Brightly Woven

Reader reviewed by Katelyn (The Bookshelf Sophisticate)

With a kingdom at stake, not to mention countless lives at risk, the pressure is without a doubt on for our main characters in Brightly Woven. Is that really too much responsibility for a talented weaver from a remote village and a mysterious wizard who could ask for anything, but only wants Sydelle? If you ask me, YEAH that is too much responsibility! But that's what Bracken put our main characters up against.

As a debut YA novelist, Bracken amazed me with how easy she made it for me and I'm sure other readers to become immediately engrossed in the world she created in Brightly Woven. I felt like I was walking (and sometimes running) alongside Syd and North. Reality faded and was replaced by Bracken's world. Her visuals were captivating and her characters became very real, I had to constantly remind myself that this was in fact not reality in order to keep my anxiety to a minimum.

Sydelle is our heroine and although she carried the typical traits readers tend to desire in a female lead (strong, courageous, witty and independent), she was also at the same time very unique and refreshing in my opinion. She was constantly posing questions of those around her that I'm sure readers will find themselves seeking the answers to as well. When her ignorance for any given situation irritated her, readers will empathize with her because they will be sharing her feelings of frustration as well. She was beautiful, fiery and determined throughout the entire story. And her relationship with Wayland North had me turning page after page just to see how it progressed.

North has now become one of my favorite leading male characters of all time. This is not an easy category to obtain entry. Just like Syd, North possessed traits all readers love in a male lead (protective, mysterious, tall, dark and handsome lol) but at the same time was able to cut away from the normal pack of male leads thanks to Bracken's excellent descriptions and the ways she portrayed him throughout the novel. He was constantly struggling to do what had to be done, all the while leaving Syd and the readers wondering if he was trying to do what was right for the kingdom, for Syd or just for himself.

With non-stop action, breathtaking scenery, love triangles, mystery, a villain readers will want to strangle themselves and a story that will snatch readers from the comfort of reality and shoot them straight into a fantasy world unlike any other they've ever come across before, Bracken has created a fantastic piece of writing that readers will never want to put down.

I want more of Bracken's writing and more Brightly Woven please! Please please please let this become a series, or at the very LEAST a trilogy!

Reader reviewed by cynthial11

I really liked this book, Alexandra Bracken wrote a wonderful debut novel. I enjoy books that take my imagination into worlds that I can only dream of, with castles, and wizards and beautiful colorful landscapes and this book did that for me. I have to be honest and say that it took me about 100 pages to get into it but once it did I didn't want to put it down. The story takes the reader into a colorful world that's filled with good and bad wizards that can travel through towns by twisting themselves with magic cloaks, put curses on each other and throw fire and ice from their hands.

There's also the handsome, sarcastic wizard named Wayland North that will make you laugh and fall in love with the story even more. Sydelle and North make a great fictional couple, I enjoyed all the bickering they did throughout their journey. Sydelle is a brave and tough female character that has an amazing talent for weaving beautiful things but also discovers near the end of her journey that there is something more about her that is even more special and magical that North knows and won't tell her. For that you will have to read the book because I don't like giving out spoilers. I absolutely loved the cover! it's beautiful and I think it relates to the story a lot which I love from book covers. It was the first thing that made me want to read Brightly Woven. I'm not sure if there will be a sequel but if there is I will sure be looking forward to reading it.