secretly because his homophobic parents had attempted to send him to a gay conversion camp.

Another thing I loved about this book is the guessing game that was going on in my head the entire time. I couldn't decide if Dan was crazy, or if he was really experiencing the things he claimed to experience throughout the novel. 

I wondered who could possibly be behind the disturbing notes and why Dan was having such strange dreams and visions. One moment, I was suspecting one of the characters. The next, I had changed my mind and was scrambling to put the pieces together myself, to figure out who was behind all of this madness.

The photographs throughout the book really added to the creepy-factor by giving me visuals of Dan's visions/dreams and of the settings and objects the three friends came across. It enhanced the story because I was able to better imagine what Dan, Abby, and Jordan  were going through and discovering. 

I recommend this book to fans of YA, mysteries and thrillers, and to anyone searching for a genuinely creepy read.

Find Asylum on Goodreads