Review: Crewel - Gennifer Albin

Crewel
Gennifer Albin
Series: Crewel World, #1
Genre: Dystopian, Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Word Rating: Beyond Incredible
On Goodreads

How do I even begin to talk about the gloriousness that is Crewel? This book was absolutely incredible and not only exceeded my expectations but blew them up. Seriously.

The concept of Crewel is pretty difficult to explain. Arras is built and controlled by women known as spinsters who weave the reality of the world. Among these spinsters is Adelice Lewys. I could go into more detail about her talent and the world, but this is the kind of thing you’re going to want to read on your own. Gennifer Albin does a beautiful job explaining this world, weaving the details into the plot seamlessly. There is so much detail to this world and there was more to discover throughout the entire book. This world was built so well, drawing me in and keeping me interested. There was, of course, background about the world and how the weaving worked, but there were also details about how the world was run. Throughout the story we find out more and more about the political side of Arras, constantly trying to see where the true power lies. Adelice’s struggle to understand this power struggle made the world feel so real. Just like in our world, the power distribution in Arras is no simple thing. Crewel is probably one of the best dystopians I’ve read. The corruption of Arras is so complicated and rooted so deeply into the world.

Just like the world of Arras is well developed, so are the characters. The way the characters of Crewel interacted and behaved was very believable – each character being motivated by different things and acting on this motivation differently. The wide variety of characters did a lot in contributing to the way events played out and the way Adelice’s story followed through.

Adelice is truly a great character. She’s sarcastic and rebellious, but there’s also this tender side of her that she tries not to show. It’s clear that she is struggling to understand the people around her and she refuses to show it. Adelice has incredible strength through her hardships. She’s one of those heroines that you can look up to.

As great as she is, Adelice would be nothing without all the other characters she interacts with. From evildoers like Cormac Patton and Maela, to friends like Enora and Jost, Adelice’s choices and what she comes to know about her world comes from these people. All of these characters are so real in their own. While reading, I was anxious to see what motivated these people and what they were trying to achieve. There is so much to all the characters that I could probably go on and on about all of them, but instead I’m going to say READ THE BOOK. REALLY.

Besides all the gloriousness of world and character, the general writing on this book was wonderful. Gennifer Albin masterfully described everything that was going on in an understandable way. A world woven on looms is kind of abstract and hard to understand, but it’s not when Albin explains it. There was beautiful imagery and emotional inner thoughts. Also, the pacing was beyond perfect. In some of my more recent reviews I said how well the books were paced, but this book blows them out of the water. While I wanted to keep reading with other books, I needed to keep reading this one – the pacing was down right impeccable.

Overall I have to say that this book is EVERYTHING – and by that I mean that it’s wonderful and perfect and amazing and I can’t even. I highly recommend this book, especially if you like well-written dystopias filled with adventure and romance. These book was absolutely incredible and one of my all time favorites. I’m definitely looking forward to where this story is going!

- Kiersten

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