Nightweaver (Nightweaver, #1)

NIGHTWEAVER is an enthralling YA fantasy about family, destiny, and revenge. Aster is a pirate, living and working with her human family aboard a ship. Aster loves their life on water, even though it comes with some dangers. When her family's ship is attacked on the sea, and her brother Owen killed, Aster finds herself captured and feeling adrift with a thirst for revenge. She and her family have been taken by a Nightweaver, a magical being that had been sent to help humanity long ago, but instead has subjugated them.

Thrust into the world on land and its politics, Aster and her family are brought into servitude to noble Nightweavers. While Aster is unhappy with the situation, she is grappling with her family's decisions to stay and with the Nightweaver Will who has promised to help her find the creature who killed her brother.

What I loved: This was an intriguing world with a lot of mythology that we learn about alongside Aster, as she experiences the world on land anew, having previously spent her life on the sea. There is something different about Aster, though she does not know what has caused it, as she can see the evil creatures who killed her brother and when she was aboard a terrible ship, she survived longer than any other due to a seeming curse. This mystery carries the story along as the reader waits to uncover what the truth is about Aster and her abilities.

Aster was a compelling character, torn between family and her own thirst for revenge and freedom. Her journey is an interesting one as she begins to define her choices and what they mean to her. She also has three potential romantic interests in the story that keep the plot moving along. One in particular becomes incredibly interesting by the end of the story.

The book has a bit of a cliffhanger, and I am definitely excited to continue this series. With themes of loyalty, betrayal, family, revenge, freedom/choice, politics, and prejudice, this is an interesting story to consider and discuss.

What left me wanting more: The middle of the book felt a bit slow and repetitive with some elements being provided and told again a few times, also without a lot of advancement in plot. The ending more than made up for this, however. Additionally, the romantic interests sometimes felt very forced, and they did not totally seem to make sense in places - I am curious how this will develop in the future. While I prefer to be surprised, a few of the biggest plot twists also seemed a bit easy to guess, but I still enjoyed the journey.

Final verdict: Overall, NIGHTWEAVER is an engaging and thought-provoking YA fantasy read with pirates, magic, and revenge that I am excited to continue with future books!