crewel

Title: Crewel
Author: Ginnifer Albin

Release date: October 16, 2012
Publisher: Farrar, Straus Giroux

Pages: 368

Source: Around the World ARC Tours

Goodreads: {via}

Summary:

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.

That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.

Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.

Review:

I love books that make you go slow. When I'm reading slowly, I drink in all the details, hoping and praying that it will pay off in the end. Crewel made my slow reading pay off in spades. 


What an absolutely fabulous debut novel. Ginnifer Albin has created a world that is so rich and detail-heavy that you feel as if you could step off the page into a new land. Albin introduces us to Arras, a land where young girls can literally weave time and space together in order to manipulate anything and everything. These girls are called Spinsters, and it's considered an honor to be among their ranks. It's an honor to everyone but Adelice, our protagonist. To Adelice and her family, her unique Spinster ability is a curse. 


Things start off with a bang, and hardly slow down from there. We meet character after character in Adelice's new life, and everyone, including the reader, goes on a wild and fantastical journey. Adelice tends to be overwhelmed by it all, leading her to have a snarky sense of humor throughout most of the book. Fortunately, most of the characters, as well as the reader, can look past the snarkiness and see the amazing girl underneath. The girl that was thrown into a world that is unlike anything she, or we, have seen before. 


Albin weaves her words like a master Spinster, or Creweler, weaves worlds. I sat reading it, page after page, until long past my bed time. I even caught my jaw dropping a few times. There were twists, turns and surprises around every corner. That does not, however, mean that answers were not given. Albin did an excellent job of explaining a few important things, while maintaining the mystery of others. 


I'm not sure that I can compare it to anything I've ever read before. The closest that I can come is to The Giver, The Hunger Games Trilogy and The Selection. It's even hard to put it into a genre. I started out thinking that it was pure dystopian. That was not the case, as sci-fi came into play, as well as some fantasy elements. It's a wonderful mix, and it makes this book great. 


I can't wait for the next book. 


I received a copy of this ARC courtesy of Around the World ARC Tours and the publisher. This in no way influenced my review of this book.