The Tale That Twines

Eternal Library #2

by Cedar McCloud

All we have is now.

Forty years before THE THREAD THAT BINDS, Juniper Starstitch returns to Caspora City young and hopeful. Chosen to be Head Librarian Opaline Sweetfrond's last apprentice, June arrives at the Eternal Library looking to discover the magical manuscript art of Illumination—and to recover the memories lost to the trauma of the massive earthquake that killed one of eir parents a decade earlier.

June quickly discovers that these memories can be recovered through the ancient art of reading etheric Threads, the spiritual ties that link the world together. But remembering can be painful, and living in the past means missing out on the present. Even to the point that June’s beloved apprenticeship is threatened by eir inability to let go.

It will take the help of friends both old and new for June to untangle the knotted threads of time, including the mysterious and stern Aeronwy Greengrove, who June may or may not be falling in love with, one song at a time...

The Tale That Twines is an adult fantasy novel about queer bookbinding witches, found family, memory, fandom, and the power of story to heal from trauma! It is the second book in the Eternal Library Series and the first of two prequels. It also has a companion divination deck called the Threadbound Oracle; the characters are on the cards, and the cards appear prominently in Book 1, The Thread That Binds.

For readers who

- Found and bio-family dynamics
- Entirely queer cast of characters, including many aro & ace-spectrum
- Autistic ADHD narrator & neurodivergent main cast
- Queernorm society
- Extremely slow burn friends to lovers romance
- The power of friendship and fandom
- Deep thoughts, cozy vibes
- Magical art, writing, & traditional crafting
- Fantasy 1970s/80s setting
- Intergenerational mentor/student friendship
- Trauma healing
- BIG LIBRARY

Genres: Fantasy, LGBT, Queer, Adult

516 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 7, 2023

About the author

Cedar McCloud is a queer and nonbinary author, Tarot deck illustrator, and art witch. They are best known for their debut Tarot deck and guidebook, the Numinous Tarot, as well as the Threadbound Oracle and its accompanying novel, The Thread That Binds. Cedar lives on the west coast of the USA with their partner and cat, where they spin yarn, dye, weave, cook, bind books, make paper, play the mandolin, and do five million other fun things.

Cedar used to publish things under the name Noel Arthur Heimpel, but no longer goes by that name for gender-related reasons. If you see them, they are the same person!

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tale that Twines follows June, an apprentice to an Illuminator who creates eternal books in a magical, fantastical library. I enjoyed the author’s previous book in this series so was happy to pick up this one. The Tale that Twines features an autistic ADHD demiromantic narrator, diverse queer representation, and really thoughtful engagement with themes around trauma; I am appreciative to the author for their ability to create books that feel cozy and supportive that also address serious themes, and I feel like they’ve grown as an author between the first book in the series and this one. The setting, Caspora City, and the broader dynamics between countries is more developed here than in the prior book, and I think the characters read more consistently in terms of their ages (in my review of the prior novel in the series, I’d noted the characters felt quite a bit younger than described; here they don’t so much). The writing does feel overly didactic in some places, but overall I liked this a lot + recommend it for those looking for queer cozy heartwarming fantasy with magic and lots and lots of books.

The Tale that Twines is a prequel set forty years prior to The Thread that Binds and linked to an oracle deck created by the author, The Threadbound Oracle (the deck itself figures into The Thread but not this novel). This one could be read before or after the other, or as a standalone. Having the deck, or having any familiarity with oracle decks in general, is not needed to enjoy these novels. The author provides a pronunciation key, a note on pronouns (especially e/em/eirs), and content notes.

Content warnings: the author provides a detailed list at the outset of the book. Content includes grief, death of a parent, survival of a natural disaster, trauma / symptoms of post-traumatic stress injury including panic attacks, religious bigotry, mention of past sexual abuse (not graphic in any way), medical content (mention of cancer), toxic relationship, gaslighting

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as good as the first one, if not better! I really liked Juniper as a character and the slow buildup to eir relationship with Aeronwy. I also really liked that this book seemed to explore the city and history of the world a bit more than the first one which was focused a lot more on the Library itself. My extreme dislike of Mairead absolutely continues and I very much look forward to seeing the end of eir friendship with Aeronwy. Given that the next book seems to be from Aeronwyn's perspective, I look forward to seeing how e became friends with em in the first place as well as learn more about how e broke away from eir Cinaedite cult family.

[A.P. Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: A Tale That Twines
Author: Cedar McCloud

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A cozy fantastical tale of self-discovery and self-acceptance.

McCloud creates a complex world of magic unlike any other. A magic that focuses on ourselves and what ties us to the universe we live in.

This book will pull at your heartstrings and leave you feeling empowered. When was the last time a story embraced you in like a close friend? For me, today.
Juniper's journey shines light on the parts of them that they're scared to show the rest of the world because even if you're scared to be vulnerable, this story is not.

This is the first book I've ever read with completely nonbinary pronouns, and I'm here for it. Adding onto that, McCloud has provided representation to the highest degree.
Representation for who? Everyone.
Communities with different cultures, LGBTQ+ identities, neurodiversity, varied love types, and abled abilities (and honestly, probably more) all have a prominent role in McCloud's universe.

I can not sing their praises enough. Easy 5 star read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Kendra Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another absolutely beautiful read. Set 40 years before the first book in the series, the story follows Juniper (or June) as she navigates her return to Caspora, her new apprenticeship, and sense of self through healing and new found friendships. It was great to get an origin story of one of my favorite couples from the first book. It was also surprisingly a therapeutic read on a personal level, much like the first book as it tackled themes of grief, relationship/familial abuse, and self discovery. I cannot wait for the third book to be released. It has definitely become a world for me to escape into.

[Julie Wilbur · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cozy fantasy about a person who apprentices at a Library (which is central to the country’s government and society, so the capital letter is justified) and has to work through some years-old trauma related to an earthquake that happened years ago. The world is queer-norm, gender-neutral, and very literary-oriented. While there is a lot of growth and character development, the stakes are fairly low-key, so it’s not a stressful read at all. I loved it!

[Clarissa Gosling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story - I want to hold it close and keep it safe. Having read the previous book, I know some of what was going to happen, but I loved the unravelling (!) of June's missing memories and how inter-twined (!) they were with the book/tv show. Some fantastic scenes and a sweet developing romance.

[aspeccharactersoftheday]

Aeronwy from The Tale That Twines is arospec!
Juniper Starstitch from The Tale That Twines is demiromantic demisexual!
Siobhan from The Tale That Twines is aromantic!

https://aspeccharactersoftheday.tumbl...