Brightly Woven

by Alexandra Bracken

Sixteen-year-old Sydelle Mirabel, an unusually talented weaver, must master her mysterious power and join a young wizard in stopping an imminent war in her land.

Sixteen-year-old Sydelle Mirabel, an unusually talented weaver, must master her mysterious power and join a young wizard in stopping an imminent war in her land. The plot contains violence.

• ISBN10: 160684038X
• ISBN13: 9781606840382
• Publish Date: 23 March 2010 (first published 1 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Egmont USA
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 354
• Language: English

Reviews

My Review originally posted on Oh, For the Love of Books!


Humble Beginnings:
All right, I'll freely admit that at first I wasn't completely in love with this book. Don't get me wrong, I really liked it, just didn't love it. Why? Because when i first started I had really high expectations (Thanks Small :P). Initially, what kept me going was the fantastic world-building and interactions between the characters.

Fantasy world at its finest:
Bracken created an absolutely fantastic fantasy world. It was fully-fleshed out without being bogged down by unnecessary details. To me, the world is one of the most important things when it comes to fantasy. I like to "see" this new world and really picture it in my head and this book doesn't disappoint.

Fiery red-head with an attitude to match:
Sydelle is just as fiery as her hair! She's independent and doesn't like to be told what to do. She doesn't want to rely on a man (girl-power!) but she wants to make a living doing what she loves to do, weave. While she may have a fiery attitude, she actually has quite a kind heart. I really fell in love with her independence and her attitude towards the world and those around her.

Secrets and witty banter galore:
However, although I really loved Sydelle's fiery attitude, I fell in love with North! He just loved to bug Sydelle and it was so much fun to watch their interactions with each other. But underneath all that, you can tell that he truly cares about Sydelle. Does she see that yet? Of course not, but then again, if she knew he cared there wouldn't be any of that deliciously funny tension! Ah, but he's not just witty and funny, he's got secrets. Maybe its just the nosy, gossip loving girl in me, but I love me some secrets, so it was no wonder that he definitely peeked my interest.

Huge amounts of awesomeness:
As I said, the characters are what initially kept me reading. I thought the plot was interesting and I was really intrigued but I wasn't completely smitten. Then.....

BAM!!

The plot just EXPLODES! Magic, suspense, intrigue, mystery, secrets, REVEALS! Gah! Everything just happens and you're constantly on the edge of your seat. And as if that wasn't enough, the characters get even more awesome! I seriously don't even know how thats possible. I just feel so bad for North. This guy has been through far too much for any one man and it's a miracle this guy has kept on going but that's why I fell in love with him. I just wanted to go up and give him a big hug and say that I would always be there for him. And what made me fall even more in love with Sydelle is that she does exactly that. She may be irritated by him sometimes, but in the end she knows why and really just wants to help him. Ahh....such a swoon-worthy romance. It just makes my heart melt!

SEQUEL PLEASE!! ♥


In short:
While the beginning was good, the last half was fantastic. Between all the action, twists, amazing characters, and epic plot this book is definitely a must-read for any fantasy fan.

[Stephanie]

I was a little disappointed with this book when I first started reading. I was bored. Very bored. It was Sydelle and North walking and arguing. And it seemed to go on forever. And I was so confused. I had to read some paragraphs more than once to understand what was actually going on. I was considering giving up and moving on to a different book.

Then I got about halfway through and started loving it. I couldn't put the book down and when I had to I was itching to pick it back up. I loved how slow Sydelle's and North's relationship built, it was refreshing. I just fell in love with the whole world that Bracken created.

I loved North. If North wasn't in a scene, I wasn't really enjoying the story. He brought all the fun to the book. Well, him and Owain. When I first read the summary, I thought North was this old mean guy who took Sydelle away, but then I started reading and realized he's only 18! Don't ask why I thought that because I have know idea why.

I was iffy about Sydelle. She was independent and stubborn. She would chase after North because he would leave her behind when he had to go do something dangerous. North couldn't go do something by himself because Sydelle would get mad at him. She just had her moments, it got annoying after a while.

Overall, I really liked it. I might even go back to reread it now that I kind of have a grasp on how the magic works and maybe I won't be as confused in the beginning. I read somewhere that Bracken had to do some heavy editing to bring down the word count, so I'm thinking it effected the story in some ways.