Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken
Having a particular soft spot for debut authors, I picked up this fantasy novel with wizards, weaving, and romance. The romance, I discovered, was a minor part. That made me happy.
Summary (From flap of book):
"The day the rains came was like any other, blistering air coating the canyon in a heavy stillness..."
Just as the rains come after ten long, dry years, a young wizard, Wayland North, appears, to whisk Sydelle Mirabil away from her desert village. North needs an assistant, and Sydelle is eager to see the country—and to join him on his quest to stop the war that surely will destroy her home. But North has secrets—about himself, about why he choose Sydelle, about his real reasons for the journey. What does he want from her? And why does North’s sworn enemy seem fascinated by Sydelle himself?
Through a journey that spans a country, magic and hard-won romance are woven together with precision and brilliant design by a first-time novelist.
From the summary—or blurb, whatever you like to call it—I thought this was another typical romance novel about a country girl, a dashing wizard, oooh, suddenly the girl has magic; they are soulmates; and after killing the bad guy who some how knew she had magic; they fall in love, happily ever after. But it wasn’t--it was entirely something else.
This book was a breath of fresh air, and how I believe romances should be written. Without all the drama and absurdity of two people just clicking on sight.
I think that life is mostly about the journey, and that in books, it's all about the journey. Their journey has so many breath-catching spots,
Sydelle is such a great character. She is clever, down-to-earth, and has a temper. Her most special point is her stubbornness. I enjoyed it immensely. She would do something she knows is stupid, just to prove you wrong. She has pride, and doesn't try to hide her disgust at North's bad habits.
North, the male in this romance book, is so amazing. He is intelligent, a tad arrogant (he is a wizard) and incredibly dashing. He has his own amazing share of flaws though. He loves to drink--he met his best friend that way--and gets drunk quite frequently. His hygiene is something terrible, and he doesn't really keep a clear head when loved ones are involved.
How on earth did they end up together? This seemingly impossible feat is achieved using a plot line that goes back milimina to the founding of five nations, a upcoming war spanning the width of three countries, and a prophesy--need I go on?
I was really surprised by the depth of this book, and I hope you'll read it and decide for yourself.
One of the things this book has taught me is never judge a book by it's cover--or rather, it's genre. I usually turn my nose up at fantasy/paranormal romances because there seems to be a stigma attached to them that they must have no plot, and end with a ridiculous happy ending that is against all odds (sadly, I also have a few personal experiences with this stigma). Yes this book was a romance, but most of it was plot and it was an enjoyable read. I believe I shall try more different genres of books in the future.
Conclusion: This book gets an 8.7/10. (I didn't know I could do .7's but I did.) It had a sweet romance, a great plot with plenty of twists, okay world-building, and solid characters. I'm a bit softer in the rating section because it's a debut, but I'm definitely looking forward to anything else by this author.
