The Woven Path

Tales from the Wyrd Museum #1

by Robin Jarvis

The Woven Path is the first book in the compelling Wyrd Museum trilogy. All readers will be drawn in by the gripping storytelling of Robin Jarvis, where the fantastical elements combine with the seriously chilling. In a grimy alley in the East End of London stands the Wyrd Museum, cared for by the stranger Webster sisters -- and scene of even stranger events. Wandering through the museum, Neil Chapman, son of the new caretaker, discovers it is a sinister place crammed with secrets both dark and deadly. Forced to journey back to the past, he finds himself pitted against an ancient and terrifying evil, something which is growing stronger as it feeds on the destruction around it. Dare to enter the chilling and fantastical world of the Wyrd Museum in this first book of a compelling trilogy.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Historical, Horror, Time Travel

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Robin Jarvis (born May 8, 1963) is a British children's novelist, who writes fantasy novels, often about anthropomorphic rodents and small mammals—especially mice—and Tudor times. A lot of his works are based in London, in and around Deptford and Greenwich where he used to live, or in Whitby.

His first novel—The Dark Portal, featuring the popular Deptford Mice—was the runner up for the Smarties book prize in 1989.

Reviews

[X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do not judge this book by the cover or the dull sounding and ill-fitting synopsis! After the first few chapters which fit the synosis nicely, the book takes a much darker (and more exciting, in my opinion) turn. There's time-travel, war, a talking teddy bear and, unfortunately, not many characters left by the end of the book. Despite the very odd-sounding above combination of things, I thought the book was very good and am looking forward to starting the sequel soon.

[Mads ✨is balls deep in the Animorphs reread✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another problematic novel from a wildly inconsistent author. (Spoilers)

Firstly, the 'romance' was an offensive literary poster child for 'No means yes'. Twenty chapters can be condensed into 'If I harass this unwilling woman for long enough, she'll fall in love with me out of sheer exhaustion, and then all the kiddie readers will cry because they're being brainwashed that this is real romance.' Are you kidding me? SO MUCH NO.

Secondly, the novel couldn't decide what its actual focus or genre was. Was it a kids adventure/mystery about a boy trapped in WW2? Was it a teenage horror novel about a mad girl and a monster? Or was it a boring kitchen-sink drama about characters I couldn't care less about, and clearly had nothing to do with the overall trilogy arc (...even before they all ended up dead)?

In the end, with basically the entire cast dead, the fact that Neil even goes to WW2 in the first place turns out to be entirely pointless. This is especially infuriating when the first 150 pages consist of boring scene setting within WW2, which at first, I tried desperately to ignore. Worse luck for me, the new kitchen-sink cast stuck around, and all the actual fun stuff (Who are the Wyrd sisters? Why do they have a magic museum? Where do the demons and vortexes come from?) was put on hold until the very last chapter, and instead replaced with a 200 pages of filler. This novel would have been much more rewarding if they'd just got straight to the point - bringing Edie to the present day. At the end, it becomes clear that this is so that she can be promoted to main protagonist, and be the focus of the trilogy arc proper in the following novels -- which sounds a lot more exciting than watching some 1940s W1 group Make Do And Mend for 20 pages.

In short, this series should be a duo-logy, not a trilogy.

It's also very frustrating that the reason for the first vortex randomly appearing and sucking them into WW2 in the first place is never explained. Unless.... vortexes are simply deus ex machina plot devices? *gasp* surely not. ALL of the vortexes are pointless to the main story arc except for the one that brings Edie to the present. So what, once again, is the point of this entire novel?!

Finally, NO five year old talks or acts the way Neil's brother does. I'm sorry, NONE. Jarvis needs to spend some time hanging out with ACTUAL children before he starts writing them all as unrealistically intelligent and slightly demonic Mini-Mes.

Can't believe this is supposedly one of Britain's best loved kids novels of the 90s. It isn't the first Jarvis novel to make me go 'WTF' - attempt to read Dancing Jax at your own peril. He's produced much better; namely, Death Scent.

[Glenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was almost a 1 star for me, but the intriguing start to the story kept it at 2.  I read this to see if my son would like it, and I can honestly say I would NEVER recommend this to anyone's kid.  I was fine with the dark and sinister world of the museum, I thought that was great!!  But when you had little punk ass kids torturing a dog to near death (and then the death that followed), well, I started hating this book.  I don't like animal torture in adult horror books, so finding this in a book aimed at "middle grade" readers really upset me...and made me glad I read it before handing if off to my kid!!  But it wasn't just this.  The story started out strong, kind of like The Librarian meets A Night at the Museum, with a bit more horror thrown in (and I love a good horror story!!!).  But it fell flat pretty quickly.  I really didn't care about any of the characters and the evil entity was pretty cliche.  Even when I take away the parts I hated, I still found this "meh" at best.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me the impression it was going to be quite slow and single storied, but it burst into life about a third of the way in. Robin Jarvis loves a metaphor when describing something.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had an insane named character kill count (all experienced as they happened), a devil which took the shape of the Hitler squander big, and main characters which did not match this lowkey serious vibe; a talking teddy bear and a 11 year old boy.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - if this is fantasy aimed at children, then I want to go back to primary school!

It's the story of Neil, whose father becomes a caretaker at a strange old museum, where three old ladies live amongst some very odd exhibits. He meets a talking bear, gets sucked back in time and ends up fighting the Prince of Demons during the blitz. I don't remember the stories I read as a child having plots like this!

I loved it. It's powerfully written and doesn't pull any punches. It's very dark in places and some quite scary moments - I'm way past the target audience and I had to have a little shudder. The Webster sisters are gloriously horrid and I love the weaving in of the old legends of the three Fates and the tree of life. It had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't wait to read the next bit. Now to move on to the second book in the trilogy to see what happens next.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hated this book. I'd give it a lower rating if it wasn't so excellently written. Some of the imagery and events cross from dark into outright horrifying. My problem is that I read The Woven Path at a very young age, so the multiple murder scenes and awful dog stoning seemed extremely inappropriate for a "children's book" (but I guess it's more of a young adult/teenager novel). I had nightmares for days after reading this; The Woven Path is one of the only books I actually regret reading. That said, Jarvis is a masterful writer, and perhaps older readers can get something out of this depressing novel.

[H · Rating 5 out of 5]

After browsing my bookshelf for about 10 minutes and realising I’ve read everything on the shelves, I picked up the woven path. It was my absolute favourite book when I was about 12 and I’ve kept the whole trilogy ever since for sentimental reasons. I started reading the first few pages while I pondered what to do and before I knew it I’ve read the whole book in a few days.

Still loved it the same as I did when I say 12 except I’d say it was even bleaker, darker and scarier than I remember - either that or I’m just getting soft.

[Chris B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was spell-bound by this book when I was younger, especially because at the time I was very much interested in World War II and the Blitz. Some of the imagery is still fascinating, such as Ted, who is a teddy bear containing the soul of a dead US Airman, and an escaped demon envisioning itself as the Nazi bug on World War II propaganda.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book when I firt read it at the age of 14. It's refreshing when a kids book deals with slightly darker subject matter, as this one does.
I really liked the story and character development - Ted was great. I think I even shed a few tears at one point.

[Kirsty Cabot · Rating 3 out of 5]

First read around 1997

[Lazellia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was obsessed with Robin Jarvis’ books as a child, and was really excited when this one was released, but I remember getting about a quarter of the way through and giving up. I didn’t like the time travel element and it seemed to be moving too slowly. In the last couple of years, I rediscovered his books with the Dancing Jax and Legacy of Witches series, and I decided it was time to give the Wyrd Museum series another go.

I loved the start of the book, but once Neil and Ted went back in time, I found my interest waning a little. I didn’t particularly like some of the characters and settings, but I stuck with it, and I’m glad I did. After a slow patch towards the middle, the story really picked up and I was reminded of the fear and wonder I used to get reading Robin Jarvis as a child. From the point where Neil goes to the museum in the past, I was hooked, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

As with most of Jarvis’ books, this has some frightening and gory moments, but they link into an intriguing storyline. I loved the characters of the three sisters, and I’m hoping that they’re more prominent in the rest of the series. While the WW2 setting admittedly doesn’t appeal to my personal tastes, it’s still well worth a read. My previous experience taught me that the second book in Jarvis’ series’ are usually the best, so it’s onto the Raven’s Knot!

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turning to face the frightened ghost of Arnold Porter, the girl was suddenly aware of the change that had occurred. The very atmosphere was charged with fear and dread and for the first time in many days she felt uneasy as the darkness seemed to press all around. Something horrible was loose- something ancient and evil had escaped into the unsuspecting night. No longer would her sanctuary be safe something final was approaching and though she would protect both it and her spectral family, she sensed that soon everything would change.

Tania recommended I read this series when she found out we had a shared love of the Depford Mice trilogy, also by Robin Jarvis.

I would say that this book is for an older audience, featuring murder, demons, and World War Two London, with all the perils that war brought.

When his dad takes a job as the new maintenance man for the Wyrd Museum, young Neil Chapman soon finds himself embroiled in a plan woven by the fates themselves. With only a possessed teddy bear for company, Neil must travel back in time to save his younger Brother. Arriving too early, he must survive the blitz, contending with an escaped demon, a cantankerous old women, who is possibly worse than the demon, and the medalling Norns.

A twisting and turning adventure with plenty of shocks. I enjoyed this a lot 4 1/2 stars.

[Ming Suan Ong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this 20 years ago. I couldn’t remember a thing about it but I remember I enjoyed it. So it was time for a reread and it honestly felt like the first time I had read it! There is a museum with strange exhibits overlooked by 3 weird sisters. 2 brothers find a talking bear amongst the exhibits and end up time travelling back to the 1940s in the middle of WW2. Turns out the bear was an American soldier during the war who wanted to go back in time to save himself, his best friend and the woman he was in love with. But the sisters sent him back not so much for that as to recapture Belial the demon who has been set free and to find their “daughter” the fey Edie who speaks to ghosts and spirits. A lot of the book is set during the war and despite it being a children’s book it doesn’t shy away from death and destruction. The fear of the jet fighter pilots is so palpable during missions. Alls well that ends well - can’t wait to read the next book in the series to see where it all goes.

[Jamie Delware · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why one star? Let's just say that I'm genuinely upset that Goodreads reminded me of this book's existance!

I'm generally pretty loose on what should be considered YA vs. Adult, as I think that the borders only need to be defined in extreme cases, but this is definitely one of those extreme cases. Seriously - how can you read this book and categorize it as YA? This book's gore, psychological/body horror, and themes are out of the comfort zone of most 30+ year old adults, let alone those in the 12-17 yo age range. I'd say just read it if you don't believe me, but I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

The worst part is that the disturbing parts of this book don't even serve to advance its plot or worldbuilding. It's just gratutious, omnipresent, and sickening to the stomach. Astounding that the book reached the level of popularity that it did, given that I've even had friends who are massive horror buffs tell me that it was too much for them.

[Mariko Bean · Rating 4 out of 5]

So different from what I was expecting. It's actually very dark, violent, and pretty scary. The characters did not turn out how I would have expected, with people being more cruel, unlikeable, or unimpressive than you often find in a children's book. I'm not sure I would've liked it as a child or teen, but I'm also a weenie and can't handle dog deaths; I can imagine some children really liking how different it is from the usual fare, but it might also be too dark for some.

The writing is good, and seemed to have realistic WWII details. The time travel is also well done, mostly consistent with no bootstrapping problems, except for maybe a couple of items but they are magic items.

[Krys · Rating 2 out of 5]

i picked this up out of nostalgia as i remembered loving it as a kid. rereading this as an adult it's borderline inpossible for me to get past how the author has so little respect for textile arts that he didn't bother to do the bare minimum research to understand that knitting and weaving are different things that make totally different fabrics. textile terms are just thrown in willy nilly with no understanding that those words actually have meaning. i was planning to reread the next book in the series but genuinely don't know if i can, at least not if the writing is as lazy as this one.

[S.L. Dearing · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first in the Wyrd Museum Triliogy (which is one of my favorite series).

The story is solid and the set up fantastic, as it leads the reader to 2 more exceptional children's books. My only complaint is that the character of Tony is supposed to be from Brooklyn, but reads more as if he is Cockney, but seeing as how the author is English, I can see the issue. However, Robin Jarvis does get the accent correct by the end of the book. Other than that, it's a great read!!

[Jean Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book surprised me. Looking at the cover and reading the back I thought I could tell I would like the book. Although, it didn't go the way I suspected I still liked it. It had more horror/scary elements then I usually read. When I think about it though it wasn't that there were tons of horror aspects more that the way people died was described more horrifically then I would have expected in a book for younger audiences.

[Nicki Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm new to this Good Reads, so just adding on a books I remember. And this one has always stuck out in my mind. I must have read this about 17 maybe + years ago. It was one of the strangest books I have ever read. If it stuck out in my mind that much it must have made some impression.
Now with a 11 year old daughter, I'm planning on buying it again and read it with her. I will update my rating, when I have a fresh view 😊. Hoping for good things 🤞

[Elizabeth Thacker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some strong characterisation and Jarvis' prose is always a delight. I somehow missed this trilogy when I was a fan as a child and honestly, I think I would have loved it then. As an adult, some parts are needlessly complicated while others are cartoonish and there is a slight pacing sag in the middle. I enjoyed it, but it doesn't live up to a nostalgia reread of the Whitby Trilogy.

[Casey H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. Initially it felt like a children's story, very similar to the Night at the Museum films, but then it takes a much more violent and dark turn that made me think surely this isn't a children's book.. lol

The pace was fairly fast, the characters interesting and well written.
The ending fit nicely with the story, and I like that all the loose ends were tidied up.

[Matthew Hodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

An outstanding start to a new Jarvis trilogy. A strange but hugely compelling combo of Norse mythology, time travel and East End London during the Bltiz.

It's fantastical, it's scary, and ultimately heart-wrenching. What more could you want?

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange book for young adults where almost everyone dies? Neil and his brother Josh move with their dad into a museum. Their dad just got a job with lodgings there. Time travel and mayhem ensues. "Teddy" is possessed by an american soldier from WWII!

[Tracey Boardman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very weird museum is to be found in this Robin Jarvis book, along with three sisters, ghosts, a caretaker and his two sons, war-torn London, a spy and on top of all that a talking bear! It's a very enjoyable read! I hope part two is as good

[Roberta Schouten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow to start but it came together well!

I enjoyed this book. It’s one of my husband’s favorites and I liked it. He said that it was for adolescents but I thought it was more for adults.

[Michelle allan · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read so long ago and I can't remember details but know o was transfixed. Maybe time for a reread.

[Kevin John Leake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written.

I have read all three volumes.
And enjoyed every book.
I was in my middle 40s when I read them.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes...that was extremely weird. I will not be continuing this trilogy.