What do you think?
Rate this book
The Wrinkled Crown
Up in the magical, wrinkled hills, Linny breaks an ancient law. No matter how musical a girl may be, she must not so much as touch a string of a lourka before she turns twelve, or she'll be spirited off to Away. When the curse meant for her strikes her best friend instead, Linny must leave her home behind to try to set things right. If you walk down out of the wrinkled hills, you will never find your way home--everyone knows that other law. But Linny has the gift of not getting lost, and she will risk everything to rescue her friend. With her father's young apprentice, Elias, she travels down into the Plain, where science may have found a cure for magic. Linny and Elias soon find themselves caught up in the age-old battle between the wrinkled places and the Plain. Can Linny keep the fractured land from falling apart—and save her best friend?
400 pages, Hardcover
First published November 10, 2015
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
January 25, 2022
This isn't just a children's fantasy. This is a conceptual fantasy - a really good one. It's not high fantasy; there's no epic battle between dark and light. There's just Linny and Elias, who need a medicine for their friend Sayra, who's being pulled Away.
And so they have to head down to the city, where they've never been, to find Linny's aunt and a cure. They're never been, because, says the legend, people who leave the wrinkled mountains never find their way back. Wrinkled areas can't be mapped, you see. Linny, though - Linny knows the risks. And she thinks she can find her way back.
And so the book's foundational concept is established: there's one city with two sections, Plain and Wrinkled. The plain side has mapmakers and surveyors and Progress, and the wrinkled side has legend and rebels. And yet things aren't clearcut: one of the greatest things about this novel is the way Linny isn't immediately met by people who can help her. The rebels aren't representative, and neither are the Surveyors. Instead, there's a sort of uneasy coexistence between wrinkled and plain, and a determined mingling by the fair. There's a fantastic examination of the way reality is distorted over the years, when Linny stumbles upon a real labyrinth. And prioritizes neither way.
There are some places where the concepts feel a little thin. The idea of storytelling creating reality, for example: And there's another imprecise comparison between the two extremes,
I feel like I'm making the novel sound fairly linear. It's not. You're flung into the novel, and while sentences seem to follow the patterns of conventional English, nothing makes sense, not really. There are ideas presented that fairly shout their importance but not enough context yet to understand them.
The really great thing about this book is the way the writing furthers the wrinkled worldbuilding, the way it scrambles along, headlong and madcap and scattered. Just the way Linny does. Linny, who's more instinctive than considered, who flings herself after decisions that make no sense. Who's more than a little bit wrinkled herself, but who loves maps. Linny, whose mother is a mystery - whose aunt is a scientist -
Highly, highly recommended.
And so they have to head down to the city, where they've never been, to find Linny's aunt and a cure. They're never been, because, says the legend, people who leave the wrinkled mountains never find their way back. Wrinkled areas can't be mapped, you see. Linny, though - Linny knows the risks. And she thinks she can find her way back.
And so the book's foundational concept is established: there's one city with two sections, Plain and Wrinkled. The plain side has mapmakers and surveyors and Progress, and the wrinkled side has legend and rebels. And yet things aren't clearcut: one of the greatest things about this novel is the way Linny isn't immediately met by people who can help her. The rebels aren't representative, and neither are the Surveyors. Instead, there's a sort of uneasy coexistence between wrinkled and plain, and a determined mingling by the fair. There's a fantastic examination of the way reality is distorted over the years, when Linny stumbles upon a real labyrinth. And prioritizes neither way.
There are some places where the concepts feel a little thin. The idea of storytelling creating reality, for example: And there's another imprecise comparison between the two extremes,
I feel like I'm making the novel sound fairly linear. It's not. You're flung into the novel, and while sentences seem to follow the patterns of conventional English, nothing makes sense, not really. There are ideas presented that fairly shout their importance but not enough context yet to understand them.
The really great thing about this book is the way the writing furthers the wrinkled worldbuilding, the way it scrambles along, headlong and madcap and scattered. Just the way Linny does. Linny, who's more instinctive than considered, who flings herself after decisions that make no sense. Who's more than a little bit wrinkled herself, but who loves maps. Linny, whose mother is a mystery - whose aunt is a scientist -
Because she, Linny, was like this world. She was always going through both doors at once, wrinkled and Plain. She didn't have the words to say this properly, but there are more ways to speak than words.Those parallels shape the story, which crackles along, and shifts sideways, and sometimes goes startling places.
She swung her lourka off her shoulder and held it out to to the crowds.
"See?" she said. "The whole world is in here: measurement and magic, both at once."
And she shook the stiffness out of her fingers and played that for them as a song, simple and sweet.
Highly, highly recommended.
March 14, 2021
This completed the prompt for travel/adventure for MG March. This was AMAZING! This is the 2nd book I’ve read by Anne Nesbet now, & I can tell she’s going to be a favorite author. This was such a creative story, & w/so many underlying lessons & messages that I love. The word “wrinkled” basically means magic is this book. So Linny lives in the Wrinkled hills. No matter how musical a girl is there, they’re not to touch a lourka until they turn 12-or they will be taken to the Away. She didn’t listen-but when the curse meant for her strikes her best friend she knows she must leave home to find a way to makes things right. W/her fathers apprentice Elias, they travel down into the Plain-where science may have found a cure for magic. They are soon caught up in an old battle b/n the wrinkled places & the Plain. She finds out strange things she never knew, & strange things start happening. She also comes upon a 1/2 Cat lol & he’s awesome & follows her everywhere. Linny & her lourka are sort of part wrinkled & part Plain. The best of both working together, & she doesn’t understand why both people can come together, do the same, & be happy. Huge significance there. You don’t have to be one or the other..Linny likes wrinkled things, & then she likes science things like the maps they have. There are many parts that make up all of us, & when we bring all of that together w/each other, it can only make us stronger together. Linny was amazing! I loved her loyalty, determination, & strength. The whole backstory of her, her mom, Lourka(the town AND the instrument), & the wrinkled places & the Plain were all so fascinating. I loved this world so much. So unique. A fast paced read, w/something constantly grabbing your attention-flows beautifully. Elias..that lummox..he’s hilarious, & I loved him. My heart belongs to the 1/2 Cat though. Also, 2 parts of each brought together into 1 amazing cat. Highly recommend. Full of adventure, suspense, & a lot of heart. STUNNING cover by Jen Bricking too.💜
September 28, 2020
Nesbet's voice, her style, is original. I couldn't immerse myself in this and race right through; every time I started to speed through as I can with most genre children's books I had to backtrack to catch what I missed.
For example, it's told in third person, which is excellently refreshing, but at the same time we're often inside Linny's thoughts, sometimes without being warned that we are: "How much time had Linny wasted... just because she was tired?" See, that's Linny asking herself that... but at the same time it's an aside to the reader, because the reader knows Linny needed that nap; it wasn't a waste of time.
Very clever, fun, exciting... with a lot of heart. Will encourage a child to really think about things, like the value of technology, for example. I bet the author's first impetuous was conflicted feelings about e-books vs. paper, or maybe fantasy vs. science fiction.
Recommended to all readers who have enough room in their schedules to read more than just a few pages at a time.
For example, it's told in third person, which is excellently refreshing, but at the same time we're often inside Linny's thoughts, sometimes without being warned that we are: "How much time had Linny wasted... just because she was tired?" See, that's Linny asking herself that... but at the same time it's an aside to the reader, because the reader knows Linny needed that nap; it wasn't a waste of time.
Very clever, fun, exciting... with a lot of heart. Will encourage a child to really think about things, like the value of technology, for example. I bet the author's first impetuous was conflicted feelings about e-books vs. paper, or maybe fantasy vs. science fiction.
Recommended to all readers who have enough room in their schedules to read more than just a few pages at a time.
November 12, 2015
Originally posted here at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.
Anne Nesbet is one of those authors who always surprises me. Her book like they will be one thing, but they have so many fascinating layers. The Wrinkled Crown is my favorite book she's written yet.
Linny has been tethered to Sayra all of her life. From the moment it became obvious Linny had a talent for music, she was put at Sayra's side to keep her safe. To keep her from even picking up a Lourka and allowing her talents to be realized. In the town of Lourka if a girl even brushes against a Lourka accidentally before her twelfth birthday, she is spirited off by mysterious voices to the Away. Linny and Sayra have developed a special bond, and they have secrets. Sayra allows Linny to run free in the woods. Linny unable to resist the call of music uses these times to craft her very own Lourka. Sayra feels she's failed Linny and wishes that Linny's fate would be hers. When that is what happens, Linny feels guilty but also determined to be the one to rescue her friend. In addition to music Linny possesses another gift: she never gets lost. She can find her way anywhere. With her Lourka on her back, Linny sets out to find a way to save her friend. Even if it means leaving her home and traveling to the Plain-a place no one from Lourka has gone to and then returned from. She is reluctantly accompanied by her father's apprentice, Elias who has his own motivations for rescuing Sayra. The Plain is not a welcoming place though, and soon Linny and Elias find themselves at the center of a political battle. Linny appears to everyone to be The Girl with the Lourka, whose return everyone is eagerly awaiting so that she can right the wrongs of the world. There are people who wan to exploit her and people who want to make her disappear.
The Wrinkled Crown is first and foremost a book about relationships. Friends, sisters, mother/child, ruler/subject, it covers just about everything (except romance). Linny is at the center of most it. She is a determined girl who is sometimes thoughtless and impulsive, but always willing to work hard to reverse the mistakes she makes. Most of the other characters are not as well developed as she is. I got a strong sense of Sayra from the few pages she's in, but she is absent for most of the book. Elias is funny and a good foil for Linny, but I didn't feel he was as well rounded as Linny is. The characters all work together well to form a cohesive whole for the story though. There is more than one antagonist Linny has to face as she make her way through the Plain and people try to use her as an ends to their own means. These characters are shown to have strengths and flaws, but to be ultimately selfish in their goals. This is a contrast to Linny whose only wish is to saver her friend and go home. I liked how there were minor characters who helped her out in small ways as well. The unsung heroes who did little things to move her where she needed to be.
There is an interesting twist on genre in the book. While it is very much a fantasy novel with a quest and an apparent chosen one (this is deconstructed a bit), it could also be classified as Science Fiction. The most fascinating aspect of the book to me is that the strongest theme is magic versus science. Faith versus intellect plays a huge role too. Linny with all of the magic she brings from the wrinkled hills, loves maps and the science too. She is a part of both worlds. The book is about finding a balance between the two. They are at war with each other, but do they have to be? This is by far my favorite part of the story.
This is an excellent tale of friendship and perseverance that will appeal to lovers of fantasy quests and music.
I read an ARC made available by the publisher, Harper Children's, via Edelweiss. The Wrinkled Crown is available November 10th.
Anne Nesbet is one of those authors who always surprises me. Her book like they will be one thing, but they have so many fascinating layers. The Wrinkled Crown is my favorite book she's written yet.
Linny has been tethered to Sayra all of her life. From the moment it became obvious Linny had a talent for music, she was put at Sayra's side to keep her safe. To keep her from even picking up a Lourka and allowing her talents to be realized. In the town of Lourka if a girl even brushes against a Lourka accidentally before her twelfth birthday, she is spirited off by mysterious voices to the Away. Linny and Sayra have developed a special bond, and they have secrets. Sayra allows Linny to run free in the woods. Linny unable to resist the call of music uses these times to craft her very own Lourka. Sayra feels she's failed Linny and wishes that Linny's fate would be hers. When that is what happens, Linny feels guilty but also determined to be the one to rescue her friend. In addition to music Linny possesses another gift: she never gets lost. She can find her way anywhere. With her Lourka on her back, Linny sets out to find a way to save her friend. Even if it means leaving her home and traveling to the Plain-a place no one from Lourka has gone to and then returned from. She is reluctantly accompanied by her father's apprentice, Elias who has his own motivations for rescuing Sayra. The Plain is not a welcoming place though, and soon Linny and Elias find themselves at the center of a political battle. Linny appears to everyone to be The Girl with the Lourka, whose return everyone is eagerly awaiting so that she can right the wrongs of the world. There are people who wan to exploit her and people who want to make her disappear.
The Wrinkled Crown is first and foremost a book about relationships. Friends, sisters, mother/child, ruler/subject, it covers just about everything (except romance). Linny is at the center of most it. She is a determined girl who is sometimes thoughtless and impulsive, but always willing to work hard to reverse the mistakes she makes. Most of the other characters are not as well developed as she is. I got a strong sense of Sayra from the few pages she's in, but she is absent for most of the book. Elias is funny and a good foil for Linny, but I didn't feel he was as well rounded as Linny is. The characters all work together well to form a cohesive whole for the story though. There is more than one antagonist Linny has to face as she make her way through the Plain and people try to use her as an ends to their own means. These characters are shown to have strengths and flaws, but to be ultimately selfish in their goals. This is a contrast to Linny whose only wish is to saver her friend and go home. I liked how there were minor characters who helped her out in small ways as well. The unsung heroes who did little things to move her where she needed to be.
There is an interesting twist on genre in the book. While it is very much a fantasy novel with a quest and an apparent chosen one (this is deconstructed a bit), it could also be classified as Science Fiction. The most fascinating aspect of the book to me is that the strongest theme is magic versus science. Faith versus intellect plays a huge role too. Linny with all of the magic she brings from the wrinkled hills, loves maps and the science too. She is a part of both worlds. The book is about finding a balance between the two. They are at war with each other, but do they have to be? This is by far my favorite part of the story.
This is an excellent tale of friendship and perseverance that will appeal to lovers of fantasy quests and music.
I read an ARC made available by the publisher, Harper Children's, via Edelweiss. The Wrinkled Crown is available November 10th.
February 2, 2016
A fresh voice in children's fiction! Anne Nesbet's writing is unique and captivating. I don't summarize plots in my reviews (who has time!), but this is a rollicking, adventurous tale. Linny will steal your heart and Elias (that Lummox) will have you laughing out loud.
On a deeper level, this book explores the tensions that exist between the scientific Plains people and the magical people who live in the Wrinkled Hills. The metaphor for all of this is found in Linny's Lourka, which is like a banjo/violin/guitar. The lourka is science and magic all rolled in one, but working together instead of against. And with her lourka, Linny produces music, harmony. Now if only the people could be played like a lourka! I enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to all people.
On a deeper level, this book explores the tensions that exist between the scientific Plains people and the magical people who live in the Wrinkled Hills. The metaphor for all of this is found in Linny's Lourka, which is like a banjo/violin/guitar. The lourka is science and magic all rolled in one, but working together instead of against. And with her lourka, Linny produces music, harmony. Now if only the people could be played like a lourka! I enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to all people.
February 25, 2016
I'm SO GLAD Linny is the narrator of this. Maybe it's just me, but Sayra seems like the much more typical and, therefore, less interesting choice.
I did think this was good, but it was too long! After , I was bored with every new crisis.
I did think this was good, but it was too long! After , I was bored with every new crisis.
Read
May 3, 2017I haven't actually read it but im too lazy.
August 31, 2016
My reaction summed up in a gif:
Why. Why why why do pretty covers have meh books inside?
This book had an interesting premise. People living in a "wrinkled"(aka magical) town has a tragedy happen and the main girl has to solve the problem she caused.
It's such a good setup most of the time....however for me it fell flat on its ass for this book.
The thing is, I just never gave a crap about anything. Liny's quest? I felt like she was stupid. It is one thing to make a lourka and doom yourself but to show your friend it with the risk? It just felt like the conflict was forced.
The whole trip felt dull and a lot of times I wondered when something was going to happen. And whenever it did, I just did not care. I ended up skimming the last part but yeah, nothing there caught my attention either.
Why. Why why why do pretty covers have meh books inside?
This book had an interesting premise. People living in a "wrinkled"(aka magical) town has a tragedy happen and the main girl has to solve the problem she caused.
It's such a good setup most of the time....however for me it fell flat on its ass for this book.
The thing is, I just never gave a crap about anything. Liny's quest? I felt like she was stupid. It is one thing to make a lourka and doom yourself but to show your friend it with the risk? It just felt like the conflict was forced.
The whole trip felt dull and a lot of times I wondered when something was going to happen. And whenever it did, I just did not care. I ended up skimming the last part but yeah, nothing there caught my attention either.
May 30, 2016
What a strange experience the reading of this novel was for me. I went from irritation/lukewarm enjoyment to exasperation to shocked pleasure, back to lukewarmness and finally to joy.
I was struck by the exuberant, gorgeous writing from the beginning, but equally, from the start there was something about the storyline that irritated me. I think it’s because the division of the novel’s world into ‘Wrinkled’ and ‘Plain’ seemed like such a clear and obvious analogy for magic/imagination/ versus science/logic/reason that I at times felt as though I were reading an allegory that was, at base, rather banal. Also, this is basically a quest story in which lots of adventures happen to the main protagonists, and again, this struck me as a little pedestrian, despite the fine writing. At first, Linny herself seemed like the rather overdone feisty, irrepressible girl who so often is the protagonist of MG fantasy – even though, again, she is so likeably exuberant and the writing seems designed to reflect that exuberance. And while I eventually really enjoyed most of the characters (Linny herself, and especially perhaps Elias and Linny’s mother and aunt), I found some of the minor characters whom Linny meets along the way (the Tinkerman; the magician whose name I don’t remember; and the leader of the Plain, whose name I also can’t recall) so larger-than-life and almost cartoonish that they remained mere stereotypes to me. Even the wonderful Half-Cat – it’s hard to imagine someone who loves fantasy not enjoying the Half-Cat – as vividly and beautifully drawn as he/she/it (I’ve forgotten) is – is a little stereotypical, precisely because the magical cat has become something of a trope in MG/YA fantasy. I did enjoy the Half-Cat, but it (she? he?) again reflects the attempt to reconcile the arbitrary division of the world into Wrinkled/Plain and for that reason didn’t feel to me as original and quirky as I think it was intended to be.
So on one level the novel is the kind of protracted adventure story that’s almost traditional in MG books, one I’m personally not particularly fond of. On another level, a large part of the novel does feel like an extended metaphor or allegory, in a rather too obvious way, albeit not a black-and-white one. The whole message of the novel is that you need both sides of the dichotomy – so that it’s not really a dichotomy at all - and that, like life itself, it’s all very complex. Despite this complexity – and despite the fact that I completely agree with these ideas - I kept feeling that there was something prosaic about the message. It’s a very pointed message: this aspect of the novel felt very MG to me, while the very best MG/YA books always feel uncategorisable and not restricted to any particular age group.
I had really loved Nesbet’s first book, A Cabinet of Earths (although even then, I felt that the plot let the book down a bit in the end, in that it didn’t quite match the conceptual brilliance of the novel), and I’m wondering if in Cabinet, the quirkiness of the characters and ideas work well in the context of our ordinary world, while for me, Crown feels a bit like a too-obvious allegory because it’s set in a world artificially set up to reflect the two dichotomies she’s exploring. Except that she’s not so much exploring them as presenting them to us as apparent opposites and then offering a reconciliation between them, represented by Linny herself – a strategy that, while I couldn’t agree more with the reconciliation, again just feels a bit a bit pedestrian to me: instructive rather than exciting, perhaps.
But there are aspects of the novel, apart from the vividly drawn main characters and the gorgeous writing, that ultimately save it for me. At about the three-quarters mark, Linny’s aunt reveals something that suddenly puts the whole set-up of the novel’s world into a different perspective. Instead of merely being a quest fantasy in a quaint world arbitrary divided into Wrinkled and Plain, we are given an almost science fictional perspective on the whole thing that puts a totally different spin on everything. I was totally intrigued by this new way of framing the novel’s world. At the same time, Linny’s aunt started to feel like an absolutely fascinating character I wanted to read a whole lot more about. At that point I started to feel a new excitement in the novel. But then – the story just went off into more adventures. Not that this wasn’t without interest: it continued to be beautifully written, and I loved the scene at the Plain sea, and the development of Elias's character, for instance. But I did feel some disappointment, because the aspects of the story I was most interested in (the almost science fictional framework suggested by Linny’s aunt, as well as Linny’s aunt herself) weren't being explored.
Having said all this, there were times when the sheer power of the language, and the way Nesbet interweaves and layers language and concepts, almost at times reminded me a little bit of Patricia McKillip. And then the last part of the book, the resolution, totally entranced me and left me totally satisfied emotionally. – the whole ending felt so right and so satisfying that it set a definite mark on a book that I had felt so ambivalent about. This is what ultimately pushed the novel up from what was probably about 3 to 3 and a half stars for me to something I'm happy enough to round up to a clear 4.
I was struck by the exuberant, gorgeous writing from the beginning, but equally, from the start there was something about the storyline that irritated me. I think it’s because the division of the novel’s world into ‘Wrinkled’ and ‘Plain’ seemed like such a clear and obvious analogy for magic/imagination/ versus science/logic/reason that I at times felt as though I were reading an allegory that was, at base, rather banal. Also, this is basically a quest story in which lots of adventures happen to the main protagonists, and again, this struck me as a little pedestrian, despite the fine writing. At first, Linny herself seemed like the rather overdone feisty, irrepressible girl who so often is the protagonist of MG fantasy – even though, again, she is so likeably exuberant and the writing seems designed to reflect that exuberance. And while I eventually really enjoyed most of the characters (Linny herself, and especially perhaps Elias and Linny’s mother and aunt), I found some of the minor characters whom Linny meets along the way (the Tinkerman; the magician whose name I don’t remember; and the leader of the Plain, whose name I also can’t recall) so larger-than-life and almost cartoonish that they remained mere stereotypes to me. Even the wonderful Half-Cat – it’s hard to imagine someone who loves fantasy not enjoying the Half-Cat – as vividly and beautifully drawn as he/she/it (I’ve forgotten) is – is a little stereotypical, precisely because the magical cat has become something of a trope in MG/YA fantasy. I did enjoy the Half-Cat, but it (she? he?) again reflects the attempt to reconcile the arbitrary division of the world into Wrinkled/Plain and for that reason didn’t feel to me as original and quirky as I think it was intended to be.
So on one level the novel is the kind of protracted adventure story that’s almost traditional in MG books, one I’m personally not particularly fond of. On another level, a large part of the novel does feel like an extended metaphor or allegory, in a rather too obvious way, albeit not a black-and-white one. The whole message of the novel is that you need both sides of the dichotomy – so that it’s not really a dichotomy at all - and that, like life itself, it’s all very complex. Despite this complexity – and despite the fact that I completely agree with these ideas - I kept feeling that there was something prosaic about the message. It’s a very pointed message: this aspect of the novel felt very MG to me, while the very best MG/YA books always feel uncategorisable and not restricted to any particular age group.
I had really loved Nesbet’s first book, A Cabinet of Earths (although even then, I felt that the plot let the book down a bit in the end, in that it didn’t quite match the conceptual brilliance of the novel), and I’m wondering if in Cabinet, the quirkiness of the characters and ideas work well in the context of our ordinary world, while for me, Crown feels a bit like a too-obvious allegory because it’s set in a world artificially set up to reflect the two dichotomies she’s exploring. Except that she’s not so much exploring them as presenting them to us as apparent opposites and then offering a reconciliation between them, represented by Linny herself – a strategy that, while I couldn’t agree more with the reconciliation, again just feels a bit a bit pedestrian to me: instructive rather than exciting, perhaps.
But there are aspects of the novel, apart from the vividly drawn main characters and the gorgeous writing, that ultimately save it for me. At about the three-quarters mark, Linny’s aunt reveals something that suddenly puts the whole set-up of the novel’s world into a different perspective. Instead of merely being a quest fantasy in a quaint world arbitrary divided into Wrinkled and Plain, we are given an almost science fictional perspective on the whole thing that puts a totally different spin on everything. I was totally intrigued by this new way of framing the novel’s world. At the same time, Linny’s aunt started to feel like an absolutely fascinating character I wanted to read a whole lot more about. At that point I started to feel a new excitement in the novel. But then – the story just went off into more adventures. Not that this wasn’t without interest: it continued to be beautifully written, and I loved the scene at the Plain sea, and the development of Elias's character, for instance. But I did feel some disappointment, because the aspects of the story I was most interested in (the almost science fictional framework suggested by Linny’s aunt, as well as Linny’s aunt herself) weren't being explored.
Having said all this, there were times when the sheer power of the language, and the way Nesbet interweaves and layers language and concepts, almost at times reminded me a little bit of Patricia McKillip. And then the last part of the book, the resolution, totally entranced me and left me totally satisfied emotionally. – the whole ending felt so right and so satisfying that it set a definite mark on a book that I had felt so ambivalent about. This is what ultimately pushed the novel up from what was probably about 3 to 3 and a half stars for me to something I'm happy enough to round up to a clear 4.
April 23, 2021
I got this book and a few more of this author's because they looked good. BOY WAS I WRONG! (SPOILERS) This book starts ok, then everything since she leaves the village is so bad I was spacing out so much I didn't realise her brother might die till an entire page later. The only good parts of the book are the very beginning and very end. The title isn't relevant to the end, and the damned thing isn't supposed to be a crown in the first place. The best part of the book was when I closed it. Then, when I opened A Box of Gargoyles and read the first few chapters, IT WAS THE SAME PLOT!!!! I would give this book 0 stars if I could. Don't waste your time on trash authors like this. This book deserves absolutely no love.
October 30, 2015
Huge thank you to Harper Collins Canada for this ARC!
Some of my favourite kinds of middle grade novels are often the ones that are the most quiet and gentle. There's a lot to learn, there's often a good balance of morality and magic, which is exactly what we have in Anne Nesbet's The Wrinkled Crown.
If I'm being honest, I think what I loved about this book the most was just how gorgeous the writing is. It really does an amazing job of drawing the reader in, and it's rich in description. The story itself is cheeky, as we follow Linny, a heroine who has broken an ancient law in her world, in that if she touches a lourka before she turns twelve, or she'll be banished to Away. Unfortunately her best friend ends up having to pay the price, and it's up to Linny to make this wrong a right. I loved this story, though it definitely had some slow points for me.
I really can't get over how fleshed out these characters feel. I adored Sayra and her love for Linny, I thought Elias was a cutie, and Linny... she reminds me of Tommy from Rugrats, always doing what she shouldn't be and then trying to figure out how to a fix a problem before things get much, much worse. Linny is adventurous, daring, clever, she's someone I think a lot of younger readers would easily be drawn to because she is so capable, yet she's not always confident in herself.
The Wrinkled Crown is a such a delightful fantasy novel for anyone of any age. There's so much for children and adult alike to appreciate! The story is delightfully charming, with wonderfully vivid characters and fantastic writing. It's definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of authors like K.E Orsmbee or Claire Legrand.
Some of my favourite kinds of middle grade novels are often the ones that are the most quiet and gentle. There's a lot to learn, there's often a good balance of morality and magic, which is exactly what we have in Anne Nesbet's The Wrinkled Crown.
If I'm being honest, I think what I loved about this book the most was just how gorgeous the writing is. It really does an amazing job of drawing the reader in, and it's rich in description. The story itself is cheeky, as we follow Linny, a heroine who has broken an ancient law in her world, in that if she touches a lourka before she turns twelve, or she'll be banished to Away. Unfortunately her best friend ends up having to pay the price, and it's up to Linny to make this wrong a right. I loved this story, though it definitely had some slow points for me.
I really can't get over how fleshed out these characters feel. I adored Sayra and her love for Linny, I thought Elias was a cutie, and Linny... she reminds me of Tommy from Rugrats, always doing what she shouldn't be and then trying to figure out how to a fix a problem before things get much, much worse. Linny is adventurous, daring, clever, she's someone I think a lot of younger readers would easily be drawn to because she is so capable, yet she's not always confident in herself.
The Wrinkled Crown is a such a delightful fantasy novel for anyone of any age. There's so much for children and adult alike to appreciate! The story is delightfully charming, with wonderfully vivid characters and fantastic writing. It's definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of authors like K.E Orsmbee or Claire Legrand.
August 10, 2015
Linny was a "hummy baby," clearly born with music in her blood. To keep her safe, her parents tethered her to Sayra for most of the time until she was twelve. (According to the lore of their village, any girl that touches a lourka before she turns twelve will be taken Away.) Linny and Sayra considered themselves mismatched twins and both had turns in saving the other's life. But Sarya didn't keep Linny safe -- not only did Linny touch a lourka, she built one herself. And on the night before Linny's twelfth birthday, she knows that she must pay the price. But even Linny is surprised at what happens. She sets off on a journey out of their magical hills to find a cure, and ends up finding much, much more than she had bargained for. A fun adventure with an interesting underlying commentary on the junction between magic and science. Recommended for grades 4-7.
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.
Read
March 6, 2016(I wrote this review AGES ago but I forgot to post it here. Opppps.)
The Wrinkled Crown by Anne Nesbet is set in a world that has two sides: the plain side based in logic and science, and the wrinkled side where everything is made of magic and stories can come true. This is a very interesting middle grade novel, but it is confusing and hard to follow, the plot moves rather slowly and the characters fall a little flat. It reminded me a little bit of Fly by Night by Francis Hardinge and other historical England inspired middle grade high fantasy novels that are maybe just a little bit longer than they need to be. (But isn't that cover illustration gorgeous?)
The Wrinkled Crown by Anne Nesbet is set in a world that has two sides: the plain side based in logic and science, and the wrinkled side where everything is made of magic and stories can come true. This is a very interesting middle grade novel, but it is confusing and hard to follow, the plot moves rather slowly and the characters fall a little flat. It reminded me a little bit of Fly by Night by Francis Hardinge and other historical England inspired middle grade high fantasy novels that are maybe just a little bit longer than they need to be. (But isn't that cover illustration gorgeous?)
October 10, 2015
For full review please go to: 5girlsbookreviews.blogspot.com, Twitter @camartinez, Facebook "5 Girls Book Reviews"
REVIEW BY: Michaela, age 11 years, 4 months
MAY CONTAIN SPOILER:
This book kind of bored me, it wasn't as magical and fun as I thought it was going to be, but my sisters would love this book.
However, I do have a favorite part and character. My favorite character is Linny because she is brave, like me. My favorite part is when Linny finishes the lourka.
REVIEW BY: Michaela, age 11 years, 4 months
MAY CONTAIN SPOILER:
This book kind of bored me, it wasn't as magical and fun as I thought it was going to be, but my sisters would love this book.
However, I do have a favorite part and character. My favorite character is Linny because she is brave, like me. My favorite part is when Linny finishes the lourka.
July 13, 2018
It started out interesting, but once Elias and Linny got separated and Linny became involved with the Plain and Wrinkled squabble, I lost interest. I ended up skimming the last hundred pages. I think the story could have wrapped up in 200 something pages. I also found some of the details to be irrelevant to the plot, which made it tedious to read and there were too many parantheses randomly appearing. I personally did not enjoy the book, but other fans of middle grade fantasies might.
January 31, 2018
This book joins the extremely short list of books that I put down before finishing. The world is mildly interesting, but I could not care less about the characters, and the writing is lazy and repetitive. I'm usually game for anything fantastical, but this one's got me licked. Moving on to books that are fun or thought-provoking. Anything.
May 13, 2021
Well...
The Cover is absolutely stunning and beautifully breathtaking – but does it serve the story? Not really. It does fit perfectly overall, and I wouldn’t know how to do it differently, but the illustration simply promises too much.
The story itself is quite interesting I’d say. I loved the mystery about the village Lourka, up above the hills, and the magic that surrounds the wrinkled land, but that’s quite it.
The characters are totally nerve-taking and annoying. Everyone seemed so dumb in this and every time someone opened their mouth (except the protagonist and a few other people), I wondered if they all even have a brain. 🤦🏻♀️
The author does have a good writing style and I loved reading the descriptions of the world she built, yet it wasn’t enough to suck me in. The only character I loved was the cat (which sadly didn’t say anything). I also loved the mother, but she was only present in the beginning, same goes for Sayra.
It’s not her first novel apparently, so I wonder that no one ever told her that her characters are simply flat? Or maybe it’s just in this book.
I wished this book would’ve been more stunning, as the cover is really beautiful. The illustrator might as well sell her artwork and put it in a museum, so that readers don’t fall for it. It is in fact the only reason why I bought the book and also finished it. If it weren’t for a challenge, I might’ve as well dropped it.
I’ll give it 2,5 stars, mostly for the cover and a bit for the story in itself. Also because the last 100 pages got me in a bit more than the middle. 🌟🌟⭐️
It’s sad. I wanted to enjoy the book, and I wonder how everyone else here did that.
~
*this part contains little spoilers*
I also think that there should’ve been a longer introduction, so that we could’ve see more of Lourka (the village). It felt more like a short story, which the author then decided to stretch into a novel.
Apparently children are not allowed to touch a lourka (the instrument) before their 12th birthday. Why? Unknown and no one seemed to question it. The sentence was simply put there and that’s it.
Although the whole story is built on that mistake the protagonist did – because she touched a lourka before her 12th birthday and from then on everything fell apart.
Yet, you don’t want to tell me why there’s this rule?? Or how no one told the girl why she’s not allowed to do it??
And then suddenly her friend dies because the “lost voices” took her to Away. I loved the concept of Away, and it wasn’t much talked about but in this case it’s okay, since it’s a mysterious place and should stay like that.
But everything else wasn’t that mysterious, and brought up too many questions.
I get that fantasy worlds should have a mysterious flare and readers should question things, only to answer them themselves throughout the story. But at some point, there were too many questions and then I didn’t even care about it anymore.
The Cover is absolutely stunning and beautifully breathtaking – but does it serve the story? Not really. It does fit perfectly overall, and I wouldn’t know how to do it differently, but the illustration simply promises too much.
The story itself is quite interesting I’d say. I loved the mystery about the village Lourka, up above the hills, and the magic that surrounds the wrinkled land, but that’s quite it.
The characters are totally nerve-taking and annoying. Everyone seemed so dumb in this and every time someone opened their mouth (except the protagonist and a few other people), I wondered if they all even have a brain. 🤦🏻♀️
The author does have a good writing style and I loved reading the descriptions of the world she built, yet it wasn’t enough to suck me in. The only character I loved was the cat (which sadly didn’t say anything). I also loved the mother, but she was only present in the beginning, same goes for Sayra.
It’s not her first novel apparently, so I wonder that no one ever told her that her characters are simply flat? Or maybe it’s just in this book.
I wished this book would’ve been more stunning, as the cover is really beautiful. The illustrator might as well sell her artwork and put it in a museum, so that readers don’t fall for it. It is in fact the only reason why I bought the book and also finished it. If it weren’t for a challenge, I might’ve as well dropped it.
I’ll give it 2,5 stars, mostly for the cover and a bit for the story in itself. Also because the last 100 pages got me in a bit more than the middle. 🌟🌟⭐️
It’s sad. I wanted to enjoy the book, and I wonder how everyone else here did that.
~
*this part contains little spoilers*
I also think that there should’ve been a longer introduction, so that we could’ve see more of Lourka (the village). It felt more like a short story, which the author then decided to stretch into a novel.
Apparently children are not allowed to touch a lourka (the instrument) before their 12th birthday. Why? Unknown and no one seemed to question it. The sentence was simply put there and that’s it.
Although the whole story is built on that mistake the protagonist did – because she touched a lourka before her 12th birthday and from then on everything fell apart.
Yet, you don’t want to tell me why there’s this rule?? Or how no one told the girl why she’s not allowed to do it??
And then suddenly her friend dies because the “lost voices” took her to Away. I loved the concept of Away, and it wasn’t much talked about but in this case it’s okay, since it’s a mysterious place and should stay like that.
But everything else wasn’t that mysterious, and brought up too many questions.
I get that fantasy worlds should have a mysterious flare and readers should question things, only to answer them themselves throughout the story. But at some point, there were too many questions and then I didn’t even care about it anymore.
November 24, 2022
I enjoyed this. It's a middling children's fantasy, not amazing but not unpleasant as some of them are.
It has an interesting concept - a world (a small universe?) divided into two very different ways of being, "wrinkledness" (roughly magic/weirdness, not a thing which people do, it's just part of the nature of some things, creatures, and places) and technology (a technology which wants to make everything right-angled). The people who belong to each of these mostly seem to want to destroy the other thing and, if necessary, each other - only a few see that it might be good to welcome both.
Our hero, Linny, has defied a prohibition (as in so many fairy tales) and as a result has done great harm to her best friend. She realizes it's up to her to fix it. This quest develops into a number of sub-quests along the way. Whom can she trust? Dangers abound. Linny is determined to do the right thing, even when that is very scary.
It's interesting to watch her attitude toward her father's apprentice change - he goes from being an annoying lummox to being a friend.
I love the half-and-half cat. It makes the scary parts much less so.
I waffled for a few days on whether to keep it - I think my future grandchildren would enjoy it, but the house is full. I think I will offer my adult children first refusal before I donate it to the library for someone the right age to enjoy.
Parental advisory: no sex, no bad language, some violence but not graphic, peril. The protagonist is deliberately disobedient ("wicked") in a major way over a period of years, though we get the impression she is driven to it by her nature and it eventually works out and has good results for many people, largely through her own hard work and suffering. I would want to discuss this with my child or grandchild who read it.
The cover is not quite worthy of it, IMO. The book is not cartoony or cute.
It has an interesting concept - a world (a small universe?) divided into two very different ways of being, "wrinkledness" (roughly magic/weirdness, not a thing which people do, it's just part of the nature of some things, creatures, and places) and technology (a technology which wants to make everything right-angled). The people who belong to each of these mostly seem to want to destroy the other thing and, if necessary, each other - only a few see that it might be good to welcome both.
Our hero, Linny, has defied a prohibition (as in so many fairy tales) and as a result has done great harm to her best friend. She realizes it's up to her to fix it. This quest develops into a number of sub-quests along the way. Whom can she trust? Dangers abound. Linny is determined to do the right thing, even when that is very scary.
It's interesting to watch her attitude toward her father's apprentice change - he goes from being an annoying lummox to being a friend.
I love the half-and-half cat. It makes the scary parts much less so.
I waffled for a few days on whether to keep it - I think my future grandchildren would enjoy it, but the house is full. I think I will offer my adult children first refusal before I donate it to the library for someone the right age to enjoy.
Parental advisory: no sex, no bad language, some violence but not graphic, peril. The protagonist is deliberately disobedient ("wicked") in a major way over a period of years, though we get the impression she is driven to it by her nature and it eventually works out and has good results for many people, largely through her own hard work and suffering. I would want to discuss this with my child or grandchild who read it.
The cover is not quite worthy of it, IMO. The book is not cartoony or cute.
July 28, 2019
For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle
I came across an ARC of this book in a Little Free Library a little while ago and was instantly pulled in by the fantastic cover.
Now that I've read it, I'm happy to say the story is just as magnificent as the cover. The whole world Nesbet created was fantastic. It was so easy to slip into the wrinkled town of Lourka then go on an mind-bending quest with the fun, quick-witted Linny. Such an interesting and amazing story with a great cast of characters.
I really enjoyed the writing in this book. The descriptions were great and Nesbet has a way of writing things that just feels right. The style reminded me a bit of The Phantom Tollbooth. The narration just pulled me right in.
While this was quite a long book, it was definitely worth it. There were so many twists and turns and there was always something going on.
I'm not sure if there is a sequel planned for this book, but there is obviously more story to be told and I would love to read it. If nothing else, I am definitely going to be on the look out for more Anne Nesbet books.
I came across an ARC of this book in a Little Free Library a little while ago and was instantly pulled in by the fantastic cover.
Now that I've read it, I'm happy to say the story is just as magnificent as the cover. The whole world Nesbet created was fantastic. It was so easy to slip into the wrinkled town of Lourka then go on an mind-bending quest with the fun, quick-witted Linny. Such an interesting and amazing story with a great cast of characters.
I really enjoyed the writing in this book. The descriptions were great and Nesbet has a way of writing things that just feels right. The style reminded me a bit of The Phantom Tollbooth. The narration just pulled me right in.
While this was quite a long book, it was definitely worth it. There were so many twists and turns and there was always something going on.
I'm not sure if there is a sequel planned for this book, but there is obviously more story to be told and I would love to read it. If nothing else, I am definitely going to be on the look out for more Anne Nesbet books.
January 5, 2018
The Wrinkled Crown is a slightly less traditional but all the more compelling take on fantasy. Showing the concepts of war, prejudice, and division from the perspective of an innocent but hopeful and engaging twelve-year old, it uses magic (wrinkledness) and science (plainness) to represent common divisions in every type of world. Linny is a girl born in a town where girls are forbidden to touch an instrument known as a lourka until their thirteenth birthday--but she is also born with music in her soul. When she breaks the rules beyond all belief, and the punishment meant for her hits her best friend instead, Linny leaves her sheltered, wrinkled town on a quest to save her friend, and enters into a dangerous, divided world, with seemingly no one to trust. This book can be slightly confusing at times, but that only makes it better if you keep pushing through. The Wrinkled Crown is a beautiful tale about love, courage, and self discovery that any middle grade fantasy reader will love.
March 20, 2017
In the village of Lourka, girls are not allowed to touch the stringed musical instrument of the same name or else they'll be spirited off to Away. Linny has music in her bones and can't help herself. After building her own lourka and upon Linny's 12th birthday, the voices come, but instead of taking Linny away, they steal her best friend Sayra. To save Sayra, Linny decides to travel outside the village and into the Plains, a place where magic doesn't exist and people use medicines and technology.
The plot of this book continually moves forward with something always going on and Linny always meeting new people and not knowing who she can trust or how to find where she needs to go. I liked watching Linny work things out around her, figuring out how this different world worked and what she could do about it.
I also liked trying to imagine the different places she visited and compare them to the present time.
Linny is spunky and adventurous and quite obviously the perfect person for the job of rescuing her friend and helping to heal the Plain and bridge the gap between magical and logical.
The plot of this book continually moves forward with something always going on and Linny always meeting new people and not knowing who she can trust or how to find where she needs to go. I liked watching Linny work things out around her, figuring out how this different world worked and what she could do about it.
I also liked trying to imagine the different places she visited and compare them to the present time.
Linny is spunky and adventurous and quite obviously the perfect person for the job of rescuing her friend and helping to heal the Plain and bridge the gap between magical and logical.
December 18, 2018
My favourite part was when Linny rescued Sayra and all three of them, and Half-Cat made it home. My least favourite part was when the regent tried to make Linny give the crown to him so he could still rule for a while longer. I also didn't like it when the magician caught Linny and tried to make her work for him, and when the Tinkerman got Linny to lead him to Away by threatening her, her friends, and Half-Cat. Half-Cat was my favourite character.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 5, 2019
Really good fantasy, very original. The writing carries you along in the story but is also inventive and full of unexpected turns of phrase. The protagonist has a striking narrative voice. Although this is middle-grade (the protagonist is 12 and there's no "adult" material), it's very philosophical/ conceptual in a way that I appreciated as an adult reader. (My 10 year old also loved the book, so I don't think this makes it uninteresting to children.)
September 27, 2020
*3.75
Hmm...I did like the magic vs. science aspect of the book. Overall, it was a nice novel with a decent plot. However, I felt like the characters were too young for it to be believable for me. I also think the first 100 pages were quite boring. I only got really invested in the story after a little bit. Yeah, I had a couple of other issues with it as well, but I don't want to get spoilery. Overall, I do think this is a great book for a younger audience.
Hmm...I did like the magic vs. science aspect of the book. Overall, it was a nice novel with a decent plot. However, I felt like the characters were too young for it to be believable for me. I also think the first 100 pages were quite boring. I only got really invested in the story after a little bit. Yeah, I had a couple of other issues with it as well, but I don't want to get spoilery. Overall, I do think this is a great book for a younger audience.
January 23, 2023
I know this book probably doesn't deserve five stars, but it's the first book that I have really fallen in love with. This book meant everything to me when I first read it. The worldbuilding might not be that good, but it's more than made up for with how descriptive the actual world is.
The Wrinkled Crown, I love you. Anne, I love you. Thank you for igniting my younger-self's passion for reading as a hobby and creative writing.
The Wrinkled Crown, I love you. Anne, I love you. Thank you for igniting my younger-self's passion for reading as a hobby and creative writing.
January 20, 2020
Read it for a book club. Really enjoyed it.
I was a bit confused in the beginning, but the more I read it the more I wanted to know what would happen next.
I’m glad Libby was able to save her friend. And can’t wait to read on to see what happens.
I was a bit confused in the beginning, but the more I read it the more I wanted to know what would happen next.
I’m glad Libby was able to save her friend. And can’t wait to read on to see what happens.
July 31, 2017
More of a 3.5.
October 11, 2017
Delightful juvenile fiction read that had unexpected twists and turns.
January 2, 2018
Three stars because I'm not the target audience.
Has an interesting voice, pretty solid plot.
Has an interesting voice, pretty solid plot.
January 8, 2018
Interesting. Parts were slow.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews